What do I pay for?
Water
This is the clean water we supply to your home that comes out of your taps. We'll base this charge on the rateable value (RV) of your property and the cost of your water will be different if you live in a York Waterworks area.
Sewerage
This covers both foul and highway drainage charges. The foul charge is for taking away and cleaning 95% of the water you've used. The highway drainage charge is for taking away and treating the water that drains from public roads and footpaths.
Surface water
This charge is for taking away all the rainwater that falls on your home through public sewers. If your surface water doesn’t go into a public sewer, you can apply for a rebate.
Standing charges
This covers the cost of billing, customer service and maintaining public pipes and sewers.
What is rateable value?
Rateable values are used by water companies to work out how much to charge people without a water meter. They were used for everyone's bills until 1990. Rateable values were decided between 1973 and 1990 by the Valuation Office of the Inland Revenue and were loosely based on the annual rental value of the property.
What is York Waterworks?
York Waterworks customers moved over to Yorkshire Water in 2000. When this happened, it was agreed that customers within this boundary would still receive their lower rate. You can see if you are in a York Waterworks area by comparing the charges on your bill to those on this page. If you are unsure whether you are within the boundary, you can check on our area map.
Charges for 2024-25
| Water | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 206.68p |
| York Waterworks | 118.04p |
| Sewerage | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 191.63p |
| Highway drainage charge | 19.18p |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 210.81p |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water - Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | £64.52 |
| York Waterworks | £53.74 |
| Sewerage | £15.28 |
| Surface water | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Surface water charge | £55.96 |
*Charges apply from 1st April 2024*
Charges for 2023-24
| Water | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 183.88p |
| York Waterworks | 105.02p |
| Sewerage | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 187.96p |
| Highway drainage charge | 18.82p |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 206.78p |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water - Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | £59.47 |
| York Waterworks | £49.88 |
| Sewerage | £15.70 |
| Surface water | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Surface water charge | £54.98 |
*Charges apply from 1st April 2023*
Charges for 2022-23
| Water | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 169.52p |
| York Waterworks | 96.82p |
| Sewerage | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 171.06p |
| Highway drainage charge* | 17.12 |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 188.18p |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water - Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | £55.67 |
| York Waterworks | £46.83 |
| Sewerage | £15.03 |
| Surface water | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Surface water charge | £50.25 |
Charges for 2021-22
| Water | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 162.30p |
| York Waterworks | 92.69p |
| Sewerage | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 172.26p |
| Highway drainage charge* | 17.24 |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 189.50p** |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water - Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | £53.43 |
| York Waterworks | £44.96 |
| Sewerage | £14.21 |
| Surface water | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Surface water charge | £50.61 |
*Prior to 2020-2021 the cost for highway drainage was not shown separately but was included within your sewerage rateable charge.
Charges for 2020-21
| Water | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 156.96p |
| York Waterworks | 89.64p |
| Sewerage | Charge per £ of RV |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 167.08p |
| Highway drainage charge* | 16.73 |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 183.80p** |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water | £49.62 |
| Sewerage | £13.48 |
| Surface water | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Surface water charge | £49.08 |
*Prior to 2020-2021 the cost for highway drainage was not shown separately but was included within your sewerage rateable charge.
** Charges do not add up due to roundings.
Charges for 2019-20
| Water - Yorkshire (excluding York waterworks) | |
|---|---|
| Standing charge per year | £47.14 |
| Unmetered charge per £ of RV | 150.85p |
| Water - York Waterworks | |
| Standing charge per year | £39.25 |
| Unmetered charge per £ of RV | 86.15p |
| Sewerage | |
| Standing charge per year | £12.84 |
| Unmetered charge per £ of RV | 178.43p |
| Surface Water | £45.07 |
Charges for 2018-19
| Water - Yorkshire (excluding York waterworks) | |
|---|---|
| Standing charge per year | £46.20 |
| Unmetered charge per £ of RV | 145.88p |
| Water - York Waterworks | |
| Standing charge per year | £38.57 |
| Unmetered charge per £ of RV | 83.31p |
| Sewerage | |
| Standing charge per year | £12.60 |
| Unmetered charge per £ of RV | 169.15p |
| Surface Water | £43.27 |
You could pay less with a water meter
Depending on how much water you use and how many people are in your home, you could save money by having a water meter installed. To apply for a meter or find out how much you could save please visit our water meter page.
Need a little help?
Help paying your bill
We don't want anyone to have to worry about paying their water bills, so please get in touch or apply for one of our schemes.
Priority services
We want to make sure everyone is happy and safe, and we have lots of ways to help make that happen - you just need to let us know how we can help.