Water Meters can you remove them?

Geordie_bear

Hi everyone, we're just about to move in to our new house & have just found that it has a water meter! It may cost us a little less in the long run but I prefer the security of a fixed rate as you may use more water some months then others! Any chance of having it removed?:o

p00hsticks

I don't believe you can, no, but worth double checking with your supplier just to make sure.

Cardew

No you cannot remove them.

macman

No you can't. If you have one fitted and you find that it is more expensive, then it can be disregarded and you revert to RV billing, but that has to be done within the 1st 12 months of fitting. And any new owner or tenant has to accept metered billing.
But if you could, they don't physically remove them anyway-they simply switch you back to RV billing and the meter is not read.

PasturesNew

My parents were on unmetered and water was £60/month. Now they're on a meter and it's about £20 - and dad loves water, loves watering the garden too.

flea72

it doesnt matter if the property you are moving into is charged on rateable value currently. as soon as there is change of owner the house goes over to a water meter, and theres nothing you can do

F

Cardew

flea72 wrote: »

it doesnt matter if the property you are moving into is charged on rateable value currently. as soon as there is change of owner the house goes over to a water meter, and theres nothing you can do

F

Water companies are allowed do do as you say.

However some companies enforce this ruling and others don't; so the new occupants remain on Rateable Value charges unless they opt for a meter.

ginvzt

When you bought the house, did you have the water & drainage survey done? It usually states there how water is billed (rateable value or meter).

Once the meter is installed, it cannot be removed, and any future occupants would end up paying the metered water. And, to be honest, I agree that this is how we should be paying for the water - depending on how much we use, the same way as for gas and electricity.

wild666

ginvzt wrote: »

When you bought the house, did you have the water & drainage survey done? It usually states there how water is billed (rateable value or meter).

Once the meter is installed, it cannot be removed, and any future occupants would end up paying the metered water. And, to be honest, I agree that this is how we should be paying for the water - depending on how much we use, the same way as for gas and electricity.

In a way I agree but there is normally one snag I have found with water meters and that is that they are IMHO too far away from the property and very often people who move into a property with a water meter have no idea where the meter is so cannot see the amount of water they are using.
I live in a flat and have a water meter but have no idea where the meter is located.
It is my opinion that the meters should be as close to a property as the gas and electric meters are.

Gothicfairy

wild666 wrote: »

In a way I agree but there is normally one snag I have found with water meters and that is that they are IMHO too far away from the property and very often people who move into a property with a water meter have no idea where the meter is so cannot see the amount of water they are using.
I live in a flat and have a water meter but have no idea where the meter is located.
It is my opinion that the meters should be as close to a property as the gas and electric meters are.

People can ask their water company for the meter location and meters are normally fitted in the easiest place it is not quite as simple as gas and electric as it has to take into account where it branches off from the mains supply.

t0rt0ise

I moved into a new house 15 years ago with a meter and it was situated in a deep pit half way up the road. There was no way I could get the lid off the pit to read the meter. As it was a new build they had a choice where to put the meters and yet they chose to put them where nobody could get at them. I think they should be alongside the gas and electric meters immediately outside the property.