Annual Business Water Price Changes: What to Expect from 1 April 2026
Andi Jacobson
Marketing Team
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Each year, regional water wholesalers review and set their charges for the upcoming period. From 1 April 2026, new wholesale water and wastewater charges will come into effect for the 2026/27 year.
Because wholesale charges make up the majority of business water bills, these changes will be reflected across the market.
Why do charges change each year?
Water and wastewater infrastructure is managed by regional wholesalers. They set annual wholesale charges which apply to all retailers operating in their area.
These wholesale costs are applied on a pass-through basis, meaning any increases or decreases set by the wholesaler are reflected directly in customer charges. The same wholesale rates apply regardless of which retailer you are with.
The overall impact on a bill will vary depending on:
- location
- water usage
- meter size
- site type
What does this mean for our customers?
From 1 April 2026, updated wholesale charges will be applied in line with industry changes. Usage up to 31 March will be charged at current rates, with usage from 1 April charged at the new tariffs.
This isn’t a change to your physical water supply – only the underlying wholesale charges that form part of the bill.
We’ll always aim to keep customers informed and provide clear information around industry-wide updates like this.
Regional wholesale charge movements
The table below provides an illustrative overview of how wholesale water and wastewater charges are expected to change across different regions from 1 April 2026.
These figures reflect the headline movements published by the wholesalers, but the precise impact on an individual business bill may vary depending on factors such as water usage, meter size, tariff structure and site characteristics.
Wholesaler | Water | Sewerage |
|---|---|---|
Affinity Water | 9.7% | n/a |
Anglian Water | 1.0% | -4.2% |
Bristol Water | 15.8% | n/a |
Northumbrian Water | 6.5% | 6.5% |
Portsmouth Water | 1.6% | n/a |
Severn Trent Water | 4.3% | 14.0% |
South East Water | 12.1% | n/a |
Southern Water | 19.4% | -9.0% |
South Staffs Water | 3.6% | n/a |
South West Water | 12.2% | 25.1% |
Sutton & East Surrey Water | 16.1% | n/a |
Thames Water | 6.9% | -3.9% |
United Utilities | 20.3% | 9.5% |
Wessex Water | -0.7% | 10.5% |
Yorkshire Water | 2.0% | 8.9% |
What isn’t changing?
Our retail fee remains unchanged.
In the business water market, retailers operate on a fixed retail margin, which is separate from the wholesale charges set by the regional water companies.
This means:
Our retail fee does not increase when water consumption increases
We are incentivised to help businesses monitor usage and improve efficiency
Any price adjustments shown above are driven solely by wholesale charge changes
These wholesale charges are set by the regional water companies that manage the infrastructure supplying water and wastewater services across the UK.
Submit a meter reading around 1st April
To help ensure accurate billing across the change, we recommend submitting a meter reading as close as possible to 1 April 2026, where it is safe and accessible to do so.
This allows us to bill usage accurately before and after the new tariffs take effect.
📧 Send meter readings to: water.reads@pe.solutions
Questions?
If you have any questions about how the 2026/27 wholesale changes may affect your account, our team is happy to help.
📧 water.customercare@pe.solutions