My water bill. Will a meter really make a difference?

£621 a year.

Waster water charge = £341 (rateable charge £234 x £1,458)

Water charge = £280

If a meter is fitted will the wastewater charge also fall?

Worthwhile hassle?

No. We are never in really.

You should try living in Goa, you wouldn’t waste any water at all then! & you’d bollock the Russians for leaving the taps running! 😉

If you live on your own it should be much cheaper. But a family, hose pipe use etc can give you a nasty shock.

I dont use a hosepipe. Ever. We are only in late evenings and Im not a fan of baths.

We are £166 in credit after having a meter fitted 6 months ago. Household is 2 adults + a toddler. Everyone out all day at work or nursery, but our usage equates to a single bedroom garden residence according to our bill. To be honest though we didn’t water the garden much this year…

An easy rule of fum is if you have more bedrooms than people in your abode then get a water-meter, otherwise don’t bother.

Water meters significantly reduce water flow….fact, eventually leading to overheating of CH systems and washing machines, the only way to prevent this is to fit a back/forward flow de-restriction by-pass around the meter rendering it safe!

I thought I’d make some decent savings but turns out I have a leak so doubled by estimated costs; hoping that will be resolved soon – see my recent thread.

In our case yes, we pay more than our three neighbours in identical houses without meters!

Timp situation here

We were originally charged by meter and our bill was significantly more than it is now. 2 adults and two kids.

If you choose to have a meter fitted you have a year to choose to return to non metered if you so wish.

We’ve gone for a meter. It should drop our bill from £720 ish to about £400.

ps get a shower timer too. And a low flush loo (or just drop a brick in the cistern) and some flow reducer (aerator) valves for the taps.

youll only pay for what you use, dont leave taps running and dont use a hose to wash a bike, and fitr a stop tap on the inside for an outside tap.

Works for me. Bill seriously reduced.

Get a bore hole put in. Saved us a few quid over the years!

I thought my fixed rate was steep at £350/annum.

£621 is criminal, which water company is that?

Mine’s close to £600 hence me looking at a meter, water company reckon we (2 adults, 1 toddler) should be around £400 – shame that the leak has put as at double that.

there are 2 of us and our waterbill is £204 for the year. we have several water butts which are used for washing cars, watering the garden and plants, we have low flush toilets, aerators on the taps and are sensible with water use.

Our unmetered costs (based in Bristol) would have been approx £450 so well worth it for us.

A water meter will charge you for what you use. If that is more or less than the average is up to you.
Waste water is not measured so probably wont change.

I’ve seen families of 4 will bills equating to a couple (OK that was Melbourne and they were very conscious of usage)

cheekyboy – Member
Water meters significantly reduce water flow….fact, eventually leading to overheating of CH systems and washing machines, the only way to prevent this is to fit a back/forward flow de-restriction by-pass around the meter rendering it safe!

please provide references for such assertions

Because they are frankly a bit rubbish

i thought waste water was charged based on how much you use?

In Bristol we get charged for waste water, which is based on 90% of our delivered water being sent back into the sewerage system. That way if your water usage drops so does your waste water amount.

Wastewater charges are based on the metered consumption for metered properties

We use to be on a meter (Thames Water), less than £15pcm for a 3-bed with 2 adults and 1 child with no attempt whatsoever to save water.

Dishwasher and few baths though.

mudshark – Member
Mine’s close to £600 hence me looking at a meter, water company reckon we (2 adults, 1 toddler) should be around £400 – shame that the leak has put as at double that

Where was the leak?

How recent?

Which company?

If it’s not mine and you fancy some fun I believe you can challenge the liability. If it’s mine I’m sorry the professional risk is too high.

Yep, blame the water company. You understand rateable value is not set by the water company don’t you?

Mark, challenge this. It seems too high to me. Phone them up and query it if you haven’t already.

B_n_d
How can you prove a meter is faulty?
I ask because my daughter is convinced her meter is faulty, giving a false reading 🙄

No I can’t, the water company will charge to test it but it’s likely that they don’t have the facilities and will just send it back to the manufacturer.

I have come across a number of things over the years, one includes a recent meter fit where a common supply pipe was metered and charged to one property.

High consumption can be difficult to track down, it’s all about being logical and methodical. Ask your daughter how long she spends in the shower 😉

Having just changed to direct debit for both water companies, It’s just hit home how much we pay per month, £30 per month. Bit of a shock.

Makes me think if there are ways of saving bath/shower water to use for flushing the loo. Apart from buckets…. 🙂

Seem to remember seeing some sort of contraption on tv years ago, not sure if there’s anything around now?

Footflaps it United Utilities.

http://www.unitedutilities.com/Our-charges-last-year.aspx

I have a plan/hunch. Where the stop tap/water pipe is sited is VERY tight on space. Im guessing a meter wont be possible so I can go for the fixed price of 444 above ^^

I had a meter fitted in January last year. Wouldn’t fit in the house so it’s in the front garden. Cost for the year was £510 in total. For a 3 bed semi, 2+2 kids. Regular, car, bike washing on driveway, watering garden etc. We have decided to go back to rateable value charging, as when the kids are older, we will use a lot more water! I’d check what the neighbours are paying as your current charging is higher than mine, and I live in posh suburbia as you know! 😀

We’re still saving by using a meter, even though we have a baby in reusable nappies, hence lots of washing. I fitted a couple of water butts for watering the garden and washing the bike and car. You can even buy a little electric pump to run a hose from your water butt.

Our water rates are about £295 for the year.

2 adults & 2 kids
No garden to water
Rarely wash the car 😀
Wash bike with bucket & sponge

Won’t be considering a water meter as HRH loves long showers so uses more water than would fill the bath each time she has one 😯 🙄

Ours went from an absolutely astonishing 1600 a year to around 350 after we had one put in. Family of five with three littl’uns. Totally worth it for us.

We’re on a meter (just 2 adults) and first couple of bills have been £18 and £16 (each for a month). Mrs likes long baths and new house has power shower so blasts through water.

Having the other old shower replaced with an electric one so should cut water usage down a bit more.

I would like to know why mine is so high! £30 per month just for me, rarely wash car, never water garden, quick showers only.

Would say that I’m frugal with water and certainly don’t waste it. Spoke to water company who reckoned it was average. 😯

Once again we are ripped off with utilities and successive Governments are too weak and pathetic to sort it out. 👿

Where was the leak?

How recent?

Which company?

Company is Sutton and East Surrey.

Currently looks like the leak is close to where the mains enters the house based on the fact I can hear water noise there when the stopcock is switched off but see no evidence of a leak. So it’s inside my garden and between the water meter (by the road) and stopcock, hopefully not in my house before it gets to the stopcock. It’s not a dramatic leak but we’re using about double what we expect – can see the meter constantly spinning even with the stopcock turned off.

Water meter was fitted in 6/7 months ago but only read a few weeks ago so bill was a surprise. The daily usage implies leak was there before the meter was put in but man from the water company says they wouldn’t have put it if there was a leak – someone’s supposed to be coming today so will discuss this more.

Once again we are ripped off with utilities and successive Governments are too weak and pathetic to sort it out.

Really?

The companies’ pre-tax return on capital for 2005-10 has averaged 6.7%. Our
assumption when we set price limits for the sectors in 2004 was 7.0%

http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulating/reporting/rpt_fpe_2009-10.pdf

Id say that was fairly good value for money. Your water bill is only 7% higher than the cost of getting clean, 24hr a day, workably pressurised water to you and your poo away.
Would a bill of £27.90 a month make you feel less ripped off?

Once again we are ripped off with utilities and successive Governments are too weak and pathetic to sort it out.

Or you’re using a lot of water. I can’t see how water is expensive if ours was sub £15pcm on a meter, and this was over the 12 years we lived there.

Rates are something different thou, and not the water companies issue – except the cash they make from it.

Mudshark, not my company so I can help you wind them up if you are up for it in regard to the charges. You also need to apply for the “leakage allowance” If they operate such a scheme. Otherwise it’s part of the complaint.

I would like to know why mine is so high! £30 per month just for me, rarely wash car, never water garden, quick showers only.

Would say that I’m frugal with water and certainly don’t waste it. Spoke to water company who reckoned it was average.

What is the average daily volume that you use, how many people in your house? If the meter is accessible read it everyday for a week and look at the consumption figures. Try a read overnight or when the house is empty for a period to see whether there is hidden leakage.

Come back with the numbers

Once again we are ripped off with utilities and successive Governments are too weak and pathetic to sort it out.

I agree that the cross subsidy from metered customers to non-metered (RV charged) customers is a scandal. People should pay for what they use and household tariffs should be structured so that the more you use the higher the tariff to reflect the environment cost of both abstraction and managed disposal into the environment.