The Great ' Extreme water MoneySaving' Hunt

out_of_debt_at_last

I have recently gone to a water meter in June(new house) when I phoned to give my first meter reading they said we had not used a lot and went to check if this was ok, should be £40 for three people a month!!! so they reduced to £25 so I left it at that then they came to read the meter and said we are not using a lot and now they have said I have to have a new meter, each time I have explained we are pretty savvy with water and we are all out all da,y each time they have said we aren't using an AVERAGE amount!! so will wait for them to contact me regarding a new meter!!!!!! and see what happens!

Ken68

I keep my secondhand water in a lidded bucket in the shower, so visitors don't know. They do their own thing.lol

magicbunn2106

I have just moved into. New house and have moved to a place where it has a water meter. I was told that the ever age for 2 adults and a child should be £46.00 a month . I told them I would not pay that much as I believe I didn't use that much . They said all they can do is advise me and if I need up owing them money , then they will say they told me so!!! How cheeky is that ? My reply was ...well that's a chance ill take.

I have been taking a meter reading and so far we are ok. We have also been told it was below average but I said I'm not paying for other people waste!!

pault1705

i have a water saving system at my home i have a 16 ft scaffold tower i bought in the 90's and a couple of water tanks i bought off ebay total of 400ltrs. diverted my downpipe to the tanks and plumbed in a downstairs toilet. i also have two 220 litre water buts from my garage gutters this is used for the garden and also has syphoned feed to a dustbin under the scaffold. a leisure battery a caravan submersible pump and some solar panels give free power to refill tanks in dry periods. i did use the bath water as well during the summer but after the wife dyed her hair and a hot summer there was a bit off a smell. im on a water meter and my water usage has come down by 1/3.

iris

iammumtoone wrote: »

I am on that tariff, but only just qualify for it (my usage is on the limit of being cheaper on the standard tariff)
Can I ask how you get your usage to be that low?

How many of you in the household? There are two us us, me and a six year old I am hoping I can reduce my water bill.

There are two of us and we are at home 24/7, as we are retired.

To help keep our water bill down we only shower every other day, unless we have been doing a dirty job and we don't flush the toilet every time (if it's yellow let it mellow). When running the tap for hot water I save the cold water in a jug and use it for washing vegetables etc. We also have a water butt and my husband uses this to wash the car and clean windows, also for watering the garden in summer. We don't let the tap run when cleaning teeth or just washing hands. In fact we never 'just' let the tap run. When washing clothes I always have a full load, the same with the dishwasher.

We use about 26 cubic metres of water a year, however we have a septic tank so do not pay sewage charges.

Another thing I do is use a steamer for cooking vegetables, therefore also saving electricity as well as water.

HTH

aless02

I try and conserve water where possible though use a bit as we cloth nappy and they have to be hot washed & rinsed well.

I have a question - we like to practice 'if it's yellow, let it mellow...' but am finding this can lead to a wee smell build-up. Tips to neutralise odours? I also had no idea you could use rain/grey water to flush loos, so off to experiment!

Ami-Rose

pinmoney wrote: »

P.S. You are so right that new buildings should use rainwater harvesting for loo flushing. i am not sure about using bathwater etc to flush the loo in households with more than one adult - how do visitors react when they have to empty a pail of dirty bathwater?:(

We don't use bathwater (OH is still weirded out by some of my more normal saving tactics, don't think he'd stretch this far...yet. ) but we do run the 'if it's yellow let it mellow' rule. In regards to visitors, family members are expected to uphold this rule and don't really mind (it even convinced the in-laws to do the same at home!) but for non-family guests we don't let on that we do this. I think it depends on the relationship between you and the guest.

A small saving tip I use is when I brush my teeth I spit into the sink, but leave it there until I've used mouthwash and use that to rinse the worst away. Then just a small amount of water is needed to wash the rest.

Hopeinhell

Fascinating reading! We collect rainwater from butt and hubby brings it in to bathroom (live in single storey house) to flush loo. We both use the bath not shower, I only put a couple of inches in it like they did in wartime. Any run off while water heating up is put in loo flushing buckets. I have to say I hide these if guests are expected! Oh and we only put washer on when it is full.

iammumtoone

I am going to try using bath water for flushing the loo. I don't want to have a bucket by the toilet so plan to fill the re-fill cistern with the bath water every time I flush. My question is where/how do people store all the 'used' water?

Ken68

To collect rainwater I use plastic dustbins, metal tanks off the sheds, large buckets off the laundry water exit and in the event of a drought have been known to use the council wheelie bins, and then transfer to smaller receptacles. Ideally would like a rainwater harvesting system but payback time is not acceptable, apart from bug buildup.