Portsmouth Water: Supplier info, Rates & Contact details

Portsmouth Water, the award-winning water provider, supplies more than 698,000 customers across Portsmouth and South East England. Portsmouth Water has a long and diverse history, and today their aim is to ‘supply drinking water of the highest quality, providing high levels of customer service and excellent value for money’.

Portsmouth Water Company

Founded in July 1857 as the Borough of Portsmouth Waterworks Company, Portsmouth Water has been serving the population of Portsmouth for over 160 years. Back then, Portsmouth had a community of just 70,000 people.

Today, Portsmouth Water supplies not only Portsmouth, but also the neighbouring towns and cities, including Gosport, Fareham, Havant, Chichester and Bognor Regis, and even as far afield as South East Hampshire and West Sussex.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Portsmouth Water underwent rapid growth and expansion, agreeing to mergers and takeovers that made the company one of the largest water suppliers in the UK.

Privatisation of utilities in the late 80s started a period of investment for Portsmouth Water and since then, there have been continuous upgrades and improvements in treatment works, water mains, and pumping stations.

More recently, Portsmouth Water won the RoSPA Order of Distinction in 2020 and was accredited with the ServiceMark from The Institute of Customer Service, which has a three-year validity from May 2021 until May 2024.

Since 2018, Portsmouth Water has been controlled by Ancala Partners, who are an investor in mid-market infrastructure and have made substantial investments in Portsmouth Water infrastructure. In June 2021, Ancala Partners pledged to invest £120M in the funding of the Havant Thicket Reservoir, the first reservoir to be built in the UK since the 1980s. This will enable Portsmouth Water and Southern Water, who are partners in the project, to deliver 21 million litres of water a day once the reservoir is operational in 2029.

Portsmouth Water Contact

There are many ways to contact Portsmouth Water. We’ve listed all the ways you can contact Portsmouth Water below so that you can get in touch with the supplier regarding your water inquiry.

Portsmouth Water Phone Numbers

Portsmouth Water Email Address

You can also choose to email Portsmouth Water. Their email address is [email protected]

Portsmouth Water Address

Maybe you would prefer your inquiry in writing. If that’s the case, then writing to the Portsmouth Water address will see your inquiry handled. The Portsmouth Water address is:

PO Box 99
West Street
Havant
Hampshire
PO9 1LG

Portsmouth Water Other Contact

You can also use LiveChat via their website. You don’t need an account or need to login to use LiveChat with Portsmouth Water. Just click the chat option on the website and wait for an advisor to reply.

Portsmouth Water Login

Portsmouth Water has an easy-to-use customer portal for managing your account online from your computer, phone or tablet. To register for an online account, you only need your email address and a password. You can also register by linking your Google or Facebook account.

Once registered, you can manage your account online and can opt to receive eBills, which are an excellent way to cut down on paper waste and help the environment.

Portsmouth Water Bill

If you live in an area supplied by Portsmouth Water, you will receive a Portsmouth Water bill. Depending on whether your property has a water meter installed will mean having a metered tariff or unmetered tariff.

A metered tariff will mean the amount of water you consume calculates your Portsmouth Water bill.

An unmetered tariff means Portsmouth Water will calculate your Portsmouth Water bill using your home’s rateable value (RV).

What is Rateable Value? Rateable Value or RV is the value of your property in March 1990 and is used to calculate an unmetered Portsmouth Water bill.

Portsmouth Water Payment Options

Portsmouth Water offers six forms of payment for its customers:

• Direct Debit
• Pay online
• By telephone
• Online banking or bank transfer
• At any PayPoint retailer
• By Water Direct

Direct Debit is the simplest way to pay and you can choose to pay in one, two, or up to eight monthly payments. You can even choose which day of the month you would like to pay, with choices of the 1st, 8th, 15th or 28th of every month.

Setting up a Portsmouth Water Direct Debit couldn’t be easier. Head over to the website and fill out the form. Portsmouth Water will then set up the Direct Debit so you never have to worry about paying your Portsmouth Water bill on-time again.

Pay online is available to customers who have signed up for a Portsmouth Water online account and their secure online platform accepts most major credit and debit cards, but not American Express or Diners Card. To pay online, you will need to have your bill to hand and know your customer account number

Pay by telephone is another excellent way to pay Portsmouth Water bill, accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You just need to make a call to the freephone number and follow the instructions. Like with pay online, you will need to have your bill to hand and know your customer account number to pay by telephone.

Pay by bank transfer or online banking is straightforward, just make a transfer to the Portsmouth Water bank account.

When making a bank transfer, remember to include your customer account number in the concept to make sure it links the payment to your Portsmouth Water account.

PayPoint Retailer is a handy way to pay your Portsmouth Water bill as you can find a PayPoint location in your nearby convenience store or Post Office. This option is available to customers who pay by instalments

Water Direct is perfect for customers who are struggling to pay their Portsmouth Water bill and are claiming Income Support, Income-based Job Seekers Allowance or Pension Credit. Water Direct allows your Jobcentre Plus to pay your Portsmouth Water bill to Portsmouth Water.

To set up Water Direct, call or write to Portsmouth Water, or contact your local Jobcentre Plus office.

Portsmouth Water Refund

If you’ve overpaid your Portsmouth Water bill, your account will be in-credit. This could be because of several reasons, such as:

1. Your direct debit is more than your consumption
2. They have underestimated your measured bill
3. You’ve moved address
4. They have placed you on a different, cheaper tariff
5. Or for another reason

Should you find yourself in credit for your Portsmouth Water bill, you can either use the balance now, or in the future, to pay or reduce the bill, or you can ask for a refund.

Once you request the refund, Portsmouth Water will check the amount requested and cross-reference it against any outstanding bills or accounts you may have with them.

Portsmouth Water will then issue your refund in the same way that you paid it and you will receive the refund in seven to 10 working days from the request.

Portsmouth Water Rates

Portsmouth Water rates are some of the lowest in the UK. The average bill for a Portsmouth Water customer is £97 a year. For customers on one of their social tariffs, the average Portsmouth Water bill drops to just £75 a year. When compared to the UK average water bill, which is currently £408 a year, Portsmouth Water is really great value for money.

From 2020 to 2025, Portsmouth Water has set out an ambitious plan to keep the water bills as low as possible and will continue to invest wisely in the infrastructure and service to keep the Portsmouth Water bills down.

Portsmouth Water Meter Reading

If you have a water meter at your property, then you will need to provide Portsmouth Water with a regular meter reading to avoid being charged an estimated bill for your water consumption.

If you have a traditional type of water meter, you must read the numbers that are in black and ignore the numbers that are in red.

Should you have the newer smart water meter, a reading is unnecessary as Portsmouth Water will receive the readings automatically.

You can read more about meter types in our essential guide to water meters.

Portsmouth Water Meters

Portsmouth Water has two options for your water supply, metered and unmetered. Currently, Portsmouth Water operates compulsory metering in certain circumstances, which means you will be obligated to have a water meter installed in the following circumstances:

1. You water your garden in any manner other than by hand.
2. You have a double bath - this is any bath that is over 230 litres in capacity.
3. Your property has a swimming pool or pond that is replenished automatically and is over 10,000 litres in capacity.
4. Your property is in an area of serious water stress. This is determined by the Secretary of State.
5. Your property has a Reverse Osmosis Type Water Softener system.

Should your home meet the above conditions, Portsmouth Water may decide to install a water meter at your home. This is compulsory if they deem it to be so.

For an empty property, or when there is a change of occupier, Portsmouth Water may also decide to install a water meter.

If you do not have a water meter at your property but would like to have one installed, you can request Portsmouth Water install one for you. Unless you meet compulsory meter circumstances, they are entirely optional but could save you money. If you are having an optional water meter installed, you have 24 months to decide if you want to keep the water meter or revert to an unmetered supply.

In all cases, a water meter remains the property of Portsmouth Water and you should never tamper with it. If you consider the water meter to be faulty, contact Portsmouth Water to report it.

You can apply for a water meter on the Portsmouth Water website, by telephone, or in writing. Installation of a water meter will usually take place around one month from the time you request it. Should your meter installation take over three months, Portsmouth Water will make a retrospective adjustment to your bill.

Portsmouth Water Quality

Portsmouth Water supplies only the highest quality water and has a rating of 99.96% in overall mean zonal compliance from the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate.

Portsmouth Water Hardness

Water supplied by Portsmouth Water comes from the South Downs, which has some of the best natural water quality in the country. However, due to it being a chalk source, they rated the water as moderately hard.

Though this can have a negative impact on your home appliances, such as your dishwasher or kettle, the chalky South Downs water contains natural calcium and magnesium salts, giving the Portsmouth Water taste a crispness that is pleasant and fresh. Also, magnesium and calcium are essential minerals that our bodies require.

Your home appliances might build up limescale because of the hardness of the Portsmouth water. We recommend you check your postcode to find out how hard the water is for your home and take steps to avoid limescale build-up such as:

1. Baths, sinks and toilets - Use an acidic sanitiser regularly to clean surfaces in order to clear limescale deposits.
2. Kettles - Do not overfill your kettle with water and try to avoid reboiling your kettle.
3. Dishwashers - Take advantage of the built-in water softener. Make sure you regularly top it off with dishwasher salt in the compartment.