Is £50 a month for water the norm for us?

igiveup86

Hi all,

I recently moved into a big 1 bedroom flat with my girlfriend.

I rang up today to sort out water, I first rang Southern Water and the lady said no problem, I'll set you up with fresh and waste it will be £30 a month starting April 1st. She then said sorry, we can only do waste for that location and not fresh water but the price is still £30?? I said fair enough, then rang back 10 minutes later saying this can't be right? The same price for only one service? I got through to an English lady this time, she said no sorry that's not correct its actually £21 a month as of April 1st - BUT, you owe is a bit already? And we can't tell you how much until your first bill?? Fair enough I said, just make sure you know its from 24th of Jan only, when we moved in.

Then I rang South East Water, and set up fresh water with them for £30 a month starting April 1st.

So, for two people living in a 1 bedroom flat whom are never there during the day, does around £50 a month sound about right for water? I've never had to set this up before so I'm not too sure...

(South East will charge me £10 more for the first bill to make up for the Jan period)


Thanks

Cardew

You haven't stated if you are metered or not??


If metered, the average consumption for two people would be approx. 110 cubic metres a year. In your circumstances i.e. out during the day, it will probably be lower. You can easily look up the costs on each company's website.


If you are not metered you will need to know your Rateable Value(RV) which you can obtain from the water company and again easily calculate your annual cost.

macman

You don't say whether you are metered or unmetered? If unmetered, then there's no such thing as 'about right', because you pay based on the rateable value over which the water utility have no control. Water prices vary by up to 250% depending on region.
In border areas it's not unusual for one company to bill for supply and another for drainage.

EmmaHerts

I am unmetered in a three bedroom house, and I pay £45 a month (which I think is too high!). I am really surprised at how much yours is.

Paulaviki

We have our water with South East and Southern and are unmetered. We are in a 2 bedroom house and ours is around £54 per month, although we only pay for 10 months of the year. We pay something like £28 to one and £26 to the other I think. It does seem like a lot but they are planning to install meters soon, although we are hoping to move before then anyway!

matelodave

Why not do a few sums to see if a water meter would be better for you. Use Cardew's estimate of 55cum per person to work out how much it would be with a meter. If it's less than you are paying now you can ask for a meter to be fitted and then save even more by being a bit canny with your consumption. You can take shorter showers or shallower baths and not waste water by letting it run down the sink whilst washing, rinsing or cleaning your teeth.

Sometimes it's not possible to fit a meter (not sure why) but then you can asked for an "assessed charge" - which is based on their estimate of your consumption rather than on the rateable value. Put a brick in your toilet cistern to reduce it's capacity and save a litre or so every time you flush. Ask your water supply co for free water saving devices - ours gives away flow restrictors to fit on the taps & shower hose as well other stuff to help reduce consumption

There are just two of us, unmetered our bill would be about £55 or more a month, metered it's less than £25 and we are both at home all day in a three bed bungalow.

poppasmurf_bewdley

A couple on their own with no children will nearly always be better off with a meter. Single people certainly so.

I live on my own most of the time (my son is in the army) and my bill for metered water is about £50 a year. My last six monthly bill was actually £26.57. I have no sewage or surface water charges to pay as we have no mains drainage in the rural area where I live.

clarryd

I live in Northamptonshire and was paying £77.00 per month for my water.

I rang them and asked why was it so much and is there any way I can reduce this large amount. The customer services lady looked at my account and told me that if I went on a water meter the cost would be £37.00 per month as they automatically read everyone's meter's when they do their rounds and mine was a lot less than I was paying without a meter. I told her to change me to a water meter as this overpay was just dead money and better in my pocket.

I have been on the water meter for 2 months now so I have saved £80.00 already. Result.

I have no idea if this is going to work out better in the long run as I haven't had a bill yet but it should be very close to what I pay every month.

You never know I may even get a credit (here's hoping).

Since the water meter has been tarted we are more careful with water as we just let the water run freely before had.

So if nothing else it has taught us to be careful with water.

Johnhowell

clarryd wrote: »

I live in Northamptonshire and was paying £77.00 per month for my water.

I rang them and asked why was it so much and is there any way I can reduce this large amount. The customer services lady looked at my account and told me that if I went on a water meter the cost would be £37.00 per month as they automatically read everyone's meter's when they do their rounds and mine was a lot less than I was paying without a meter. I told her to change me to a water meter as this overpay was just dead money and better in my pocket.

I have been on the water meter for 2 months now so I have saved £80.00 already. Result.

I have no idea if this is going to work out better in the long run as I haven't had a bill yet but it should be very close to what I pay every month.

You never know I may even get a credit (here's hoping).

Since the water meter has been tarted we are more careful with water as we just let the water run freely before had.

So if nothing else it has taught us to be careful with water.

Take meter readings regularly to ensure the monthly payment reflects your usage. When put on a new meter here, the supplier said the first three months would be at the old rate value, until an average over the three months is calculated. Did you take a reading when it was fitted? They only read the whole cubic metres but I read to the litre.


Good luck,
John