Water bills cost cutting article

micktsb · 17 September 2006 at 12:01PM

For those in the bristol water area, if you have two children or more you can apply to have your water bills capped.Tel 01225 524365 ask for Karen Smith charging administrator,mon to fri 08.30 to 4.15 ask for a social tariff aplication form,best of luck,after you get it offer to water the next door neighbours garden!!!!

serendipity2706 · 25 September 2006 at 6:35PM

I live in Scotland and am in a 4 bedroom house by myself- looked like I could save a fortune by having a meter- however after numerous phonecalls etc to various departments it seems the rules are different in Scotland and I wouldn't save anything

pollyskettle · 27 September 2006 at 6:40PM

micktsb wrote:

For those in the bristol water area, if you have two children or more you can apply to have your water bills capped.Tel 01225 524365 ask for Karen Smith charging administrator,mon to fri 08.30 to 4.15 ask for a social tariff aplication form,best of luck,after you get it offer to water the next door neighbours garden!!!!

Thanks for this - I have been searching the Bristol/Wessex Water site for any info on this and couldn't find it. I've now emailed them and expressed my disappointment that when discussing my financial status a few months ago this tariff was not mentioned to me (I have 3 children and a low income at the moment!).

You may have just saved me lots of £££££££'s - thank you :beer:

Psykicpup · 25 October 2006 at 4:23PM

As an employee -in the call centre - of a Water Supplier I would like to add one or two comments...
The 'Water Board' do not know if you have a soakaway or not - the site developer only asks to be connected to the waste system (which they also lay) & to the Comapnys Mains Sewers - the Water/wastewater Co come out & check the connection meets regulations & thats it - they assume, unless told by the householder or very rarely the developer, that the property's 'surface water'(rainwater) goes into the drains. There are strict rules on how long a rebate can be back dated so apply early if you suspect you rainwater does go to the sewer - often the water co will help with this if they can.
MAJOR WARNING - after connection to the Water Authorities established Mains Sewer the developer is supposed to ask the Water Co to 'adopt' the sewer thereby taking responsiblity for it - however I am aware of large developements where this hasnt happened. In plain english - if you are on a shared drain with your neighbour in most circumstances you are both jointly responsible for the cost of clearing any block which occurs on it up to the point where it connects to the Company owned main sewer.-Fine but can be a problem if loads of properties on this pipe or network. If the developers havent asked for the drains in the road to be adopted for your estate however, even if the original block is streets away everyone connected is liable for the cost! & Enviromental Health will insist that blockages are cleared & will bill retrospectively for work that has to be done - so its possible that you could be billed for unblocking a drain which you didnt even know had blocked on a road you have never even walked down!

Frugal_Foxy · 5 November 2006 at 1:16PM

i just did the 'test' and it estimates that my bill would go up from £311 to £495 pa if i had a meter. i have to say, i'm mental when it comes to using water for showering and toilet flushes/washing hands - bit of a clean fetish

i sometimes like to flush the toilet twice after a poo:eek: so that the water in the bowl is nice and fresh (did i get this from watching too much LA Law?

you can smack me later....

diamondsky · 5 November 2006 at 5:51PM

HI,

Frugal too much information...

I was talking with an elderly lady who was struggling to pay her water bill of £400.00 on the Wirral. She lives in sheltered accommodation in a bedsit and shares washing facilities. She stated she used very little water in her bedsit, i.e.toilet and sink and didn't feel it was right to be paying so much out. I did phone United Utilities but they just said pay the bill. Anyone got a similar experience of having to pay such a high amount?

fieryvelvet2000 · 15 November 2006 at 11:16PM

Ken68 wrote:

Anyone living solo in The Anglianwater Region and using less than 75 cubic metres a year should go on to the SOLOW tariff. I pay £60 A YEAR,all in, Water and Sewerage. Reduceable even more if I was to follow all the tips here.

I have a meter with Anglia Water.I recently changed to SOLOW too.
I live on my own and my last bill was £36 for the half year. I used to pay £24 a month unmetered and that was a few years ago!!!
My water saving tips are as follows:-
I don't flush everytime I use the loo and have hippo's in the cistern.
I very rarely have a bath but use the shower.
My shower is on the bath taps so I run the water until it runs hot but don't just let the cold water go down the drain, I save it in a bowl and use it to flush the loo.
I only use the washing machine with a full load.
I use the dishwasher once a week.
I have a water butt.
If all this means I have an annual water bill of under £100 then I am happy. For me having a water meter made a BIG saving.

Primrose · 14 December 2006 at 5:47PM

If you're with Thames Water (and this may apply to other suppliers too) check the print on the back of your bill. There may be a clause about how your tariff is worked out and if you have no street drains in your road (so you don't contribute to Highway drainage) and your waste rainwater drains off your roof down into soakaways in the ground rather than going into their sewers, you may get a rate reduction. We managed to get a £17.50 off our annual water bill.

rmh_3 · 9 January 2007 at 2:42PM

To Ads:
If you switch & it costs you more, you can start trying to save water: e.g. Stop using hose pipe, put something in your cistern, use a water barrel, showers instead of baths etc etc. When you are on a meter you can always cut your bills.

To Miffy:
I used to live in a flat and there was something in the deeds that stated that all flats would pay an equal share of the water bill - so I couldn't have a meter. In a 2 bed flat I was paying £25/month. Now I'm in a 3 bed house with a meter it's only £9.

Poppycat · 16 January 2007 at 5:05PM

I enquired about some protection fi your on a low income and have kids, and I was told you have to have three kids and or some health issues related to hygiene

sallypurple wrote:

Someone told me that with two or more children under 18 you can get metered water capped at £300. Does anyone know if this is true and what you do to qualify.

Water bills cost cutting article

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