Private water
Private water is about all forms of water consumption except tap water: i.e. groundwater, surface water, rainwater ...
What can you use your private water for?
By a private water supply, we mean installations with which you pump water from the ground or surface water. We therefore do not consider a cistern or rainwater tank to be a private water supply.
Billing
As a private water supply user, you must pay for the disposal and treatment of your waste water. This is based on the 'polluter pays' principle.
- When must you pay a water pollution tax?
- You are a small consumer (family) and have a private water supply.
- up to and including the 2025 tax year: for each private water supply
- from the 2026 tax year: only for private water supplies located in individually optimisable rural areas (red clusters on the zoning plan).
- You are a large consumer.
Do you use at least 500 m³ of water per year? In that case, you will continue to pay the water pollution tax.
Rates for large consumers
- You are a small consumer (family) and have a private water supply.
- What will change from the 2026 tax year onwards?
For all other zones (central areas, collectively optimisable rural areas and collectively optimised rural areas) the water pollution tax will be abolished.
This will be replaced by a supra-municipal fee. This will be charged by the drinking water companies as of 1 January 2026.
- How will you be invoiced from 2026 onwards?
- You have already been receiving an annual invoice in the autumn for the municipal fee (for the discharge of waste water from your private water supply).
- From 2026, the supra-municipal fee will be added to this (for the treatment of waste water from your private water supply).
Both fees will therefore appear on a single combined invoice.
- Flat-rate calculation
The principles for the flat-rate calculation remain the same:
- Purely private water supply users (private customers with only their private water supply): 30 m³ per person domiciled at the place of consumption on 1 January of the tax year.
Rates for purely private water supply users
- Users of mixed private water supply (private water + tap water): 10 m³ per person domiciled at the place of consumption on 1 January of the tax year.
Rates for users of mixed private water supply
- Legal entities: 500 m³ per year.
- Purely private water supply users (private customers with only their private water supply): 30 m³ per person domiciled at the place of consumption on 1 January of the tax year.
- VAT
As the water pollution tax will be converted into a supra-municipal fee from 2026, it will also be subject to 21% VAT.
Analysis
Under certain conditions, you can have your private water analysed free of charge in our laboratory.
More about analysis of private water
Changes in the use of private water supply
Are you moving to a home with a private water supply? Or are you commissioning a new private water supply? Please notify us of this as soon as possible.
You must also notify us in writing of the termination of your private water supply so that we can close the billing.