Help please, water bill doubled in new house!

arttochoke

We have just moved (2 adults 2 teen girls) into a smaller modern 2 bedroom house from a slightly larger 2 bed cottage and the water bill which is now metered, is going to be around £51 a month! In the old house (unmetered) I was paying £25 a month! I was pretty angry and have asked them to explain how this is worked out. I also asked if they could take us off a meter but they said it is not possible!

I have never had a metered account before and am not keen, seeing as our girls are always in the bathroom! I nag them to not use water/electricity unecessarily, and they are very good considering, but this is just silly to have the bill double! I won't be watering my garden or showering the dog or anything like that, I am always wary of how much I may be using! So frustrating that they won't allow me to go back to rates! Has anyone got any suggestions please? I have emailed them asking for a full explanation of why they won't allow me to go back from being metered. They mentioned something about there having been a lot of tenants moving in and out. Not my problem! We are here to stay for a couple of years at least all being well.

To make it worse, I can't even find the meter. They said it was out in the driveway but we can't find it. They then just plucked a reading of 159 out of thin air with no explanation of how they got that figure or from what date.. This is all highly frustrating. Has anyone had anything similar and can suggest what to do?

It is the same water company, and we are only in the next town if that makes any difference..

Thanks.

deanos

You will stay paying on the meter you get no choice.

The £50 p/m will be an estimate as they don't know how much you use, you need to take a reading today then again in a months time and ring them with the readings they can then calculate how much you use,and adjust up/down accordingly

They will have a meter location ask them for this, if will be a round plastic type cover or a square metal cover,if you cant find it ask for them to come show you,or if its rented the landlord will know

What water company is it ?

HappyMJ

£25 a month would not cover the usage for 4 people.

Who is your supplier? They will have the tariffs on their website. They will be charging a standing charge and a price per cubic metre. Most people use around 50 cubic metres per year per person.

You will have to look at ways of saving water.

The meter is usually out the front under a square cover. It could be hidden under trees or in your front garden. http://southwestwater.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/81/~/where-is-my-water-meter%3F

Blackpool_Saver

you can get a lot of help with paying water bills if you can't keep up, it is one area I don't feel guilty about getting help for, water is a basic need, not a luxury

macman

You won't get an explanation of why you can't switch back to RV billing (not rated billing), so don't waste your time on that. Nobody can. A meter can only be disregarded by the same occupier for the first 12m after it's installed (immediately if there is a change of coccupier). After that it's permanent. And water utilities can enforce metering for new occupiers if they so wish.
You don't seem to have considered the possibility that your previous property may have had a relatively low RV, hence your bills there were very low. The relative size of the property has absolutely nothing to do with the RV, which is a historical value. So a new, but smaller, property with a meter might well cost more. £250 a year seems very low.

pixnmix_2

Hi Arttochoke. You have my empathy, you really do.

I moved from a large house with 2 adult children (unmetered water) to a much smaller one 2 years ago, with a meter installed. My water bill went up from £330 a year (over 10 monthly installments) to £550 a year (in 12 monthly installments), which at the time seemed ridiculous considering that I had a massive garden in the previous house to water in summer. Although my daughter moved out 18 months ago to buy her own place with her fiancee, the bills stayed the same. Until last month, when I got a letter from the water company saying they were reducing my bill by £175 a year. so down from approx £39 a month to 25 a month.
Deanos is right, you need to make sure you send in readings regularly so the company can track your usage and adjust accordingly. I did and it still took them 18 months to readjust the payments but worth it in the end.

My meter is under a small square grid on the front pavement by the way.

Here's a list of what we did to reduce water consumption:
* Put half a housebrick in one of the toilet cisterns. The en suite one is an eco type so doesn't use much per flush.
* Use washing machine on eco cycle which uses half the amount of water (clearly depends if you have this option on yours)
* Didn't leave tap running when brushing teeth.
* Took car to car wash rather than using hosepipe.
* Got a water butt to collect rainwater for watering plants/ washing down garden furniture in summer. From freecycle so cost nothing.
* Used shower rather than bath. Baths are a treat now.
* Dry peeled veg then filled a small bowl with water in to rinse them. Then used that water for houseplants.

I'm sure there are more water saving ideas out there.

HappyMJ

pixnmix wrote: »

* Took car to car wash rather than using hosepipe.

I don't think that really saves money...you are saving money on the water bill but it's costing more money to get to/from the car wash and the cost of the car wash itself instead. I'd use a bucket and a hosepipe with a shower type nozzle that you can use when required and when you release the trigger the water doesn't flow.

macman

Using a carwash to save on water bills? That's about as logical as driving 50 miles to the nearest fuel station to save 5p a litre...

irenee

If you use a good modern carwash, then the water is collected, filtered and reused - end result is much less water used overall

Personally I don't bother washing my car and it gets to the carwash annually - once the winter salt/gritting residue is off the roads

Saving tips include using water from showers / baths to flush the loo - and it doesn't NEED to be flushed every time it's used

Depending on the plumbing, water from the washing machine can be used to flush the loo as well

Navy/Army shower routines reduce usage - get wet, turn off; soap all over; turn on, rinse off - saves a lot of time too!!

Metering can be money saving - my RV bill was around £500 per year - now my total bill is just under £100 a year

(Being fair there is only me)

pixnmix_2

I understand why people think it's cheaper to car wash at home, but my local hand car wash charges £5 for a wash, wax and wheel blacken thingy. By the time I paid for all the stuff plus water and time, i find its cheaper and easier. Plus i'm a lazy bint But, yeah, point taken

spiro

irenee wrote: »

Navy/Army shower routines reduce usage - get wet, turn off; soap all over; turn on, rinse off - saves a lot of time too!!

Especially true if you have someone washing and conditioning long hair, water should only be on when you need to use it not for the duration. You now need to think of it like gas & elec, the more you use the more you pay. Plus as your sewage charges are based on the water charges they both are in step.