The amount we charge depends on whether you have a water meter or not.

If you have a water meter, you are charged for the water you use. The cost of this is calculated per cubic meter. One cubic meter is 1,000 litres – the equivalent of 11 baths.

If you don’t have a meter, your charges are calculated using your home’s Rateable Value. This was set by the Inland Revenue before April 1990, looking at the property’s size, condition, and access to amenities.

If your property does not have a rateable value, and if a meter cannot be installed, then you may be able to choose an assessed charge for your water and sewerage services.  

Follow the links below for more information:

• Metered Charges
• Unmetered Charges
• Assessed Charges
  

We’re committed to keeping bills as low as possible. However, some increases are necessary to fund essential improvements such as reducing leakage, improving and maintaining our water treatment works and supporting customers.

Ofwat regulates charging rules that govern how water companies set their bills to make sure they are fair and transparent. They oversee the amount each water company is allowed to charge customers through their water bills.    

We have engaged with more than 92,000 customers and stakeholders through our research and insight programmes to ensure all of our decisions take customer views and priorities into account.

Between 2025 and 2030, in agreement with Ofwat, we will invest £702 million to upgrade your water services.

This will mean:

• Reducing leakage as we replace ageing pipes most at risk of leaking or bursting;
• Improving and maintaining our water treatment works, pumping stations and storage reservoirs;
• Continuing our 24/7 support to keep you in supply; and
• Protecting the environment to preserve water for future generations.

This is part of a £104 billion investment proposed by the water industry to improve water and sewage infrastructure. 

The increase will vary and depend on things like your usage.

South Staffs Water provides your clean water only, and from April 2026, the average household clean water bill will rise by 2%, from £0.61 per day to £0.63 per day.

We also bill sewerage services on behalf of Severn Trent and, from April 2026, the typical sewerage bill will rise by 14.5%.

The combined impact of this means that the average household living in the South Staffordshire region, and served by the two companies, will see an increase in their combined clean water and wastewater service bill of approximately 8.5%.

Water bills are regulated by Ofwat. The regulator sets price limits on how much water companies can charge customers through a five-yearly price review process. This ensures a balance between affordability, investment in new infrastructure and meeting environmental responsibilities.

Every year, customer bills are based on this agreed increase, plus the effects of inflation, and adjusted according to the company's performance in the previous year.

Although we are one of the most efficient companies in the industry, as assessed by Ofwat, we are not immune to the substantial increase in energy costs that has emerged since 2022.

We use a significant amount of energy to transport our treated water to homes and businesses in our region, and therefore, we required additional funding to deliver against this need. We also needed additional funding to help us cover the cost of the chemicals we use to treat raw water and the pipes we lay.

In our plans, we have challenged ourselves to deliver further efficiencies over the 2025-30 period, which will help to partly offset the impact from energy costs. 

There are a number of factors that are contributing to the rise in water bills across the country.

One is our growing population. By 2045, the population in our region is forecast to increase by 18%, with 125,000 new homes expected to be built.

On top of this, we are experiencing more environmental pressures. Over the next 100 years, we’re expected to see more extreme weather events that could impact our water supplies. Last year, the spring and summer seasons were the warmest on record, and also one of the driest. Our regulator, the Environment Agency, limits how much water we can take from the environment to protect it, so we need to invest in water storage and new water sources to protect your supply.

Customers pay for investment in the industry through their bills, but this is paid over a long period of time. To deliver the improvements we set out to, like replacing pipelines, we secure long-term funding from investors. This helps us to plan ahead and invest immediately. This also helps to prevent customer bills from rising drastically. 

Our directors’ salaries are set by an independent remuneration committee and are regularly tested against benchmarks across our industry and for similar roles in other industries. Each year, performance measures linked to bonuses are evaluated.

The salaries and rewards for our managing director and senior executives are based on a comprehensive package that includes basic salary and an annual performance bonus. Some executive members are eligible for long-term incentive schemes, in addition to benefits, to attract, motivate and retain individuals who possess the required capabilities to lead the business.

Further information about our directors’ remuneration can be found in our annual report. 

Investment in the water industry has roughly doubled since 1989, and between 2015 and 2020, approximately £6 billion has been spent across the sector on buildings, equipment and technology.

Water bills are regulated by Ofwat. The regulator sets price limits on how much water companies can charge customers through a five-yearly price review process, reviewing the plans we set out, laying out improvements for customers. They ensure there is a balance between affordability, investment in new infrastructure and meeting environmental responsibilities.

Your customer reference can be found on any bill or letter we have sent you.

To register or log in to My Account you will need the 8 digits that follow UC or MC on your bill. 

- If your customer reference number starts with MC then you have a water meter.
- If your customer reference starts with UC then you do not have a meter.

If you don't have a bill or letter at hand, please contact us to confirm your customer reference.

There are lots of ways you can pay. You can pay by:

• Direct Debit
• Pay online by credit or debit card
• PayPoint
• Internet or phone banking
• By post
• At a bank or Post Office
• Call us
• Through your benefits (Water Direct)

Spreading the cost of your bill can make it more affordable.

There are many ways you can choose to pay:

Register for MyAccount

The easiest way is to set up an online account. Here, you’ll have the option of choosing which instalment plan you would like. You can choose to pay:

• By Direct Debit
• Online by card
• At a post office or PayPoint outlet
  

With an online account you’ll also be able to:

• Check your account balance and payment history
• View your bills
• Check information about your account

If you don’t want to register for an online account, you can call us to request payment by instalments. Most of our customers choose to pay by Direct Debit, but you can also request to pay at a PayPoint outlet with a payment card.

The frequency of your instalments will depend on whether you have or don’t have a meter, and what payment method you have requested.

Unmetered instalment plans are either:

• Paid in two instalments (April and October). We’ll send you a copy of the bill in the month prior to the due date
• Spread over 8 to 12 months depending on your preference (starting from April)

If you’re experiencing difficulties, we offer weekly/fortnightly plans. This will show as a special arrangement (with monthly, fortnightly or weekly slips). We calculate each instalment by working out how much your unmetered bill is for the year and dividing it by the number of months. We’ll also take into account any credit or debit on your account. We don’t send confirmation that the payment plan has been paid and completed.

Metered instalment plans are spread over 12 months. At the end of the 12 months, your payment plan will be revised based on the last four bills on your account. At least one of these bills will be an actual meter reading, but some may be estimated. You can check this by looking at your bills, which you can access online.

If your last bill was estimated and you’re not happy with the amount we’ve calculated, you can provide an actual meter reading. Based on this reading we can then work out how much water you’ve used and use this to adjust your payment plan.

Find out more about reading your meter.

Payments by credit or debit card are free. We are unable to accept payments via American Express or Diners credit cards.

You can pay online through My Account or by using our pay now option.

Yes, if you would like to pay by cheque, please make them payable to South Staffs Water and write your customer reference on the back. Cheques will be processed within two days of us receiving them.

Send your cheque or postal order with the completed payment slip to:
South Staffs Water
P.O. Box 63
Walsall
WS2 7PJ

If a cheque is returned unpaid, we will make an administration charge of £5 to cover bank costs.

Please do not send cash in the post, as we won't be able to credit lost cash to your account.

You can find your nearest PayPoint by entering your postcode at PayPoint.com.

Direct Debit is the simplest and most convenient way for you to pay regular and occasional bills.

A Direct Debit is an instruction from you to your bank or building society. It authorises us to collect payments from your account – but only if we’ve given you advanced notice of the amounts and dates of collection.
Once you have agreed to these, the money is deducted automatically. If we want to change an amount or date of collection, we have to tell you about it first.

You can set up a Direct Debit online. You’ll need to register or log into My Account.

The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay by Direct Debit

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit we will notify you ten working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

If you request us to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.

If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by us or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.

If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when we ask you to.

You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

We understand that finding the money to pay your bill can sometimes be difficult, and if you’re struggling to meet your payments, we have a range of options available to support you, including special tariffs, payment breaks, and help from other organisations. 

Find out what help we have available to help you pay your bill. 

If you have a water meter installed at your property, you are classed as a metered customer. If you don’t have a meter, you are unmetered.

You can also tell this from the customer reference number on your bill. If your customer reference number starts with 'MC', then you have a water meter. If your customer reference number starts with 'UC', then you are billed using rateable value.

If you’re going away for a while, you will still need to pay for your water service.

If you have a bill to pay soon, please ensure you make the necessary arrangements before you leave.

If your property has a meter, your water bill will reflect the amount of water that has been used, but if not, and you regularly spend time away, you could consider switching to a meter.

If your home has a water meter fitted, it will tell us the amount of water that you have used, and you will be charged for it.

Water meters are approved for accuracy and tested by the manufacturers before leaving the factory. They need to meet the requirements of the Measuring Equipment Regulations 1988.

We send metered household customers a bill at least twice a year.

At least one bill each year will be based on an actual meter reading. If we don't have an actual reading, your bill will be based on an estimate. Estimated bills are calculated by averaging the daily consumption between two actual meter readings.

If you’re an unmetered customer, your bills are based on your property’s rateable value (RV).

Up until 1990, the rateable value for a property was set by the valuation office of your local council. The council set a separate rateable value for each property based on how much rent might be charged if it were rented out. It took into account the value and age of your property, the amount of land it occupies and the distance from local amenities. After this date, all newly built properties were fitted with a water meter, so rateable values were no longer allocated.

The rateable value of your property is detailed on your bill. To calculate your charges, we multiply the rateable value of your property, for example £275, by the charge which has been set for each £1 of rateable value.
It’s not possible to change the rateable value of your property.

If you’d like to be billed on how much water you actually use, you can apply for a meter.

If we have carried out a water meter survey and it shows that a meter can’t be fitted at a reasonable cost, we will offer you the alternative of paying an assessed charge for your water and sewerage services.

Assessed charges are based on your property type and not its rateable value (RV).

If your rateable value (RV) is lower than the assessed charge, then we would continue to charge on the basis of RV.

We can’t offer you assessed charges if:

• A meter can be fitted at a reasonable cost
• You refuse to pay any additional costs for the installation of a meter in an alternative location
• You refuse to carry out any work needed for the meter to be installed
  

Value added tax (VAT) is payable by some non-household customers and usually applies to businesses involved in manufacturing, engineering and construction processes.

VAT on water charges is payable by businesses that fall into divisions 1-5 of the 1980 edition of the Standard Industry Classifications (SIC).

A cubic metre is:
- 1000 litres.
- about 220 UK gallons
- enough water to fill a bath 13 times
-enough to make 4,000 cups of tea