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Glossary
Water standards and regulation

What is Ofwat non-household market?

Definition

The non-household water market is England's competitive retail market in which businesses, charities and public bodies choose their water and wastewater retailer, while regional wholesalers keep running the pipes.

Who it covers

The market opened on 1 April 2017. MOSL, the market operator, says more than 1.2 million business customers can choose their retail water and wastewater supplier, and it runs the central data, switching and settlement. Retailers handle billing, meter reading and customer service; wholesalers treat and move the water. Multi-site estates often consolidate onto one retailer to get a single bill.

Regulator reform under way

On 21 July 2025 the UK government announced that Ofwat will be abolished and its functions merged with the water functions of the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate into one new regulator, with economic regulation devolved in Wales. Ofwat stays in place during the transition, and the change needs a Water Reform Bill, so market rules continue for now.

Checking a retailer's bill against your own data

Business bills are often built from infrequent reads or estimates. Aqueduct's bill validation compares the volume a retailer charges against sub-meter totals for the same period, and separates a cost change caused by usage from one caused by a tariff change. Night flow on private pipework shows a leak before the next read does.

Questions

Ofwat non-household market: common questions

The non-household water market lets eligible business customers in England pick who bills them for water and wastewater. Ofwat regulates it, MOSL operates its central systems, retailers compete on service and price, and the wholesaler in each region keeps the network. Aqueduct supports the bill side through utility bill validation.

No. The same wholesaler supplies the water and maintains the network; only billing, reads and service move to the new retailer. Leaks on the customer's side of the meter stay the customer's responsibility after a switch, so private pipework still needs its own monitoring.

No. Scotland runs its own separate business water market, so a portfolio spanning both needs two retail arrangements. Each market has its own rules and settlement, which makes consistent sub-meter data across sites more useful when comparing bills from different retailers.

Compare the billed volume with metered use for the same period, and check whether any change came from consumption or from tariff. Aqueduct does this with sub-meter totals and rate configuration, and night flow on private pipework catches leaks that would otherwise inflate the next bill.

See Aqueduct on your own facility.

Bring a site, a utility bill or a question. We will show you where the loss is.

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