A practical starting point for drinking water in a rented home
Water supply follows your address, while responsibility for paying it depends on your rental arrangement. Identify the likely company, check whether water is included in the rent and keep the meter reading from key handover. Our supplier profiles, city guides and moving checklist help you reach the right official next step.
How water supply works
In the Netherlands you do not shop around for drinking water. The address determines which of the regional water companies delivers it, your tenancy agreement determines whether you or the landlord holds the account, the home's meter determines how use is measured, and the municipality and water board send their own tax assessments on top. Understanding these four layers explains almost every question renters have about registering, moving and paying for water.
How the bills fit togetherLayer 1
Each part of the country is served by one regional drinking-water company. You cannot switch to a cheaper company, and a lower tariff elsewhere does not make that company available at your home.
Layer 2
Many renters register with the supplier themselves, but some landlords keep the water account and pass the costs on through the rent or service charges. Check the contract before opening a second account.
Layer 3
Most homes have their own water meter, read at key handover and once a year. Some older or shared buildings have no individual meter and are billed another way, which differs per supplier.
Layer 4
Sewerage charges come from the municipality and water-board taxes from the regional water authority. Paying the drinking-water supplier does not settle those assessments, even when the letters look alike.
Supplier directory
Drinking water in the Netherlands comes from 10 regional companies, each responsible for its own service area. The map shows those areas from the official RIVM boundaries and the list ranks the companies by the 356 city guides they serve. Open a supplier profile for its registration, moving, meter reading and billing rules, or jump straight to its official address check to confirm the supplier for your exact postcode and house number.
Simplified service areas from the RIVM drinking-water companies map (Atlas Leefomgeving, Vewin data 2024). The map is for orientation only: borders are approximate, so confirm the exact address with the supplier.
Gelderland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Friesland, Flevoland, Drenthe, North Holland
North Brabant
North Holland
South Holland, Zeeland, North Brabant
Limburg
South Holland, Utrecht
South Holland
Groningen
Drenthe
North Holland
Water guides
Choose your city or use the supplier finder, then confirm the exact home with the official service. If your landlord already arranges water, check the rental agreement before opening another account.
Not sure which company supplies the home? Search your city, see the likely supplier and hand over to its official address check.
A checklist built around the key handover: what to record, which account to open and how to close the one at your old address.
What the fixed charge, usage, tap-water tax, advances and annual settlement mean, and which charges come from someone else.
Know your city but not the company? Every city guide names the likely supplier and links its official pages and nearby towns.
City guides
Every city guide answers one local question: which drinking-water company supplies this town, and what do I need to arrange when I rent here? Start with one of the cities below or open the full directory of 356 guides, grouped by province with the supplier mix of each province, so you can see at a glance where two companies share a region and an address check matters most.
Each bar splits a province's city guides by supplier. More than one colour means neighbouring towns there can have different water companies, so check the exact address.
Before you register
Most problems with water accounts start before the first bill: a renter registers while the landlord already holds the account, a reading is missing from the handover report, or the old address is never closed. These six checks take a few minutes when you sign the lease or receive the keys and prevent paying twice, paying for someone else's use or chasing a final bill months after you have left.
Sharing a house? Agree who holds the account and how the advance and the final settlement are split before anyone registers.
Open the moving checklistLook for water in the rent, the service charges or a separate clause. If the landlord supplies and bills water, you usually should not open your own account.
Use the supplier's address check with your postcode and house number. City-level information is a strong hint, not a guarantee near a boundary.
In apartment buildings several meters can sit in one cupboard. Check the meter number on the handover report so you never submit a neighbour's reading.
Photograph the meter display with its number on the day you receive the keys, and keep the handover report signed by you and the landlord.
Registering the new home does not always end the old contract. Report the move for the old address too and leave a forwarding address for the final bill.
Municipal sewerage charges and water-board taxes are assessed separately from the drinking-water bill and often arrive months after you move in.
Water FAQ
Short answers to the questions renters ask most when they set up water for a Dutch home: choosing a supplier, who pays, water included in the rent, homes without a meter, separate water taxes, water quality and what to do during an outage.
No. The Netherlands has 10 regional drinking-water companies and each address is supplied by the company responsible for that area. There is no market to switch in, so a lower tariff in another region does not make that company available to you. Use the address check of the supplier for your area to confirm which company serves your home.
It depends on the tenancy agreement. In many rentals the tenant registers with the supplier and pays the drinking-water bill directly. In other homes, especially rooms, student housing and some apartment buildings, the landlord holds the account and charges water through the rent or the service charges. Check the contract and ask the landlord before you register.
Usually not. If the landlord holds the supplier contract and passes the costs on, opening your own account at the same address can lead to paying twice. Ask the landlord who the account holder is and how water is settled, for example through an annual statement of service charges based on a shared or individual meter.
Register from the date you receive the keys, not the date your furniture arrives. Most suppliers let you register online shortly before or after the move with the address, the key date and the opening meter reading. Exact timing differs per company, so follow the instructions on your supplier's own moving or registration page.
Some older homes and shared buildings have no individual water meter. The supplier or the landlord then bills water another way, for example with a property-based tariff in parts of Amsterdam. Do not invent a zero reading. Ask the supplier or the landlord which billing basis applies to your home.
Sewerage charges (rioolheffing) are set by the municipality and the water board charges its own taxes for water management and wastewater treatment. These are tax assessments, separate from the drinking-water bill, and often arrive months after you move in. Paying your supplier does not settle them.
Dutch tap water is strictly monitored and safe to drink, and suppliers publish quality and hardness information for their area. That information covers the water delivered to the building, not the pipes inside it. In older buildings, ask the landlord about the internal plumbing, such as possible lead pipes, and follow the supplier's advice if you are unsure.
For a fault in the mains, check your supplier's outages page or call its fault number. For a leak or a broken pump, tap or boiler inside the building, contact the landlord or building manager, because the supplier is only responsible up to the water meter.
Water is one line on the moving list. Before your first night in a Dutch rental you will usually also need an internet connection, a check of the home's energy label and the right insurance. These guides help you compare home internet by address, look up the registered energy label of the property and find renters insurance and liability cover without guessing which providers serve your new address.
Compare fibre, cable and DSL plans, check which networks reach the address and plan installation around your move-in date.
Compare internet plansContents, liability and other covers renters commonly need in the Netherlands, compared by provider and product type.
Explore insuranceLook up the registered energy label of the home before you sign, so you know what to expect from heating and power costs.
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