MSE News: Water bills set to go up this April

Cally71

outrageous ! our bill is going up by at least 4.7% ! oh is that all i hear you ask ? yes but my annual water bill is over £800.00 !!! the government has deemed our water bills too high so they are giving us a rebate of £50 per year ! which incedently we will not get until next year , this equates to the 4.7% rise , according to the news reporst our bills in the southwest avaerage £560. a year ? well i dont know anyone in Cornwall whos bill is that low ! its criminal :mad:

tori.k

Cally71 wrote: »

outrageous ! our bill is going up by at least 4.7% ! oh is that all i hear you ask ? yes but my annual water bill is over £800.00 !!! the government has deemed our water bills too high so they are giving us a rebate of £50 per year ! which incedently we will not get until next year , this equates to the 4.7% rise , according to the news reporst our bills in the southwest avaerage £560. a year ? well i dont know anyone in Cornwall whos bill is that low ! its criminal :mad:

Cally71 are you still on RV rates? I was skeptical about a water meter saving us money as a family of 5 but have made a saving of around £300 over the last year without really changing our water habits, im trying to talk my elderly neighbours into changing their's over (scared about leaks) as the RV rates will top over 1K this year in our area thats unsustainable by a lot of familys

molerat

Glad I am in Scotland, no increase this year

lawfulhippo

It's important to remember that these are average price increases for each water company. The increases will be different for metered and unmetered properties.

If you're on a meter, I'd expect the price increase to be less than the published amount for your company, if you're on RV, you'll likely see a greater increase.

stevieguy

Burnley_Lad wrote: »

My water bill is based on the rateable value system - my charges for this year are £231.94, based on my home's rateable value of £83. I pay £19.74 per month - how does this compare to other people whose bills are calculated based on their rateable value?

We have just moved from a rated flat to a metered house nearby.
Previous water rate was £253 per year but Thames Water anticipate we will now spend £444. Clearly, the amount of water will be the same for the same 4 people (2 adults 2 kids) so this is all due to the meter. When I asked if I could go back to rates, they became rude and said 'No!'.

Stay with rates as long as you can!

Gothicfairy

stevieguy wrote: »

We have just moved from a rated flat to a metered house nearby.
Previous water rate was £253 per year but Thames Water anticipate we will now spend £444. Clearly, the amount of water will be the same for the same 4 people (2 adults 2 kids) so this is all due to the meter. When I asked if I could go back to rates, they became rude and said 'No!'.

Stay with rates as long as you can!

The thing is, you had a really low RV before so yes your usage might well be more then that but at least with a meter you have the chance of cutting that bill down.
Ask Thames for all their water saving things ie hippo bag and shower saver

The_Leveller_3

'Ask the water companies for free water saving devices, like 'hippos''! Think about it, what is it that water companies sell, bannanas, cars; no its water. The only reason they give these stupid hippo bags away is because they do NOT save any water. Take the lid off any cistern and you will see a line marked 'Water line' on the back. It is there because that cistern needs that amount of water to flush away a 'big one'. Use any less and the toilet needs flushing twice, losing any accrued savings from when you take a pee. Water companies are in the business of selling water, not saving it so only a silly person would look to them to help reduce water consumption.

I have something called an interflush fitted to my toilet, the toilet being the largest user of water. It is dead simple, instead of flushing the full cistern every time, with this fitted its just press and hold down until the toilet is cleared, then let go and it stops flushing. Just flushes only what you need and no more, you control the amount flushed. I reckon it saves me half the flushing water and has cut my water bill by about 18%. Really, who has the money to flush down the pan these days. They have a website, just google 'interflush' and its won a bucket load of awards. I wonder why you will never see it on a water company website, probably because they see it as a threat to their bonuses. Maybe their executives are made of the same stuff as our bankers.

Gothicfairy

The_Leveller wrote: »

'Ask the water companies for free water saving devices, like 'hippos''! Think about it, what is it that water companies sell, bannanas, cars; no its water. The only reason they give these stupid hippo bags away is because they do NOT save any water. Take the lid off any cistern and you will see a line marked 'Water line' on the back. It is there because that cistern needs that amount of water to flush away a 'big one'. Use any less and the toilet needs flushing twice, losing any accrued savings from when you take a pee. Water companies are in the business of selling water, not saving it so only a silly person would look to them to help reduce water consumption.

I have something called an interflush fitted to my toilet, the toilet being the largest user of water. It is dead simple, instead of flushing the full cistern every time, with this fitted its just press and hold down until the toilet is cleared, then let go and it stops flushing. Just flushes only what you need and no more, you control the amount flushed. I reckon it saves me half the flushing water and has cut my water bill by about 18%. Really, who has the money to flush down the pan these days. They have a website, just google 'interflush' and its won a bucket load of awards. I wonder why you will never see it on a water company website, probably because they see it as a threat to their bonuses. Maybe their executives are made of the same stuff as our bankers.

Another load of rubbish..toilet hippos do work and as they are free there is hardly anything lost in trying them is there ?
Interflush is not free so why should the water company promote them when they have nothing to do with it ?
OFWAT fix the amount of profit the water company can make so hippo or no hippo, interflush or not makes no difference to the amount of profit they can and do make.

You clearly don't really understand how they work and that they do offer a lot of advice and help and also FREE things to help reduce your metered bill.

The_Leveller_3

If you cannot understand my previous logic about hippos not working, perhaps you will accept the word of the British Bathroom Manufacturers association, the people who represent the makers of toilets not the people who sell the water that goes through them. In a 2006 press release the BMA said of cistern displacent devices, hippos etc:
– What about putting a brick in the cistern? The BMA recommends against putting any object in the cistern to reduce the amount of water it stores because a toilet that was designed to flush on 13 litres will probably not clear the pan if you use a lower volume and then people just flush a second time, which uses even more water.
Also, I have found in life that anything that is given away for free, usually has little value or effect. My interflush paid for itself in about 9 weeks.

Gothicfairy

The_Leveller wrote: »

If you cannot understand my previous logic about hippos not working, perhaps you will accept the word of the British Bathroom Manufacturers association, the people who represent the makers of toilets not the people who sell the water that goes through them. In a 2006 press release the BMA said of cistern displacent devices, hippos etc:
– What about putting a brick in the cistern? The BMA recommends against putting any object in the cistern to reduce the amount of water it stores because a toilet that was designed to flush on 13 litres will probably not clear the pan if you use a lower volume and then people just flush a second time, which uses even more water.
Also, I have found in life that anything that is given away for free, usually has little value or effect. My interflush paid for itself in about 9 weeks.

Oh I understand you, I just don't agree and if the bathroom manufacturers were that bothered why don't they fit interflush as standard ?
Seeing as you offer nothing else (judging by your past posts )but this toilet stuff I think that maybe you have more of an issue then me as at least I am giving people a FREE option and one that might just save them some money.

Having used a Hippo for many years I have not found any problems but guess I am just special..........:T