Water charges and water consumption
In buildings with apartment-specific water meters, the tenant usually pays a water charge according to their water consumption. If there is no apartment-specific water meter, water is included in the rent.
Water charges
Water included in the rent
If there is no apartment-specific water meter, water is included in the rent. In some properties the water is included in the rent. The use of water is included in the rental amount in the rent calculation. This means that the rent in these properties is slightly higher than it would be if the water was billed separately. Thus, the resident does not use the water free of charge but pays for the water in connection with his rent according to the average water consumption.
Water charge based on consumption
In some Heka propeties, a resident pays for water according to actual consumption. At the moment, water consumption is invoiced with a monthly water bill according based to your actual consumption or every three months with advance payments.
- Price of cold domestic water 1,64 € m²+ price of wastewater 1,93 € / m² = price charged for cold water 3,57 € / m²
- + water heating 4,92 € / m² = price charged for hot water 8,49 €/ m².
- Price of cold domestic water 4,16 € / m²
- Price of hot domestic water 9,98 € / m²
Monthly water bill
You will be sent a separate water bill according to your actual consumption on a monthly basis. We have sent additional information about water billing to all tenants subject to monthly water billing on December 2023.
The water consumption for example January will be invoiced in February, and the invoice will be due in March.
Please note that in January 2024 you will receive a water bill for the period October–December 2023. If you receive a credit note and have no debt, you can deduct the credit amount from your next month’s rent.
The advance water charge is 15 euros per month per tenant
Consumption-based water billing uses advance invoicing. An advance water charge of €15/person/month will be added to the rent invoice, based on the number of occupants listed in the register of occupants. For example, the advance water charge for a family of four will be 4 x 15 euros, i.e. a total of 60 euros a month.
The advance water charge is invoiced based on the number of occupants recorded in the register of occupants. If there are changes to the number of occupants, e.g. someone in your household has moved out, or a baby is born into the family, you need to inform Heka of these changes on the Resident Portal.
If an underage child registered as living in the apartment lives in the apartment only some of the time (every other week, for example), the advance water payment can be halved for the children. Request halving of the advance water payment via the Resident Portal, for example.
Advance water payments cannot be interrupted for the duration of a holiday or a longer period of time spent away from home.
Balance invoicing is every three months
We will send you a balancing invoice every three months, in which the advance you have paid will be taken into consideration. The billing rhythm:
- January-March, billing in April
- April-June, billing in July
- July-September, billing in October
- October-December, billing in January.
Refunding of advance water payment
If the consumption of water during the invoicing period is lower than the paid advance water payment, the difference will be refunded to the resident.
If you do not have rent or other debt to be paid to Heka, you can deduct the refund from your next month’s rent.
If at the time of invoicing, you have rent or other debt to be paid to Heka, we will transfer the refund to cover it.
If you do not deduct the refund from your rent yourself, you can request that the excess you have paid be returned to your account once the refundable sum is over EUR 10.
If the consumption of water during the invoicing period is higher than the advance water payment, we will invoice you for the share not paid in the advance payment every three months with so-called balance invoices i.e. water bills.
If you do not have rent or other debt to be paid to Heka, you can deduct the refund from your next month’s rent.
If the refund sum in the credit note has not automatically reduced the sum in the next month’s e-invoice, deduct the refund sum from your usual rent in your online bank.
If you pay the rent monthly in your online bank, deduct the refund sum from the total sum you would pay normally.
At your request, we can pay a refund of at least EUR 10 directly to your account Provide us with your account number in the Resident Portal (Settings – My information) and submit a refund request (Messages – New message). The money will be returned in about a week if your bank account information is correct in Heka’s database.
We do not pay interest on the refund.
Water consumption
The average Heka resident consumes about 15o litres of tap water in a day. At the current pace, washing yourself takes 60 litres, flushing the toilet takes 40 litres, working in the kitchen takes 35 litres and washing the laundry takes 20 litres, all in a single day.
- A quick shower saves both money and the environment. In addition to water, heating energy is also saved.
- Turn off the tap while you use soap and the shower while you shampoo your hair.
- Do not run water in the sink unnecessarily. Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth, soap up your hands or shave.
- Only use the washing machine and the dishwasher to wash full loads. Using a dishwasher consumes less water than washing by hand. If you wash your dishes by hand, use a sink filled with water instead of washing the dishes under running water.
- Watering balcony and yard plants should be done on a cloudy day, early in the morning or at sunset, so that as little as possible water evaporates into the air. Pour the water directly into the soil at the base of the plant so that the water goes directly to the roots. Favour irrigation pots for your balcony plants.
Submit a defect notification on a faulty faucet and plumbing as soon as you notice a leak. A leaking faucet can consume up to hundreds of litres of water per month.
Toilets in particular are a typical source of water leaks. You can check if the toilet is leaking by placing a piece of toilet paper on the back wall of the toilet. In an intact toilet, the paper stays in place, but in a leaky one, it gets wet and slides down.
Maintenance and repair work carried out on the property or in the water supply network may disturb the water supply. Maintenance and repair work on the heat distribution can disturb the supply of hot water. If there is no water coming out of the tap and you have not been notified of the water supply cut in advance, proceed as follows:
- Check the resident page to see if there is information about the water supply cut and instructions for what to do during the interruption.
- The distribution of cold water is the responsibility of the Helsinki Region Environmental Services HSY. Go to HSY web page to see if there is a disturbance in cold water distribution in your area. From there, you can also see where the possible temporary water supply point is located.
- If the water coming out of the tap is only cold and not warm, this is probably due to a disturbance in heat distribution. Wait for the disturbance to end.