Your water experts are on hand Monday to Friday between 9.00am - 5.00pm. You can contact us on 0330 123 2000 during these hours for expert advice. Outside of these hours, your regional wholesaler should be your first point of contact.
FAQs
This could be down to a change in your water usage, a burst pipe or meter (which could be visible or hidden), or you might be on a shared supply and experiencing an increase due to usage elsewhere. Call us on 0330 123 2000 and we can help you resolve this.
Turn off the supply at the stop tap and observe your water meter to identify if the meter is still registering consumption. You could also take a meter reading when your business is closed and then again the following morning, or at a time when consumption should be zero and again in use. This will help identify if water consumption has been registered.
Call us on 0330 123 2000 to discuss the balance on your account if you believe you have a credit. You can choose to transfer this to another account with us, or we may send you a refund by cheque. Credit balances can only be refunded if your business has no other accounts with a debit balance.
Our authorisation process carefully checks all payments and credit refunds to ensure they are correct. This process can take 10 business days. We appreciate your patience whilst we get this right.
If you’ve received a bill from us it’s because your commercial property has a live connection to the water and waste water network in Scotland or England. Since April 2017, all properties in Scotland regardless of occupancy status are liable for water and waste water charges. You can find out more about this here www.gov.scot. If you were previously a Southern Water customer who has been transferred to Business Stream, you can find more information and answers to FAQs here.
You might not have entered in to a Business Stream fixed term contract, or have switched from another provider. But there are a few reasons why we might still send you a bill. If your commercial property has been identified as occupied, but doesn’t have a provider actively billing water and waste water services, then it may have been assigned to us as a gap site by the wholesaler. This can happen when the previous tenant has notified us of your occupation. These sites are transferred to Business Stream. Call us if you have any other questions about this.
We’ve got a handy online tool to help you understand each area of your bill, you’ll find it here.
This only applies to sites in Scotland. Live Rateable Value was introduced by the Scottish Government in April 2018. Changes to charges are being phased over 3 years.
Each time we make an amendment to your account we are required to issue a bill to show this. Unfortunately, this can sometimes result in multiple bills. We encourage all of our customers to sign up to receive eBilling by registering their account on My Business Stream or on our app.
We are required to obtain at least two actual meter readings per year. If you’ve not had your meter read recently, you may be in an estimated bill period before the meter is due to be read again. Otherwise, we might have missed you at a time when there was no access to the property. We normally advise you of this by leaving a card.
You can submit a meter reading online at any time through My Business Stream or on our app.
Our service is award-winning and we work hard to get it right for you. But if you’re unhappy with the service we’ve provided then you’ll find more information here about how to contact us. We will always take your feedback onboard, and work with you to resolve your problem as quickly as possible.
Smart meters
Smart meters are being rolled out to help make monitoring your water use simpler, more accurate and more efficient for customers. They automatically send meter readings for every hour of every day, so you don’t need to submit them manually or rely on estimates. This means bills will be more accurate and the more granular consumption data will make it easier to manage usage, identify any spikes in consumption, and reduce costs.
Unlike traditional meters, which have to be read manually, a smart meter automatically records your water use in near real-time, helping you track your usage more accurately and spot leaks faster, saving water and money.
Smart meter upgrades are being rolled out in phases. Wholesalers are working to different timelines, but most English wholesalers are aiming to complete their roll out of smart meters by 2035.
Learn more about your water wholesaler’s specific roll-out timeline on their website.
No, your smart meter will be installed and maintained by your wholesaler for free.
Your wholesaler is required to install your smart meter as part of a national roll-out. You do not have to sign up for the installation.
Once your smart meter has been installed, there may be a period of time where we’ll continue to take meter readings manually before your water wholesaler is able to connect the new meter to the communications network (‘smart enabled’).
During this period, you can also provide your own meter readings (where it is safe to do so) to ensure your bills are as accurate as possible.
Upload a meter reading on our website here (opens in a new window)or go to 'Submit a meter reading' on your My Business Stream Account.
Meter reads from smart meters will show on bills as soon as the smart meter has been installed and enabled, which means the communications network is up and running and smart meter reads are being transmitted.
Wholesalers will begin sharing smart meter data with retailers through a central Smart Meter Read Hub, which is expected to become mandatory from December 2026. Once we start to receive this data, we’ll make it available to our customers through our online portal, My Business Stream. We’ll share more details on this as the smart meter roll‑out progresses.
If you have a data logger fitted to your current meter, your wholesaler is responsible for identifying this in advance of your smart meter fitting and for contacting us to consult on the exchange. You do not need to remove your device in advance.
A data logger (also sometimes referred to as AMR) is an additional device that is retrofitted to a traditional water meter. It records detailed consumption data, but the data has to be collected via a direct network connection or through proximity reading (often called “drive-by” reading).
Smart meters are water meters which automatically send regular consumption data back to the water wholesaler via their systems. This provides us with near real-time visibility of your usage, typically on an hourly basis.
We’re committed to supporting the roll-out of smart meters because they play an important role in improving the service we provide and helping us all protect our water resources for the future.
Under the Water Industry Act, water wholesalers have the right to install smart meters at business premises and customers don’t have the right to refuse.
There may be a brief water supply interruption during installation. Your wholesaler will communicate with you on site about this.
When your site has been registered for smart meter installation by your wholesaler, we’ll write to you in advance and let you know what to expect.
You can learn more about your water wholesaler’s smart meter installation plan by visiting their website. If you’re not sure who your wholesaler is, you can find your water wholesalers details on our webpage.
For more information about the smart meter roll-out and installation plans across England, you can view MOSL’s smart meter implementation map.
