Non-residential water & sewer

Most non-residential customers receive a bill from Hunter Water three times a year. Water and sewer charges for residential customers consist of a fixed service charge and a usage charge.

Water charges for non-residential customers are made up of:

• A fixed water service charge for operating the water system – the size of the meter / water service determines the charge.
• A water usage charge is applied to the volume of water used by an individual customer.  There are three tiers of water usage charges:

NB: Tier 3 charges are location based and the usage price varies according to where each property is located within Hunter Water’s area of operations.

Sewer charges for non-residential customers are made up of:

• A fixed sewer service charge that covers most of the costs of operating the sewer system. The sewer service charge is determined by the size of the water meter and the volume of sewage assessed as being discharged into the sewerage system, known as the Sewer Discharge Factor (SDF). The SDF represents the proportion of metered water consumption discharged to the sewer.

The SDF varies according to typical levels of sewer discharge for the customer’s enterprise.  For the majority of customers, a SDF is applied within one of five categories of assessed discharge:

Category 1 – 0%: No connection to the sewerage system.

Category 2 – 25%: A small proportion of metered water is discharged to the sewerage system.  Typical enterprises with a 25% SDF include nurseries and market gardens.

Category 3 – 50%: Around half of metered water is discharged to the sewerage system.  Typical enterprises with a 50% SDF include licensed clubs with catering facilities and substantial external watering eg bowling greens.

Category 4 – 75%: A significant proportion of metered water is discharged to the sewerage system.  Typical enterprises with a 75% SDF include a public swimming pool with showering/toilet facilities and external watering.

Category 5 – 100%: Most, if not all, of metered water is discharged to the sewerage system.  Restaurants and hotels typically have a SDF of 100%.

The categories have been developed over time based on reasonable assumptions and information available regarding the typical types of enterprises.  In cases where the customer is able to provide accurate data to reflect actual flows to the sewer, a specific SDF can be applied. However, in many cases, collecting this data is either not possible or the cost of doing so would be prohibitive.

If you consider that the SDF applied to your property is incorrect, and you have objective and verifiable evidence that it should be adjusted, contact Hunter Water.

• A sewer usage charge which is based on the volume of wastewater assessed to be discharged to Hunter Water’s sewerage system. For non-residential properties this is estimated using the same SDF as applied to the sewer drainage charge.
• An Environmental Improvement Charge, which contributes to the cost of providing sewerage to established but unsewered areas in the Lower Hunter.