What is a surface water drainage rebate?
It is a refund and a reduction for businesses being charged to drain rainwater into the public sewer when it does not actually go there. If your roof and yard water drains to a soakaway, a watercourse or a private system, you can apply to have the charge removed — and wholesalers will often backdate it.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026 by Utilities Made Simple · independent, whole-of-market, supplier-paid — how we are paid
Who tends to qualify
- Rural and semi-rural sites draining to soakaways or ditches.
- Industrial units and yards with their own drainage arrangements.
- Farms, garden centres, kennels, caravan parks and similar.
- Sites next to a watercourse that rainwater discharges into directly.
Sites in dense urban areas connected to a combined sewer generally do not qualify — the charge is correct in that case.
How to check
Look at where the downpipes and yard gullies go. Follow them if you can, or look for a drainage plan in the building's paperwork. If everything visibly disappears into a soakaway or discharges to a ditch, you have a case worth making.
Applying
- Apply through your water retailer, who deals with the wholesaler.
- Provide a site plan marking the drainage, and photographs of the outfalls or soakaways.
- Ask for the charge to be removed going forward and for a backdated refund. The backdating period is at the wholesaler's discretion and varies, so ask what they will consider.
- Expect a site inspection on larger claims.
Worth doing?
Surface water drainage is a meaningful proportion of many business water bills, and it is charged every year until somebody stops it. It is the single most commonly missed water saving we see, and it costs nothing to check.
Ask an energy specialist
If your question is not answered above, send it to us. A specialist answers personally, normally within one working day. No sales call, no obligation — and if the answer is "your deal is fine", that is what you will get.
Want this checked against your own bill?
Email a recent bill to info@utilitiesms.co.uk and a specialist will check your rates, VAT, levies and contract end date against the live market — free, usually the same working day. If your deal is already good, we will tell you to keep it.