How to Reduce Your Water Bill
The average UK water bill rose to £639 per year in April 2026 — up 5.4% on the year before, and over 30% higher than three years ago. Unlike energy, you cannot switch supplier. But there is plenty you can do to cut what you pay, from structural changes that save hundreds of pounds a year to free devices you can order today.
This guide covers every meaningful lever in order of impact — starting with the steps most likely to make a real difference to your bill.
Water Usage by Appliance
See exactly how many litres each appliance in your home uses per day and what it costs — then identify where to cut first.
See My Usage →At a Glance — What Saves the Most
Not all water-saving measures are equal. Here is a summary of the main actions ranked by typical annual saving, based on figures from the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), Waterwise, and the Energy Saving Trust:
| Action | Typical annual saving | Cost to you | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch to a water meter (smaller households) | £100–£300+ | Free | One application |
| WaterSure scheme (if eligible) | ~£325 average | Free | One application |
| Social tariff (if eligible) | ~40% off bill | Free | One application |
| Fix a leaking toilet | Up to £480/yr | £15–£30 DIY | Low |
| Fix a dripping tap | ~£18/yr per tap | £5–£10 DIY | Low |
| Low-flow shower head | £60–£100/yr | Free (via company) | 5 minutes to fit |
| Shorter showers (−2 min) | £30–£60/yr per person | Free | Habit change |
| Tap aerators (all taps) | ~£75/yr (water + energy) | Free (via company) | 5 minutes to fit |
| Cistern save-a-flush bag | £10–£20/yr | Free (via company) | 2 minutes to fit |
| Full loads — washer & dishwasher | £15–£40/yr | Free | Habit change |
| Turn off tap while brushing teeth | ~£15/yr per person | Free | Habit change |
| Water butt for garden | £20–£50/yr | £20–£40 (often free) | Low |
Typical Annual Saving by Action (metered household, £/year)
1. Get a Water Meter
For most smaller households, switching to a water meter is the single most impactful thing you can do. Without a meter, you pay a fixed charge based on your property's rateable value from 1990 — a number with no relationship to how much water you actually use.
With a meter, you pay only for what you use. The break-even point depends on your household, but the rule of thumb is straightforward: if you have fewer people in your home than bedrooms, a meter is very likely to save you money.
| Household | Typical metered cost | Typical unmetered cost | Likely saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person, 2-bed home | ~£293/yr | ~£480/yr | ~£187/yr |
| 2 people, 3-bed home | ~£461/yr | ~£580/yr | ~£119/yr |
| 3 people, 3-bed home | ~£630/yr | ~£580/yr | Meter likely costs more |
| 4 people, 3-bed home | ~£798/yr | ~£580/yr | Unmetered cheaper |
Installation is free in England and Wales. You have a 24-month trial period — if a meter costs you more after two years, you can ask to switch back to unmetered billing. Use the Meter vs Unmetered Calculator to check which is cheaper for your household before applying.
To apply, contact your water company directly — most have an online form. You can also use the How to Apply for a Water Meter guide for step-by-step instructions.
2. Check Whether You Qualify for Support Schemes
Before changing any habits or fitting any devices, it is worth checking whether you qualify for one of the schemes below. These can reduce your bill by far more than any behavioural change.
WaterSure
WaterSure is a national scheme available through every water company in England and Wales. It caps your metered bill at no more than your company's average household bill — regardless of how much water you actually use.
To qualify, you must be on a water meter, receiving at least one eligible benefit (such as Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, or Pension Credit), and either:
- have three or more children under 19 in full-time education, or
- have a medical condition that requires you to use a significant amount of extra water.
In 2024/25, the average WaterSure reduction was £325 per year. Following government reforms announced in March 2026, the scheme will be extended to cover around 300,000 households, with an additional saving of up to £100 for single-person households and ~£26 for multi-occupant households who were already on the scheme.
Contact your water company to apply. There is no deadline and no automatic enrolment — you need to ask.
Social Tariffs
All water companies in England and Wales are required to offer a social tariff — a discounted bill for customers on low incomes. The average discount across England and Wales in 2026/27 is around 40% off the standard bill. In 2026/27, around 2.5 million households benefit from social tariffs.
Eligibility criteria vary by company. Most assess a combination of income, household size, and benefit receipt. Some companies cap eligibility by income (one company requires equivalised weekly income under £400 after housing costs). Contact your water company directly or visit CCW's website to find out what your supplier offers.
Priority Services Register
If you are over State Pension age, have a disability, or have a medical dependency on water, registering for the Priority Services Register entitles you to free services including emergency water deliveries, large-print bills, and advance notice of supply interruptions. Contact your water company to register.
3. Fix Leaks — This Is Urgent on a Meter
Leaks are the most expensive and least visible problem in many metered households. Two culprits account for the vast majority of household water waste:
Leaking Toilet
A leaking toilet cistern can waste up to 400 litres per day — around £480 per year at average UK metered rates. Most toilet leaks are completely silent. The water seeps from the cistern into the bowl continuously, with no visible drip or sound.
To test your toilet: Put a few drops of food dye or a leak-test tablet (available free from most water companies) into the cistern. Do not flush. Wait 15 minutes. If any colour appears in the bowl, your cistern is leaking and needs repair.
The fix is usually a new toilet flapper valve or fill valve — a DIY job costing £15–£30 in parts, or a plumber callout of £60–£120 if you prefer. It is almost always worth doing immediately.
Dripping Tap
A tap dripping at one drip per second wastes around 5,500 litres per year — roughly 15 litres per day, costing around £18 per year per tap on a meter. The fix is usually a new tap washer: a 10-minute DIY job costing £5–£10.
Overnight Meter Test
If you suspect a leak but cannot find it, use the overnight meter test. Read your meter before bed — making sure no water will be used overnight (no dishwasher, washing machine, or dripping taps). Read the meter first thing in the morning before any water is used. If the reading has changed, you have a leak somewhere in your supply. Most water companies offer free leak detection visits — call yours if the reading moves.
4. Order Free Water-Saving Devices
Most UK water companies provide free water-saving devices to their customers. There are no eligibility requirements — any customer can request them. The main channel is getwaterfit.co.uk, a CCW-run platform where you enter your postcode and order devices tailored to your home. Some companies also operate their own direct schemes.
Typical free devices include:
| Device | What it does | Annual saving (metered) |
|---|---|---|
| Low-flow shower head | Reduces mixer/power shower flow by ~30–50% without reducing perceived pressure | £60–£100 (water + energy) |
| 4-minute shower timer | Suction-cup timer that sticks to the shower screen to prompt shorter showers | £30–£60 per person |
| Tap aerator inserts | Screws into tap spout; mixes air into the water stream, reducing flow by ~30% | £75 combined water and energy (Waterwise) |
| Cistern save-a-flush bag | Placed in toilet cistern; saves 1–2 litres per full flush | £10–£20 |
| Leaky loo test strips | Dye tablets that reveal silent cistern leaks | Up to £480 if a leak is found and fixed |
Note: low-flow shower heads are not compatible with electric showers, which are already water-efficient. They work best on mixer and power showers.
Some companies (including Southern Water) also offer free home visits where an engineer fits all compatible devices for you in one appointment. Contact your water company to ask whether this is available.
5. Cut Usage in the Bathroom
Showers, baths, and toilets account for around 55% of household water use. This is where behavioural change has the biggest impact.
Showers
Cutting two minutes off a mixer shower saves around 20 litres — roughly £24 per person per year on a meter. For a household of four, that is nearly £100 a year from a single habit change. A four-minute shower uses less water than any bath. The free shower timer from your water company is the simplest prompt to make this stick.
Shower type matters considerably:
- Electric shower: ~6 litres per minute — already the most efficient
- Mixer shower: ~10 litres per minute — a low-flow head halves this
- Power shower: ~14 litres per minute — an 8-minute power shower uses more than a full bath
Baths
A standard bath uses around 80 litres. Reducing the fill height by 5cm saves around 5 litres. Swapping one bath per week for a short shower saves around 30–50 litres per swap — worth roughly £6–£10 per person per year on a meter, and more in energy savings from not heating the water.
Toilets
If you have an older single-flush toilet using 13 litres per flush and flush five times per day, you use 23,725 litres per year on toilet flushing alone. Upgrading to a dual-flush model (4–6 litres full / 3 litres half) cuts this by more than half. For a family of four, replacing an old single-flush toilet can save over 35,000 litres per year.
If you cannot upgrade the toilet yet, a cistern displacement bag (free from your water company) saves 1–2 litres per flush with no change in performance.
Taps
A running tap uses 6 litres per minute. Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth for two minutes saves 12 litres per brush, per person — around 8,700 litres per year for one person brushing twice daily. At average UK metered rates, that is roughly £29 per person per year in saved water costs — plus a small energy saving from not running warm water.
6. Kitchen and Laundry
Washing Machine
A modern washing machine uses around 50 litres per standard cycle. Running two half-loads instead of one full load uses roughly 60% more water — the same wash for the same clothes costs 50% more. Always wait for a full load and use the eco setting where available: eco cycles typically use 30–40% less water.
Dishwasher
A full dishwasher cycle uses around 12–15 litres — significantly less than hand-washing the same load under a running tap (typically 30–60 litres). Run on eco mode when possible and always with a full load. Using a washing-up bowl instead of a running tap for hand-washing reduces usage from 6 litres per minute to a fixed 5–6 litres total.
Kitchen Tap Habits
Filling a jug of water and putting it in the fridge eliminates running the cold tap until it is cool enough to drink — saving around 10 litres per day in an average household. Using a bowl for rinsing vegetables saves a further 5–10 litres compared to rinsing under a running tap.
7. Garden and Outdoor Use
A garden hosepipe uses around 1,000 litres per hour. A single 30-minute watering session uses as much water as one person's entire indoor daily consumption. During dry periods, garden watering can become the single biggest item on a metered water bill without most people realising.
- Water butt: Collects free rainwater for garden use. A 200-litre water butt costs £20–£40 and is offered free by several water companies including Southern Water and some Anglian Water schemes. Saves 1–3 litres per day on average year-round, more in summer
- Water early morning or evening: Reduces evaporation by up to 25% compared to midday watering — same results with less water
- Trigger nozzle on hosepipe: Reduces flow by up to 50% compared to an open hose
- Watering can instead of hose: A watering can holds 8–10 litres; a 30-minute hosepipe session uses 500 litres
8. Check for Compulsory Metering in Water-Stressed Areas
If you live in a designated water-stressed area, your water company may be required to install meters compulsorily. This currently applies to most of Southern Water's region, parts of South East Water, Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Essex & Suffolk, and Thames Water's area.
In these areas, the usual 24-month trial period and the right to switch back to unmetered billing may not apply. If you are in a water-stressed area and have not yet been metered, it is worth requesting a meter voluntarily — you will at least have some control over the timing and can begin adjusting your usage before being switched over.
What Makes the Biggest Difference
To summarise: the actions most worth prioritising are those you do once and then benefit from every month — a meter, a leak fix, a free shower head. Habit changes like shorter showers and full appliance loads add up meaningfully but require sustained effort. The financial support schemes (WaterSure, social tariffs) are the highest-value actions of all for eligible households, and many people who qualify have never applied.
Use the Water Usage by Appliance calculator to see exactly where your water goes and which changes will save the most for your specific household.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single best way to reduce my water bill?
For most smaller households, getting a water meter is the highest-impact step — switching from a fixed rateable value charge to paying only for what you use. If you have fewer people than bedrooms, it almost always saves money. It is free, reversible within two years, and takes one application. Use the Meter vs Unmetered Calculator to check your household first.
What is the WaterSure scheme?
WaterSure caps the metered water bill of eligible households — those on qualifying benefits who either have three or more children under 19 in full-time education or have a medical condition requiring high water use. The average 2024/25 reduction was £325 per year. Government reforms in March 2026 extended the scheme to around 300,000 households. Contact your water company to apply — there is no automatic enrolment.
Can I get free water-saving devices?
Yes — most UK water companies offer free devices to all customers: low-flow shower heads, 4-minute shower timers, tap aerators, cistern bags, and leak test strips. Visit getwaterfit.co.uk or contact your water company directly. No eligibility criteria apply.
Does a leaking toilet really cost that much?
Yes. A leaking cistern can waste up to 400 litres per day — around £480 per year at average metered rates. Most leaks are silent. Test with food dye in the cistern: if colour reaches the bowl without flushing, repair is needed. The fix typically costs £15–£30 in parts.
What is a social tariff for water?
All water companies in England and Wales must offer a social tariff — a discounted bill for low-income customers. The average discount in 2026/27 is around 40%. Eligibility varies by company. Contact your water company or visit ccw.org.uk to check what your supplier offers and how to apply.
Summary
- Check WaterSure and social tariff eligibility first — eligible households can save £100–£325+ per year for free
- Get a water meter if you have fewer people than bedrooms — installation is free and reversible
- Fix leaks before anything else — a leaking toilet wastes up to £480/year silently
- Order free devices from your water company via getwaterfit.co.uk — shower heads, aerators, timers, cistern bags
- Shorter showers save ~£30/person/year — a 4-minute timer costs nothing and makes it easy
- Always run full loads on washing machine and dishwasher; use eco settings
- A water butt eliminates hosepipe use for garden watering — some companies fit them free
- Use the Water Usage by Appliance calculator to find your biggest water costs and prioritise the most impactful changes