Forensics is an art as well as a science. The art is a creature of argument, entailing the formulation and presentation of complex lines of reason. The science is an application of methodically rigorous principles to the interpretation of data. Cadantis is an agency of argument and analysis capable of representing complex water cases throughout all market sectors by gathering the scientific and documentary evidence required to be successful. Cadantis Forensics is devoted to various areas of expertise within a single industry: the recovery of losses flowing from errors and oversights of UK water companies and water retailers.
The Company specialises in the following six sub-categories of cost recovery:
Surface Water Drainage Charges (SWD)
SWD is a charge levied by water companies for the disposal of rainwater, and surface and ground water from a site. Depending on the location, and a wholesaler’s Scheme of Charges, costs for these services (which can extend to charges for highway drainage) vary dramatically. Cadantis Forensics is uniquely equipped to challenge the current and historical bases for charging, spanning refunds, cancellations, reductions in chargeable areas, and abatements.
Asset Disputes
At its simplest, an Asset is a sewer legally vested with a water company – as distinguished from a private sewer or watercourse. If Cadantis Forensics concludes that a sewer is not in fact vested with a water company (and our Client is being charged for the use of such Assets) then we are able to challenge current as well as historical charges using the Company’s sophisticated forensic methodology, spanning Section 102 and 104 agreements under the Water Industry Act 1991.
Trade Effluent
The Water Industry Act 1991 defines trade effluent as “any liquid, either with or without particles of matter in suspension in the liquid, which is wholly or partly produced in the course of any trade or industry carried on at a trade premises.” Cadantis Forensics will investigate charges for trade effluent (which are routinely substantial) to establish whether they have been properly and accurately incurred. This is an extremely complex issue that compels sophisticated systems and data analysis, and draws on the MOGDEN formula, the now universally adopted measure of charging. We are experts at reviewing trade effluent consents and Clients’ internal processes in their interaction with MOGDEN criteria.
Water Balance
A water balance analysis will reveal inconsistencies between volumes of incoming supply as against outgoing discharge. Our Analysts are highly trained at disproving the water companies’ mythology that what comes in must go out; it’s proven very rarely to be that simple. The Company’s approach is designed to identify leakage, legitimacies of usage, and on-site inefficiencies.
Meters (Size, Supply and Accuracy)
Meters for the measurement of supply charges are owned by water companies and not their customers. It is imperative that a meter’s size and operation is audited properly to determine whether a Client is being charged accurately for the water being supplied. This is not a simple process, as some suggest, and Cadantis Forensics is the market leader in meter analysis, thanks in no small part to the development of its own tailor-made system of analytics.
Incorrect Billing
Incorrect billing embraces a multitude of sins, including site location (commonly arising from changes in occupation), charging methods and related taxation issues, and tariffs. Cadantis Forensics has an exceptional record in isolating and acting on incorrect water billing issues, the scale and ubiquity of which are often surprising.