Water Meter- how much is resonable?

yummymummy1987_2

Hey all, i have just moved into a new build property on friday night. The builders sign of meter readings were 134 and they were 423 this afternoon.
I have a family of 4 and have never been on metered before so any advice for water saving tips or if my readings are high etc would be great

Thanks in advance

Jo

lee12_2

Hi we've been on a water meter for the past 8 years , savings wise we save appx £300+ a year ageist the water rates for our houses, mind you we are not big users but our bill came in this week we had used 13 units over 3mths, I know this is properly a silly question but are you reading the meter from the left or right? because you do not read the last couple of digits on the right its the same as gas/elec meters they ignore the last part units. So is your reading really 3?
I know our usage is lower than a family theres only two of us, now, but I do know if you phone your water board they have a guidance rate for meter water according to how many live in the house, that should give you a average to work from

funkyfunkymonkey

I've got three suggestions:

1. lee12 is right
2. you have a huge leak
3. the builder did not provide the correct reading

There is no way you could be using 289 cubic metres of water in 6 days.

So, if you have read the meter correctly I would suggest you contact the water company and ask if they can send someone out to read your meter and check for a leak.

Good luck, FFM

Cardew

yummymummy1987 wrote: »

Hey all, i have just moved into a new build property on friday night. The builders sign of meter readings were 134 and they were 423 this afternoon.
I have a family of 4 and have never been on metered before so any advice for water saving tips or if my readings are high etc would be great

Thanks in advance

Jo

I suspect you are reading the fractions of a cubic metre displayed on the meter.
A family of 4 on average will use 240 cubic metres a year, say 4 to 5 a week.

RobertoMoir

funkyfunkymonkey wrote: »

1. lee12 is right
2. you have a huge leak
3. the builder did not provide the correct reading

There is no way you could be using 289 cubic metres of water in 6 days.

Unless...
The OP shuts their water stopcock off for an afternoon and

4. Everyone in the street loses their water, or
5. The fountain the council run in the nearby park suddenly stops working.

funkyfunkymonkey

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Unless...
The OP shuts their water stopcock off for an afternoon and

4. Everyone in the street loses their water, or
5. The fountain the council run in the nearby park suddenly stops working.

:rotfl::rotfl: :rotfl:

roddydogs

How can you save £300 a year? where are you living Buckingham palace? The total unmetered rates arnt as much as that even on the biggest property

Cardew

roddydogs wrote: »

How can you save £300 a year? where are you living Buckingham palace? The total unmetered rates arnt as much as that even on the biggest property

????
You must be joking!
My unmetered water charges would be well over £1,400 pa and I am not in the most expensive area and metered I pay around £400 so saving £1000

In the South West a normal semi can be £1,000.

roddydogs

Unmetered Band E property...£147 (Epsom) pa...water supply, not including sewege/surface rain..........so the South East is 10 times as much?

Cardew

roddydogs wrote: »

Unmetered Band E property...£147 (Epsom) pa...water supply, not including sewege/surface rain..........so the South East is 10 times as much?

You are merely pointing out the anomalies in using the Rateable Value(RV) system for charging for water.

The RV of a property was assessed on the notional rent a property would fetch as long ago as 1973 and before 1990

That notional rent depended on the position, if modernised or not, garage etc. It is perfectly possible, even in Epsom, for a Band H mansion with several acres to have a lower RV than an estate semi.

This was because nobody in 1973 would want to rent a huge unmodernised mansion with no central heating and having the upkeep of the grounds etc and the semi would command a higher rent.

Your house has a low RV, that could be because when it was assessed in the period between 1973 and 1990 it could have been unmodernised. i.e. no CH, old kitchen/bathroom or simply in an area that was 'unfasionable' at the time. Don't forget areas of London like Fulham - even Chelsea - were considered undesirable years ago.

Officially if your house had been extended or modernised then you should have reported this and had a meter fitted, but nobody ever does.

Apart from the RV, the rate charged per £1 RV value varies tremendously across the country. The total charge for water/sewerage can be less than £2 per £1RV to over £4 per £1RV in the South West.

My house has an RV of £700, if it was in the South West the unmetered charge would be about £3000.

space_rider

Before I moved to a new build property, I was paying £43 a month. Now on a water meter I am paying £18 a month. I live in the ST area.