Thames Water meters now compulsory?

24567

Comments

  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Rampant Recycler
    GingerBob wrote: »
    Any shortage of water is caused by the government and water companies.

    Do you suggest we should flood a few more Welsh valleys(and their villages) to make reservoirs?
  • GingerBob_3
    GingerBob_3 Posts: 3,659 Forumite
    Cardew wrote: »
    For some years it has been possible to have water meters that can be read remotely - I have one as my meter is difficult to access.

    Smart water meters are an adaption of this technology such that customers can remotely monitor their own meter. See:

    http://www.thameswater.co.uk/your-account/17386.htm


    The website is a bit light on smart meter details:


    Are they compulsory? If so, can you restrict the frequency of automatic readings? These questions aren't answered.
  • GingerBob_3
    GingerBob_3 Posts: 3,659 Forumite
    Cardew wrote: »
    Do you suggest we should flood a few more Welsh valleys(and their villages) to make reservoirs?


    No, just stop the leaks and invest in a national water grid.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Rampant Recycler
    edited 26 July 2016 at 11:50PM
    GingerBob wrote: »
    The website is a bit light on smart meter details:


    Are they compulsory? If so, can you restrict the frequency of automatic readings? These questions aren't answered.

    Yes they will be compulsory in Thames Water.

    http://www.thameswater.co.uk/metering/17054.htm
  • GingerBob_3
    GingerBob_3 Posts: 3,659 Forumite
    Cardew wrote: »
    Yes they will be compulsory in Thames Water.

    http://www.thameswater.co.uk/metering/17054.htm


    It's a bit ambiguous and doesn't cover the issue of data frequency. I for one would not be happy at all about a bunch of drongos having access to details about my water consumption on a minute by minute basis. Usage per month would be acceptable.


    The website is also full of the usual tripe about the "benefits" of being able to monitor water usage - like we don't already know that when you flush the bog you use a load of water.


    Energy smart meters are not compulsory. How have these chancers at Thames managed to get them compulsory, I wonder? Or maybe they only have authority for compulsory metering, and not specifically smart meters.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Rampant Recycler
    GingerBob wrote: »
    It's a bit ambiguous and doesn't cover the issue of data frequency. I for one would not be happy at all about a bunch of drongos having access to details about my water consumption on a minute by minute basis. Usage per month would be acceptable.


    The website is also full of the usual tripe about the "benefits" of being able to monitor water usage - like we don't already know that when you flush the bog you use a load of water.


    Energy smart meters are not compulsory. How have these chancers at Thames managed to get them compulsory, I wonder? Or maybe they only have authority for compulsory metering, and not specifically smart meters.

    If, as seems likely, they have the legal authority for compulsory fitting of meters, I doubt if the customer can stipulate what type of meter they want fitted. After all over the 26+ years meters have been mandatory in new build properties(with a couple of exceptions) there have been several types of meter used.

    We get loads of posts about suspected leaks on this forum - e.g. a silently leaking cistern - and a smart meter will enable people to know if there is a leak.
  • GingerBob_3
    GingerBob_3 Posts: 3,659 Forumite
    Cardew wrote: »
    If, as seems likely, they have the legal authority for compulsory fitting of meters, I doubt if the customer can stipulate what type of meter they want fitted. After all over the 26+ years meters have been mandatory in new build properties(with a couple of exceptions) there have been several types of meter used.

    We get loads of posts about suspected leaks on this forum - e.g. a silently leaking cistern - and a smart meter will enable people to know if there is a leak.


    Yes, a few grey areas here. I wouldn't be surprised if you can object to the data collection frequency, or insist the meter doesn't operate in smart mode.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    GingerBob wrote: »
    It's fair enough.

    It's not fair to have the frugal subsidising the profligate, nor is it sensible.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Rampant Recycler
    jack_pott wrote: »
    It's not fair to have the frugal subsidising the profligate, nor is it sensible.

    I wasn't sure what GingerBob meant by his 'its fair enough' remark.

    Despite the vested interests of those without a meter, surely nobody can dispute that every property should be metered and occupants pay for what they use.

    The concession, in April 1990, to let people remain on Rateable Value(RV) based charges was to be a short term interim measure.
  • lndac02
    lndac02 Posts: 6 Forumite
    edited 27 July 2016 at 5:41PM
    I seem to remember this same argument being used by Margaret thatcher back in 1989/1990 in the Rate versus Poll tax debacle. The idea being that anyone in a house was using the services and should therefore pay accordingly. This meant single occupied houses paid a lot less than a house with 5 occupants. I remember that ending badly for Thatcher. Fast forward 26 years later and we see the same argument being used here. single occupancy homes will be much better off and therefore the water companies will look to multi occupancy properties to make their profits. Anyone who thinks the water companies are spending all this money digging up the streets for environmental reasons is deluding themselves. This is simply a revenue generation operation that will ensure the companies will recover all the costs of doing it in a short period of time by raising charges. The water companies have one interest and that is to their shareholders, the profits made on a fundamental of life (water) are shared amongst them and the boards of these companies. finally I am considered a "customer" of my water company. since I cannot take my "custom" elsewhere, can someone be kind enough to explain to me what the correct definition of customer is and if this term correctly pertains to our relationship with our water suppliers Thanks :)
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.2K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173K Life & Family
  • 247.8K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards