Welcome to your new home!

In simple terms you pay us for the following services: 

• Supplying clean water to your home 
  
  
• Taking away all your used water (which we call wastewater services), cleaning it and returning it to rivers and the sea
  
  
• Removing the rainwater that falls on your home and the roads (we call these services 'surface water and highway drainage')
  
  
• Standing charge - we add a charge to cover the cost of providing customer related services such as dealing with enquiries, managing your water account and preparing and issuing bills

To make it easier for you to pay your water charges, when we first set up your account we recommend that you spread your payments over the year into smaller, manageable amounts. We call this a payment plan. Most customers on a payment plan pay their bills direct from their bank account by setting up a Direct Debit.

Payment plans are set in advance for the year ahead. Initially, your payment plan will be based on the amount of water we expect the number of people living in your home to use. This helps to make sure you don’t have a big bill to pay later on in the year. We will therefore ask you how many people live in your home when you first set up your account.

We normally review your payment plan every 12 months. However, as we send you a bill every six months for the amount of water you’ve used, we may amend your payment plan sooner if your water use has significantly changed since your last bill (for example, more people are now living in your home or you’re using less water as people have moved out). Don't worry, we will always make this clear on your bill if your payment amounts change.

If you've not already set up a payment plan, we recommend you do this as soon as possible so that you don’t fall behind with your payments.

We’ve explained how we calculate payment plans in more detail here.

We would always recommend setting up a Direct Debit as soon as you move in so that you don’t have a big bill to pay later on. You can then spread your bill over the year into smaller payments to make it more affordable. You can pay weekly, fortnightly, monthly – the choice is yours. We will also give you a £5 annual discount when you pay by Direct Debit.

To set up a Direct Debit, register to manage your account online or call us on 0345 672 2999. You will need your water account number to set up an online account, you can find this on your welcome letter.

Many of our existing meters use the latest technology and send readings to us remotely. If you have one of our latest meters, we won’t need to enter your home to take a reading.

However, there may be occasions when we’ve not been able to read your meter. If this happens, we will knock on your door to see if we can enter your home to read your meter. All our employees will carry an ID card and will be happy to show you this. If you’re not in, we will post a card through your door so that you can provide your own meter reading if you are able to do so.

Here’s a video which explains how to read your meter.

Your first bill will arrive any time within the first six months of your move in date, and then every time we read your meter (or you provide a meter reading). For most customers, this will be twice a year although could be as frequent as every three months. Your bill will show how much water you’ve used since your previous bill.

If you are an existing customer, we will send you a final bill for your previous address. You should receive this bill within a week of you telling us you have moved address. This bill will show if you still owe money at your previous address or whether you have a credit balance. If you have a payment plan already set up, your future payments may change depending on the debits or credits from your previous address.

We will send bills to you via email or post, depending on whether you have chosen paperless billing when registering for My Account.

Once you’ve received your account number from us in your welcome letter, you can then set up your online account and register for our app. You’ll then be able to pay your bill, set up a Direct Debit, provide meter readings and view your bills from your phone or computer. You can also see how much water you’ve used each time we read your meter.