I was idly reading through my Wessex Water bill, when I spotted the following sentence, Can I save money on my bill with a soakaway? Of course I am always looking for information to pass on, so that you can make some savings too.

Where Does Your Rainwater Go

It would seem that if the rain on your roof or a patio is directed away via a gutter and then a drainpipe into the sewer system, or you may also have a patio where the water drains in to the sewer system, then this is a problem for the water companies. During periods of heavy rain, the volume of rainwater can become too much for a sewer system to handle, leading to the activation of storm overflows. So it would appear that too much rainwater is a problem for a water company

Save About £25 Off Your Water Bill

According to the water bill sheet, you can save around £25 off you bill by disconnecting downpipes, then storing the water in a water butt and any excess water should then be allowed to soak into your garden on into a soakaway. So it looks like by taking a few simple steps, you will be able to get a reduction on your water bill. For more information regarding this, there is a link on the letter that takes you to the surface water drainage section. It then goes onto say that; “The sewerage charge you pay includes the cost of removing and treating surface water.” You will need to prove the following in order to apply for an allowance

• Check your bill to see if it includes sewage services, if not, you will need to contact the relevant company,
• Check your bill to see if you are already in receipt of a reduction.
• If you think you you should be receiving an allowance you can apply.

How to Claim for an Allowance Off Your Water Bill

To claim for an allowance, you must prove that the majority of rainfall:

• from your roof or shared roof drains into a soakaway at the front and rear of your property
• from your garden, drive, patio or yard runs off into the ground.

Your claim will be unsuccessful if:

• you use a water butt but have no soakaways
• rainwater from your roof runs indirectly to a sewer, eg, across a pavement, driveway or hard-paved areas. 

Apply for Surface Water Allowance Form

So, if you think that you may qualify for your £25 allowance, then you can pop over to their site (Wessex Water) Apply for Surface Water Allowance Form. Obviously if you are not with Wessex Water you will need to search out the company that deals with your water, I am sure they will also offer a similar deal.

£25 Saving Plus Extra Money Bonus

According to the Wessex Water site;In the event that you are deemed eligible for the allowance, it has the potential to be retroactively applied up to six years in the past. Alternatively, it may be applied from the moment that you became responsible for property charges or from the date that the property was disconnected from the company’s sewer system for surface water. So I might just be worth checking your rainwater system to see if you are entitled to £25 off future bills and maybe your are entitled to six years worth of refunds.

Re-routing Your Drain Pipes and Save Money

In most cases it is not too difficult with a few DIY skills to re-route your drains so that they do not enter the sewage system. Just look at your current pipework and see if it is possible for the rainwater to be collected in a water butt and also drain away in say a soakaway.

There are a couple of different types of water butt on Amazon, the Sankey 1229 150L Beehive Water Butt and the usual Standard Water Butt.