Author: James Longley
Exploring Waste Water Charges
Are you determined to bring your annual business water rates down? If you want to perform this all-important task in a highly efficient and effective fashion, you must go beyond simply curbing your water usage. Performing maintenance checks, running your appliances on full loads, and installing water-saving measures will only get you so far. You have to go one step further. You have to take waste water into account.
If you’re serious about cutting your company costs, you must understand waste water and the correlation that it shares with lost income. To help you make more sense out of this crucial task, we’ve left no stone unturned in our exploration of waste water and the charges commonly associated with it.
What is waste water?
Before we delve into the impact it could have on your company finances, we first need to find out what waste water is, where it comes from, and how it is defined. Here are a few facts about the waste water that you should be aware of:
- Waste water is defined as being a body of water (big or small) that has been used by humans in the past
- Any form of water can fall into the category of being ‘waste’ (domestic, municipal, industrial, agricultural, commercial, stormwater, surface runoff, sewer inflow, etc.)
- No two bodies of waste water are ever the same — its characteristics differ depending on its source in what manner it has been contaminated
- Waste water is known to contain several biological, chemical, and physical pollutants
- Flush toilets are the most common cause of waste water (which is why you dry toilets have been introduced in recent times)
- Cutting-edge sanitation systems (septic tanks, drain fields, on-site sewage systems etc.) are now being created in a bid to treat and decontaminate waste water
- The term ‘water reclamation’ has grown in precedence over the last decade due to work now being done to ensure that waste water is reusable
How are waste water bills calculated?
Meters track water usage, but they don’t paint the full picture when it comes to waste water. Whenever water is wasted, it has to be collected and treated… and both of these crucial services command a hefty external sum. It is for this reason why waste water charges are commonly so high.
Fear not, however, as this doesn’t necessarily mean that you are being ripped off or exploited. Waste water charges may be relatively expensive but, rest assured, they are fair.
Utility companies calculate the cost of water waste by taking the following into account:
- Surface water
- Highways drainage
- Foul sewage
- Trade effluent
Difference between residential and commercial charges
Business waste water bills are calculated differently to domestic water rates, which is why you will find major discrepancies between your residential and commercial charges. To ensure that all parties are charged a fair tariff in this instance, water companies take the following factors into account whenever they draw up new water treatment price lists:
Size of the septic system that is in place
Typical volume of water that passes through this system daily
Breakdown of the waste water before it is transmitted to the drain field
Maintenance of the system and control of septic bacteria
Waste water prevention tips
You turn off your tech devices each night to conserve energy, and you switch off your heating system when your workspace is at a comfortable temperature, so why don’t you make this type of effort to prevent water waste? If you don’t want your company to be crippled by unnecessary waste water charges, you need to take action this plight. To do that, you must put the advice laid out below into practice.
Here are four waste water prevention tips that you should heed:
- Talk to your employees about the importance of water consolidation
- Install appliances that are designed to actively save water (sensor-motion faucets, dry toilets, tap aerators, rooftop water butts, flow restrictors, etc.)
- Check your property regularly for leaks (the sooner you unearth these problems, the less water you are going to waste in the long-run)
- If you have a grassy outdoor area on your premises, only water the lawn when it absolutely needs it (which basically means, stop leaving your sprinklers on!)
Do you want to save some cash, protect your bottom line, and consolidate your company profit? If so, you must get to grips with waste water charges. More importantly, you must do your utmost best to prevent unnecessary water waste in the future.
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