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House of Lords Committee - Water bills should rise to limit consumption.
Comments
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So basically another EU directive that notes that as parts of Southern Europe are short of water, so the price of water must rise in Scotland.
(the revenue being passed to the EU of course.
Salmond will probably use this as part of his 'leave the Uk' and join EU manifesto.
Hamish will think it a winner!EU tariff on agricultual product 12.2%
some dairy products 42.1% cloths 11.4%
EU Clinical Trials Directive stops medical advances0 -
Water is way too cheap, we waste so much. You could double the price and people could adapt pretty simply and see no rise in their bills.
Not so easy if you are already on a meter and tend not to waste it in the first place.
The same could be said of energy or petrol/diesel. Those that have insulated fully, modernised boilers, heating systems, fitted eco this and that still get hit. those that run economical vehicles still get hit.
They should be targeting high usage indiscriminate users.
the water companies got loads of infrastructure on the cheap but have failed to reinvest adequately in it.
They have a cash cow and are milking it, feeding it just enough to keep it going. Where they need a new cow off they go to ofwat cap in hand and low and behold there is a need to increase bills. There is no competition in water quite why it is in private hands mystifies me."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
grizzly1911 wrote: »Not so easy if you are already on a meter and tend not to waste it in the first place.
The same could be said of energy or petrol/diesel. Those that have insulated fully, modernised boilers, heating systems, fitted eco this and that still get hit. those that run economical vehicles still get hit.
They should be targeting high usage indiscriminate users.
Yep, fair point, but I really don't think there's many people that couldn't save a very large proportion of what they use, metered or otherwise.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
We looked into a meter, but having worked it out I think we'd only break even.grizzly1911 wrote: »Not so easy if you are already on a meter and tend not to waste it in the first place.
The same could be said of energy or petrol/diesel. Those that have insulated fully, modernised boilers, heating systems, fitted eco this and that still get hit. those that run economical vehicles still get hit.
They should be targeting high usage indiscriminate users.
the water companies got loads of infrastructure on the cheap but have failed to reinvest adequately in it.
They have a cash cow and are milking it, feeding it just enough to keep it going. Where they need a new cow off they go to ofwat cap in hand and low and behold there is a need to increase bills. There is no competition in water quite why it is in private hands mystifies me.
What gets me is there are/were all these schemes for central heating and keeping warm (Warm Front, Free Insulation, Cavity Wall etc etc) but never has there been any kind of scheme for water, which if you believe the hype, is somehow more scarce than gas.
A meter would be beneficial for us IF we had a way of reusing rain/surface water. So the toilet could flush using it, the garden tap could run off it, etc etc. But the systems are so damned expensive, plus on top you would have installation costs which can be upto 3 times the cost of the actual system.
If they are going to increase the price, would it not be better to a) ensure profits remain at a good level (to keep investors happy) but do not increase, b) cap dividend payments, and c) use the extra money to fund such projects.[SIZE=-1]To equate judgement and wisdom with occupation is at best . . . insulting.
[/SIZE]0 -
We looked into a meter, but having worked it out I think we'd only break even.
The advantage or disadvantage of meters is very much down to individual households' circumstances.
I am single, live in a flat and don't use a huge amount of water so a meter took me from direct debit payments of £45/month for 10 months a year down to £6.20/month for 12 months a year - a heck of a saving.
A larger household wouldn't see such a saving unless their property's rateable value is much higher.
When I retire I intend to have a house/bungalow with a garden, one of the first things I'll be sorting with regards to the garden is water butts on the downpipes so that, hopefully, I'll be able to catch/store most of what I'll need for the garden.0 -
Thrugelmir wrote: »How many River Thames are there?
Supplies the bulk of the shires.
If you go to mid wales (Powys), drive along the road, in some places, you'll see, and drive under, a huge great black pipe....
This pipe carries water from the Ellan Valley, all the way to Birmingham. It's victorian architecture. If the victorians could figure it out, I'm sure we could.
So there are solutions, but like I said, installing such a pipe now, especially so a visible one, would have planning all over it. It simply wouldn't happen. So although the solution works well and has for decades, it wouldn't get passed now. Bizarrely enough, some of it is absolutely beautiful and has lovely architecture to carry to water. So what wouldn't get passed now, is actually a historical marvel.
Therein lies half the problem IMO.0 -
Graham_Devon wrote: »If you go to mid wales (Powys), drive along the road, in some places, you'll see, and drive under, a huge great black pipe....
This pipe carries water from the Ellan Valley, all the way to Birmingham. It's victorian architecture. If the victorians could figure it out, I'm sure we could.
So there are solutions, but like I said, installing such a pipe now, especially so a visible one, would have planning all over it. It simply wouldn't happen. So although the solution works well and has for decades, it wouldn't get passed now. Bizarrely enough, some of it is absolutely beautiful and has lovely architecture to carry to water. So what wouldn't get passed now, is actually a historical marvel.
Therein lies half the problem IMO.
Yep those cunning Victorians. The Elan Valley, Lake Vyrnwy, Haweswater, Thirlmere.
Fantastic engineering feats.
How would the likes of Manchester , Liverpool and Birmingham fared without the forethought.
Arguably sold on the cheap too.
I don't actually think planning would be so much of an issue with cut and fill. When we had new mains put in close to us they even tunneled under roads with some form of boring device, left the roads intact.
What I do think we lack is the vision, passion and conviction to get it done let alone the finance."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
Graham_Devon wrote: »Therein lies half the problem IMO.
But Graham, a house of lords committee has said we need to ramp up water prices.
On an official parliament document.
Or are you now saying that such a report could be wrong?“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »But Graham, a house of lords committee has said we need to ramp up water prices.
On an official parliament document.
Or are you now saying that such a report could be wrong?
Now i remember Hamish quoting a Parliamentry report as gospel (something about the benefits of immigration maybe ?).EU tariff on agricultual product 12.2%
some dairy products 42.1% cloths 11.4%
EU Clinical Trials Directive stops medical advances0 -
Now i remember Hamish quoting a Parliamentry report as gospel (something about the benefits of immigration maybe ?).
What, like Graham's House of Lords committee report questioning the benefits of immigration?
Well I never....
A House of Lords committee report, just like this one.
What a coincidence.
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0
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