Water bills cost cutting article

teddyco

Cardew,

The flat in which my father-in-law lives is like most homes in the UK, it was copied 10,000 times all over the estate, built in the mid 60's with a soak-away for every 2 bedroom flat, per my conversation with the landlord of the estate.

For those folks who own a leasehold property and want to find out if they have a soak-away in their yard, the landlord should have a copy of the deed which has the information, or they can call their bank and inquire about it on the deed for their property if they still owe on their mortgage. In this case the landlord was extremely helpful.

My next question is, how many elderly ladies and gentlemen on the estate are paying too much on their bills without knowing that their next door neighbor is getting the exemption? It reminds me of the council tax reduction debate.

I am to the point where I want to draft a letter and put it through the drop box of each home within the vicinity of his home so they will be made aware of the possible savings.

I also looked at the OFWAT website and they indicate that they support the water companies NOT giving back-dated refunds for 'surface water drainage' but allow for a years worth of refund which doesn't make any sense.

We can get back-dated bank charges, but not back-dated water charges?

On another note, I was intrigued with someone who was interested in disconnecting their Grey water line from the sewer and running it out into the garden to use on their plants.

I wonder how difficult it would be to do this, and could I qualify for higher discounts if I could prove the amount that was not being flushed into the sewer and going into the garden?

Cardew

teddyco wrote: »

Cardew,

The flat in which my father-in-law lives is like most homes in the UK, it was copied 10,000 times all over the estate, built in the mid 60's with a soak-away for every 2 bedroom flat, per my conversation with the landlord of the estate.

For those folks who own a leasehold property and want to find out if they have a soak-away in their yard, the landlord should have a copy of the deed which has the information, or they can call their bank and inquire about it on the deed for their property if they still owe on their mortgage. In this case the landlord was extremely helpful.

My next question is, how many elderly ladies and gentlemen on the estate are paying too much on their bills without knowing that their next door neighbor is getting the exemption? It reminds me of the council tax reduction debate.

I am to the point where I want to draft a letter and put it through the drop box of each home within the vicinity of his home so they will be made aware of the possible savings.

I also looked at the OFWAT website and they indicate that they support the water companies NOT giving back-dated refunds for 'surface water drainage' but allow for a years worth of refund which doesn't make any sense.

We can get back-dated bank charges, but not back-dated water charges?

On another note, I was intrigued with someone who was interested in disconnecting their Grey water line from the sewer and running it out into the garden to use on their plants.

I wonder how difficult it would be to do this, and could I qualify for higher discounts if I could prove the amount that was not being flushed into the sewer and going into the garden?

As I have said earlier in this thread, and in many other threads on this forum, the charging procedure for Surface Water Drainage(SWD) is a nonsense. Not least that there is no publicity about the possible relief from the charge.

If, as in your Father’s case, the practise of re-imposing the charge for new occupants is widespread rather than an error, it is a disgrace.

Your(valid) criticisms in the quote above have been voiced many times. Generally the problem is not proving you have a soakaway, but rather that many people are simply unaware that they do not need to pay that charge.

We should be clear on one thing however. The Regulator controls prices and profits for all the Water Supply companies. If all those entitled, claimed relief from that charge, the other water charges would go up to compensate. So in some ways it is of little concern to the Water Companies if they get their income from Surface Water Drainage or an increase in other charges.

So in that respect your analogy to refunds for excessive bank charges(which led to excess profits) being backdated does not hold water(pun intended). In defence of the Water Companies(which doesn’t come easy to me) the charging structure was imposed upon them by the government regulations when the industry was deregulated. That presumably is why OFWAT do not favour backdating refunds. If they did backdate them, where would the money come from? Obviously in increased charges – robbing customer Peter to pay customer Paul.

There is no way for Water Companies to determine which properties should not pay SWD. So the answer IMO is to scrap that charge for everyone and spread the lost revenue across the whole customer base.

Your question of Grey Water not going to the sewer would raise all sorts of problems.
You can already get a reduction in your sewerage charge if you can prove that less that 90% of your water goes to the sewer.

The mechanics of diverting this water would depend on the plumbing system in your house. Take my property as an example. All of the upstairs grey water drainage enters the foul water pipes from the toilets and it would be a major task to re-route the plumbing for the grey water.

The kitchen and utility room would be easier as their water goes directly to the sewer. However it would require some sort of pump system to take it to its destination. Unless you metered that grey water, you might have difficulty in proving to your water company how much less than 90% was actually going to the sewer.

Besides all that – I am not sure how beneficial a plentiful supply of detergent laden water would be for the garden.

Nah – too difficult methinks.

Pollycat

Cardew
You recently gave me some excellent advice about my parents' water bill, you may remember they are OAPs living in a Warden-controlled Council flat.

Their water bill seems very high in comparison with mine (same water provider, same waste remover).
The % increase from 2006/07 to 2007/08 also seemed high (15.35%) compared to the percentages agreed by OFWAT.

The local Council have agreed that they can have a water meter installed, with the proviso that they must arrange and fund it themselves and that the work must be carried out by a recommended tradesman and all disturbance to the property made good.

I've spoken to Severn Trent today who've explained that my parents had a credit from their old property that they sold in 2005, which was offset against their 2006/07 bill in their council flat so their bill for 2006/07 was higher than I originally thought and therefore the % increase in 2007/08 also not as high as I calculated.
I have a number to ring for the Water Meter Assessment Dept, who will ask my parents questions such as how often do they flush the loo, how many laundry loads do they do, showers or baths etc.
They will then advise whether having a water meter installed is likely to reduce their bills.
I'm almost sure that this will be the case as they are not at home for more than half the week during 7 months of the Summer.

I've been told that supply of the actual meter and installation is free. :j
They use Integra (?) for their meter installation and ST say this company are approved by Councils.

So it looks like we have a way forward that hopefully will reduce their outgoings.

Thanks for your advice.
Regards
Polly

Cardew

Pollycat wrote: »

Cardew
You recently gave me some excellent advice about my parents' water bill, you may remember they are OAPs living in a Warden-controlled Council flat.

Their water bill seems very high in comparison with mine (same water provider, same waste remover).
The % increase from 2006/07 to 2007/08 also seemed high (15.35%) compared to the percentages agreed by OFWAT.

The local Council have agreed that they can have a water meter installed, with the proviso that they must arrange and fund it themselves and that the work must be carried out by a recommended tradesman and all disturbance to the property made good.

I've spoken to Severn Trent today who've explained that my parents had a credit from their old property that they sold in 2005, which was offset against their 2006/07 bill in their council flat so their bill for 2006/07 was higher than I originally thought and therefore the % increase in 2007/08 also not as high as I calculated.
I have a number to ring for the Water Meter Assessment Dept, who will ask my parents questions such as how often do they flush the loo, how many laundry loads do they do, showers or baths etc.
They will then advise whether having a water meter installed is likely to reduce their bills.
I'm almost sure that this will be the case as they are not at home for more than half the week during 7 months of the Summer.

I've been told that supply of the actual meter and installation is free. :j
They use Integra (?) for their meter installation and ST say this company are approved by Councils.

So it looks like we have a way forward that hopefully will reduce their outgoings.

Thanks for your advice.
Regards
Polly

Polly,
Your post has soved a mystery that has been puzzling me; as I couldn't think of any situation that would give rise to such a large rise.

Its pretty certain that 2 people in a flat(no garden) will be better off on a meter with ST.

Good Luck.

Cardew

David2002Reed

If your water supplier cannot fit a meter to your system, you may still be able to pay less -- at least with Thames Water.

If they judge that they cannot fit a meter (eg because you live in a flat with a shared supply system), you can opt to go onto what they call Average Household Charge: £245 for the current year, almost half the £451.08 we would have had to pay otherwise.

But, of course, you have to ask!

We called Thames Water back in 2005 to see if we could have a water meter fitted, eventually they sent an engineer who said they could not fit a meter in our flat, a conversion in a Victorian house. And that was the last we heard from them.

But, back in March this year, I was idly looking through their News on Tap leaflet, sent out with our latest account payment plan, and read about the Average Household Charge scheme -- right at the bottom of page 9 of a 12-page leaflet (I did say "idly looking" didn't I?).

I was on the phone as soon as I read this, and was promised action.

A few weeks went by with nothing, so I wrote a letter in early May explaining the situation and, a week or so later, received a phone call saying yes, I could go on to this charge basis. Indeed they said that I should have automatically been put on to it, back in 2005, so they would be making the necessary arrangements, including a repayment of the excess payments made since 2005.

There was no explanation of the delay, but at least I will be a few hundred pounds better off now, and into the future.

I imagine other water companies offer similar systems and, no doubt, are equally coy about them, so I thought readers might be interested!

David Reed

teddyco

Cardew,

Thanks for your response!

DBooth_2

When you next update this site, could you please also include Scottish Water costs and cost savings? Thanks

elaine373

http://www.stwater.co.uk/server.php?show=nav.5852

I came here a while back panicking about having a water meter. I moved into this property in april and was horrified after talking to my new neighbours, as they both receive in excess of £1000 a year water bills. I applied last week under the `vulnerable household scheme` and today was delighted to receive a letter saying that our bill has been capped and will not be any more than £284 for this year. Have a look on your suppliers website and see if you qualify.

jo_hel28

I don't know what water board you are with but we are with South West Water. We have just had our bill capped. We are metered and the only benefits we get are Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit. Our bill was around £1000 per year, now it's capped it's £483 per year, an fantstic saving don't you think?! You do have to have 3 children though. Although it may be different with different companies. It has to worth a phone call doesn't it??
All I had to do was fill in a simple form ,return it along with copies of my child tax credit info and child benefit award notice and they did all the rest.
hope this helps you.
Regards Jo.

loveprada

I am with Thames Water and what they are making so much money out of people who cannot get meters fitted e.g. I live in a flat and the pipes are shared and access is tricky. Although I'm on the average household user tarriff, they calculate this on the useage of a family so I'm paying £245 per annum and as a single person living in a flat, half of that is more realistic.

It's not even as though they are a small local utility firm, they sold for almost £5 billion last year, which indicates their profitability i.e. by overcharging their customers. How much power do we have to fight Thames Water?