shall I keep my water meter?

missis_amber

I bought a new property in Aug 2011 and had a water meter installed pretty much straight away. The property has been been unoccupied for the whole year because of major work/repairs. The bathroom & kitchen were taken out and up until two months ago there was no water coming into or going out of the house. The builders have used the water a few times since the sinks were installed but that's probably only for a few minutes every few days.
Over the year I've paid £141.36 to Severn Trent.
If I didn't have a meter then it would have been £355 per year.

Now that I am about to move into the property I was wondering whether to keep the meter or have it removed. It will be just me & my toddler. It just makes me think that if I house using no water can cost £141 imagine how much a household that actually uses water would cost!!

Any advice greatly appreciated.

victor2

You only have 12 months after it is fitted to request that you are no longer charged by the meter readings. Do you still have time?

missis_amber

yes - at least another month.

According to all the calculators I would be saving money but I am still a bit dubious!

macman

Even with no or minimal consumption you would still have been paying standing charges: That must account for the majority of the annual bill.
Is that bill based on actual readings? If it's estimated, then they'll have assumed higher usage than was actually the case.
NB: it is not possible to have the meter removed. It will remain physically in place but you can revert to RV billing if you request so within the 12m limit.

victor2

You'll only be light users, so if the calculator says you will save money, I would expect it's right.
Having said that, I pay unmetered and would almost certainly save money if I went to a meter, but never have because I would constantly be watching my usage and doubtless see my plants die through lack of watering!

missis_amber

That's what I was thinking Victor- that I'll be watching how many times I bathe my daughter in case I go over! But that said I am not one of those that uses the washing machine continuously, I don't have a dishwasher and do minimal gardening. I just hate the fact that you have 12 months to change your mind otherwise you're stuck with it!

Eliza_2

That does seem an awful lot. I am a one person household, shower every day, use washing machine, washup, wash car etc as usual and pay around £6 a month to ST - that's since the last meter reading when it went down from £12 a month.

Worth getting them to check the meter isn't faulty perhaps?

gayleanne

It is the standing charges.