You may have heard in the news that in April 2025, your utility costs will increase as water bills rise when we begin the new financial year. This will impact everyone in the country, including both domestic and commercial properties.
So, at Plumbing & Gas Solutions, we are determined to support our local community by providing some advice on how you can reduce your water usage as water bills increase and try to soften the impact of this change.
Why are water bills increasing?
Water companies, and the water regulator ‘Ofwat’ – the Water Services Regulation Authority – dictate the price of water each year, and they set this price so that they’ll have the money that they need “to help to finance essential investment in the water sector”. In April 2025, however, this requirement is much higher than normal – leading to notable price increases.
According to Ofwat, this will result in an ‘ambitious programme’ for which they have approved over £100 billion of investment, to “accelerate the delivery of cleaner rivers and seas and help to secure long-term drinking water supplies for customers…” and ensure that water companies “deliver significant improvement in performance for customers and the environment.”
While the improved water and sewage infrastructure will benefit both the consumer and the environment, the associated costs are sizeable.
How much are water bills increasing by?
When water bills rise in April, they are projected to increase by an average of 26% according to Water UK, but, the exact change will vary based on your water provider. This is the biggest annual price rise since the water sector became privatised.
This will directly impact your water bill at home – with projections suggesting that the average household in England and Wales paying approximately £123 extra per year at this new rate – as well as the prices paid by commercial buildings for their water.
Paying an extra £10 a month at home is a steep increase and will have a profound impact on many people who don’t have enough money to pay even more for utilities, but these numbers scale up dramatically for large businesses. Where 26% at home would cost £123, a large commercial site could see their annual water costs increased by over £1,000.
How to reduce your water usage
As water prices go up, the obvious question is ‘how can I reduce my water usage?’, so that you can offset the rise. Well, don’t worry, Plumbing & Gas Solutions is here to support you.
Proper Maintenance and System Efficiency
The easiest way to ensure that you don’t waste water is for your plumbing system itself to be healthy and efficient. While you can play your part through behavioural changes, a leaking pipe or an inefficient appliance will always be the easiest way to avoid waste.
Unfortunately, the challenge with this is that it can be very difficult to identify inefficiency or even in some cases a leaking pipe, if you don’t know what you’re looking for – especially in commercial plumbing systems. If you have lagging over your pipes, you won’t be able to easily see water leaking from the pipework, particularly if it’s a very minor leak. However, with higher water prices, the cost of that leak goes up, too.
If you have a reliable plumbing partner who can occasionally survey your plumbing system and investigate for any leaks, inefficiencies or problems, this will give you the best chance at reducing your water costs, and make sure that the more behavioural tips below aren’t wasted.
EXCLUSIVE OFFER - A FREE WATER REDUCTION SURVEY FOR YOUR COMMERCIAL SITE
At Plumbing & Gas Solutions, we know that the increased water bills are going to have a substantial impact on the local businesses in Milton Keynes. As part of our commitment to giving back to our community, we are offering completely free water reduction surveys for commercial buildings.
We will attend your site and evaluate the plumbing system, looking for leaks and issues, as well as measuring the efficiency and general effectiveness of your appliances and the wider system. Then, we will provide a report for you advising any potential recommendations on how to reduce your water usage.
If you have a reliable plumbing partner who can occasionally survey your plumbing system and investigate for any leaks, inefficiencies or problems, this will give you the best chance at reducing your water costs.
Complete the short form below to book in your free water reduction survey!
Simple Upgrades – Reliable Results
If you have a reliable plumbing partner who can occasionally survey your plumbing system and investigate for any leaks, inefficiencies or problems, this will give you the best chance at reducing your water costs, and make sure that the more behavioural tips below aren’t wasted.
Installing Aerators into your taps
These small, simple devices can make a huge impact! Aerators reduce the amount of water used, but while maintaining or even increasing your water pressure. Aerators can reduce your water use by up to 10 litres per minute, which can make a massive difference. This is a no-brainer, as these affordable devices will allow you to have the same results, while using significantly less water. Win win.
Upgrade to Waterless Urinals
If your commercial building has urinals which use water, they will use a sizeable amount throughout the day. Even modern urinals will likely still use over 3 litres of water every time it flushes – meaning that swapping one single urinal could literally save you tens of thousands of litres of water!
So, as you can see, this change will have an absolutely huge impact on your water usage and some modern urinal systems can even be adapted to become waterless, without needing a full replacement!
Switching to Push Down Taps
Another way to reduce the amount of water that gets wasted from your taps is to swap for a ‘Push Down’ or ‘Push’ tap, also known as non-concussive taps. When you use a push tap, it only runs for a short period of time, which prevents you from accidentally leaving it running. This naturally saves you water over time and therefore saves you money. Plus, it often leads to people using less water to wash their hands overall. This means you’re saving water on two fronts, from one simple switch – with these taps saving up to 50% of the total water used, compared to a regular tap.
These changes aren’t huge individually, but when magnified across a large commercial building, the impact can be massive, helping you to reduce the damage done by the increasing water bills.
Finally fix those minor plumbing issues
We referenced earlier how sometimes it’s difficult to identify a minor leak or small drip when you’re in a commercial plant room, because the pipework is lagged etc. However, there can also be plenty of water waste that’s happening in plain sight, and you simply haven’t gotten around to fixing it yet.
Well, with water prices rising so drastically, you’ll probably want to get that sorted!
On average, a dripping tap which drips once per second will waste about 5 litres of water in a day. That’s 1,825 litres of water over the course of a year. And then, if you trade that drip for a more substantial leak, these numbers grow and grow.
Now is the perfect time to schedule in any plumbing repairs:
- Dripping or Leaky Taps
- Leaking Toilet Cisterns
- Minor Leaks / Drips
Pro-tip!
To identify whether or not your toilet cistern is leaking, you can place a small amount of food colouring in the cistern, and if the water in the bowl starts to change colour, without you flushing, then your cistern is leaking! For an even quicker, but less obvious test, place a piece of dry toilet paper on the far side of the inside of the toilet, and observe whether it gets wet without you flushing.
Plumbing & Gas Solutions are dedicated to supporting local clients in Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas as this price increase takes place, and so we strongly encourage any business to reach out and arrange your free site survey, so that we can start to help you. We can’t make the prices go down, but we can certainly help you reduce your water waste and therefore help you claw back some of the extra costs associated with the more expensive water bills.
Don’t forget to book in your free, no-obligation water reduction survey! All you need to do is fill out the enquiry form above.
Alternatively, if you want to get in touch with us directly, you can do so by calling 01908 569031 or e-mailing info@pgsolutions.co.uk
