What do I pay for?
Water
This is the clean water we supply to your home. We measure the amount of water that passes through your meter and use this to calculate your bill. We measure this in cubic metres 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, reading your water meter and maintaining public pipes and sewers.
Did you know?
1 cubic metre is 1000 litres, which is around 12 baths full of water or 3,334 cups of tea!
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 cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 179.57p |
| York Waterworks | 101.72p |
| Sewerage | Charge per cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 188.86p |
| Highway drainage charge* | 18.91p |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 207.77p |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water | £33.81 |
| Sewerage | £13.42 |
| Surface water | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Surface water charge | £55.96 |
*Charges apply for the 1st April 2024*
Charges for 2023-24
Charges for 2023-24
| Water | Charge per cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 160.81p |
| York Waterworks | 91.09p |
| Sewerage | Charge per cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 178.79p |
| Highway drainage charge* | 17.90p |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 196.69p |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water | £32.63 |
| Sewerage | £13.87 |
| Surface water | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Surface water charge | £54.89 |
*Charges apply for the 1st April 2023*
Charges for 2022-23
Charges for 2022-23
| Water | Charge per cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 149.07p |
| York Waterworks | 84.44p |
| Sewerage | Charge per cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 169.25p |
| Highway drainage charge* | 16.94p |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 186.19p |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water | £29.37 |
| Sewerage | £10.90 |
| Surface water | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Surface water charge | £50.25 |
Charges for 2021-22
| Water | Charge per cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 142.44p |
| York Waterworks | 80.68p |
| Sewerage | Charge per cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 166.09p |
| Highway drainage charge* | 16.63p |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 182.72p** |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water | £28.32 |
| Sewerage | £10.21 |
| 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 cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire (excluding York Waterworks) | 138.85p |
| York Waterworks | 78.65p |
| Sewerage | Charge per cubic metre used |
|---|---|
| Foul charge | 163.00p |
| Highway drainage charge* | 16.32p |
| Total sewerage charge (foul + highway drainage) | 179.32p** |
| Standing charges | Fixed charge per year |
|---|---|
| Water | £25.47 |
| Sewerage | £12.93 |
| 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 | £25.09 |
| Volumetric charge per cubic metre used | 137.75p |
| Water - York Waterworks | |
| Standing charge per year | £25.09 |
| Volumetric charge per cubic metre used | 78.03p |
| Sewerage | |
| Standing charge per year | £12.17 |
| Volumetric charge per cubic metre used | 173.18p |
| Surface Water Standing Charge | £44.37 |
Charges for 2018-19
| Water - Yorkshire (excluding York waterworks) | |
|---|---|
| Standing charge per year | £24.07 |
| Volumetric charge per cubic metre used | 134.80p |
| Water - York Waterworks | |
| Standing charge per year | £24.07 |
| Volumetric charge per cubic metre used | 76.36p |
| Sewerage | |
| Standing charge per year | £12.15 |
| Volumetric charge per cubic metre used | 167.18p |
| Surface Water Standing Charge | £43.50 |
How we work out your monthly payments
If you’re a new customer, we’ll base your payments on the amount of water we expect the number of people in your home to use.
Once you’ve been with us a while, we look at the balance on your account and your last two meter readings. We use these numbers to work out what your charges will be for the next year.
We normally review your payments every 12 months, but if we see a big change in your water use, we may amend your payments sooner.
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.