switching to water meter

bullseye_3

thanks angela-
i suppose the fixed monthly fee for sewage etc is included in your monthly charge. do you know how much of your bill is fixed??

it sounds like it might work for us though.

now i just have to find a way to reduce our council tax bill...

nh

If it is not cheaper you can change back as long as it is within 12 months (or after you receive your first proper bill if that is after 12 months).

herbal

how much will it cost to install one

DJ1UK

It is usually free to install a water meter - my local water board certainly do it for free.

DJ

luv_my_brass

well I'm baffled!! Most folks seem to find being on a meter cheaper, but why isn't it the case for all???? I have been thinking of having a water meter installed for ages, but still weighing up the pros & cons. I pay about £50 per month at the moment, which I think is a lot for a single household. Do the figures quoted ie '£15 per month' metered - include sewerage costs? I'm in the East Anglian region, and wonder if charges vary according to the County.

LincsLad_3

Although it is early days as my meter was only installed in early May, Anglian Water have reduced my DD payments from £39.38 per month to £22.00. (£393.80 down to £220 per year, assuming 10 instalments in a year.)

I have just received my first statement, for May and June, and the charges were as follows:

Water supply
Water used (7 cubic m @ 89.42p per cubic m) £6.25
Standing charge (62 days @ 5.47p per day) £3.39

Sewerage service
Volume charged (90% of water used=6.30 cm@108.33p) £6.82
Standing charge (62 days @ 16.44p ( ) ) £10.19

So £26.65 for two months, or £13.33 per month. So yes, £15 per month is not unrealistic for a single household.

While I am here, anyone care to say whether or not I would be better off on the SoLow tariff? I know it's early days yet, but should I opt for that now, or wait for the first year's bills??

nh

I had a very odd visit from the water meter assessment guy.

He came to check whether we could have a meter, he waltzed in to the house staggering like Liam Gallagher, said "i have to take a picture of where the stop tap is' so I was like 'oh no it is behind the washing machine so we'll have to move it'. He just muttered something I didn't understand, snapped a pic and off he went out the front door muttering something else.

Apparently he only needed to snap a pic of where the stop tap is, not the actual stop tap itself.

Then he drew a blue square on the grid in the pavement at the front of the house and muttered something else and off he went.

I said 'well is it OK?' and he said yeah they'll be along in a few weeks to fit it. That was three and a half weeks ago. Should I have heard something? He was so wierd it made me think they might just come and install a meter and not tell us!

LincsLad_3

Which water company are you with?

Anglian Water quoted me "up to 10 working weeks" from my application, though it was done in about 3. The guy who came to do the survey also fitted the meter - it was literally a 5 minute job.

paws_3

Bit of a frightening story from a friend meter installed:

His first bill came to over £1500. Upon querying this, they did checks on their system and checks on the meter itself. All were ok!
It turned out that he had a leak between the meter and the house. This had been there since well before the meter was installed but obviously was not apparent. The installation of the meter picked up on the problem .
However, he was charged for this bill as the leak was in his pipework rather than theirs!

::)

nh

Scary! We are with United Utilities. Hopefully with no leaks in our pipes!