Cheaper Water Bills Article Discussion

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  • I applied for a water meter but was informed that due to the pipe situation in the road outside my house I would be unable to have one . United utilities generously knocked a couple of pounds of my monthly bill 0f £40 as compensation. I am a single person in a three bedroomed semi and due to poor health am claiming income support . This seems a ridiculously high amount . I wondered if anyone knows if I could insist that they sort the said pipe out to enable me to have a water meter, and what would be the best way to go about it .
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    I applied for a water meter but was informed that due to the pipe situation in the road outside my house I would be unable to have one . United utilities generously knocked a couple of pounds of my monthly bill 0f £40 as compensation. I am a single person in a three bedroomed semi and due to poor health am claiming income support . This seems a ridiculously high amount . I wondered if anyone knows if I could insist that they sort the said pipe out to enable me to have a water meter, and what would be the best way to go about it .

    If a meter cannot be fitted you get an assessed charge.

    Some companies base this assessed charge on the number of people in the house, and others on the number of bedrooms. Unfortunately I believe United Utilities use the latter method.

    I suggest you contact the Consumer Council for Water.

    http://www.ccwater.org.uk/
  • tonyhamm
    tonyhamm Posts: 221 Forumite
    I live in the north west which is covered by united utilities. We are on a meter, which far from proving cheaper, has proven more expensive.

    There is a large standing charge on the bill each quarter even though we are metered, which mean any savings are negliable by cutting down on water use.

    But the continual rise in the water bills are where the pain is. As a UU customer you can only look to the regulator to stop the year on year above inflation rises, but it seems the regulator is totally off the job.

    For example - Martin is going on about a 6% rise. If you are a United utilties customer you get a 7.5% rise. http://www.onlystop.com/200803/water-bills-could-rise-by-up-to-9/

    And this is typical, year on year I have calculated 8-12% rises in our bills - its been far far above the BOE's 2.1% CPI inflation measure which our incomes are tied to.
    :mad:
    .
    so says another ordinary mug fighting the 1% who own the political machine grinding them down from on high...
    :A
  • hotbern
    hotbern Posts: 130 Forumite
    Hi there.
    Upon reading all the threads, I think I've got one of the most expensive water bills. £507.94, even though my RV is only £173. We are 2 adults and a baby in a 3 bed semi.
    Does anyone else in South Wales have a bill like this? My water is 65.19 per £ofRV and my sewage is a whopping £89.70!!!

    Think I may as well build a swimming pool and install public toilets for the amount they're charging us!!!:mad:
    June 2009 - Wii; December 2009 - Fortnum & Mason Hamper; 2009 - Little Red Tractor DVD; How to afford time off work book; April 2010 - Mamas & Papas Pram; May 2010 - Imperial Leather Goodies; Jan 2011 - Trivial Pursuit cards; Narnia goodies; VTech cot mobile (stopped comping!) Nov 2011 - Kiddicare cotbed.
  • We are on well water, which we have to pay upkeep of. We pay for "surface water drainage and foul" Our RV is more expensive than the bill itself. Bill of over £300.00!!! and we don't even have water from them!!!!!

    Going on a water meter will not help us as our water does not come from Dwr Cymru, but they guess how much we use by this out of date RV. 2 adults and 2 children under 3.

    How can we reduce our bill? We do everything you say can help reduce the amount of water we use.
  • lilwead
    lilwead Posts: 6 Forumite
    Replying to hotbern: I've recently received my new annual water bill from South West Water, covering Plymouth, (which increased by 8.7% this year,unmetered). And this years bill is £696.50.
    RV =£144. Breakdown is Water=£263.25
    Sewerage 1=£433.25
    Drinking water has to be filtered to take away the taste of chlorine. Until my gas boiler is moved downstairs, I can't AFFORD to change to a water meter as I have to run litres of the stuff until I get hot water in the kitchen. It's a catch 22 situation. They want you to use less, but you have to spend hundreds more to do it!
  • Chrysalis
    Chrysalis Posts: 4,140
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    I got my bill yesterday and it seems its very cheap.

    I live in a 1 bed flat and the bill is 145.73 for the year and last year it was 137.29 for the year for unmetered. 6.14% increase.
  • vivatifosi
    vivatifosi Posts: 18,746
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    Don't know if anyone is interested but I've just finished a six month "water experiment". Just before the start of my last six month billing period I switched half of my laundry loads to a shorter 30 degree wash and changed my main toilet to a modern dual flush version.

    Having just received my latest bill and discussed the impact of my changes with my local water provider (Three Valleys) my monthly usage charge is £4.50 lower. My water usage does not differ from Summer to Winter as I use grey water for my garden and car.
    Please stay safe in the sun and learn the A-E of melanoma: A = asymmetry, B = irregular borders, C= different colours, D= diameter, larger than 6mm, E = evolving, is your mole changing? Most moles are not cancerous, any doubts, please check next time you visit your GP.
  • Heard from SWW yesterday that they agree my property is not connected to a surface drain and that they will refund overpaid charges back to April 2007 and amend future bills. My question is that, considering we moved in in 1998, we have obviously been overcharged for the entire period. Is there any merit in trying to claim this from SWW or is there some 'small print' that prevents this?
  • Forgot to say if you live in the Moorhayes area of Tiverton, Devon CLAIM NOW! I suspect most of the houses will qualify. PM me if you need more info.
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