Water meter on my land.

srcandas

Hi all. Just back from hols to get a request from water co to fit meter (no problem with that). However they need to put it on my land.

In front of my house is a paved (small bricks in a mosaic) about 4 x 4 meters. House is in effect terraced (I say in effect as there is a garage port to one side but that is not mine).

1/. My concern is if they dig this up it'll never go back as is.
2/. It has a diagonal telephone and internet cable running across it. Any loss of internet impacts my job.

Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this. I don't want to be a problem but I don't want to sign the waiver only to find my frontage looks a mess and I need to pay BT to reconnect my internet.

Any thoughts very welcome. :beer:

macman

It's normally placed near the street stopc*ck where possible, i.e. not on private land.
Why does it have to be on your property?

GwylimT

We had one in our last house, it was in the back garden, as it needed to be on paving (not block paving) we were told a cover would be made that our paving slotted into, like our man hole in the front garden. They were supposed to so it in the afternoon when I was home, they however did it in the morning when I was at work (back garden could be accessed from the front), they had simply removed an entire slab, put in a circle plastic access point and filled the rest with concrete.

srcandas

macman wrote: »

It's normally placed near the street stopc*ck where possible, i.e. not on private land.
Why does it have to be on your property?

macman tx for your time. There is no pavement and the street is very narrow. But they have stated "We have carried out a detailed survey of the supply to your property and determined that we are unable to install the meter at our prefered location within the public footway. The only suitable location for the meter is within your property boundary as follows: 'Dig in concrete on drive'".

They ignore the fact or are in error that the drive is bricked and not concrete. Company is Southern Water.

srcandas

GwylimT wrote: »

We had one in our last house, it was in the back garden, as it needed to be on paving (not block paving) we were told a cover would be made that our paving slotted into, like our man hole in the front garden. They were supposed to so it in the afternoon when I was home, they however did it in the morning when I was at work (back garden could be accessed from the front), they had simply removed an entire slab, put in a circle plastic access point and filled the rest with concrete.

Gwylim tx you give a very good example of my concerns.

matelodave

Where is your company stopvalve - not the one in your house but the one out in the street. They should install it adjacent to their stopcock. Mine just happens to be in a flowerbed in my front garden (my side of the fence) because that's where the company stopvalve was located when the house was built.
However that said, my Mum had hers installed inside the house where they installed a transmitter unit under her sink between the incoming stopvalve and a second valve that they fitted to isolate it from the house.
It was wired to a digital display which was fitted on the outside wall of the house in a small grey box with a hinged lid. It could be read without gaining access to the house or grovelling down a hole in the street.
I'm sure they could be a bit more flexible but generally they take the easiest and cheapest option.

srcandas

matelodave wrote: »

Where is your company stopvalve

It's about 20 cms in from the curb which is the boundary. So they would need to remove the drive bricks, dig hole, install, insert cover, and then cut bricks to edge of cover and seat them correctly.

And it is important the bricks are correctly seated or they sink or stick up leading to people tripping up. And as it is an open boundary and people cut diagonally across my bricked area (which I have no problem with, we live in a delightful village and everyone knows everyone) this is of concern. Not sure I could be sued but I really don't want neighbours, posty, meter readers, et al falling flat on their faces.

Basically I'd love to say go do it and I'd look forward to cheaper bills. But I can see this being a real hassle.

:beer:

Cardew

If a company cannot fit a meter for any reason - quite often in flats, the occupant gets the choice of an assessed rate.

This assessed charge varies from company to company - some use No of bedrooms, others No of occupants.

I would have a look at the likely impact of the assessed charge on your property, and if it looks a good deal. refuse to let them dig up a paved mosaic

srcandas

Cardew wrote: »

If a company cannot fit a meter for any reason - quite often in flats, the occupant gets the choice of an assessed rate.

This assessed charge varies from company to company - some use No of bedrooms, others No of occupants.

I would have a look at the likely impact of the assessed charge on your property, and if it looks a good deal. refuse to let them dig up a paved mosaic

Many thanks for that Cardew. Didn't know that but have this evening discovered a villager has in the past turned down a meter without problems so obviously they do not insist.

We are 2 people, two bedrooms, very small but flower crowded garden, and we are away a lot - so a meter would no doubt save us money. But it isn't that much in the overall mix.

I give them a call Tuesday and see what is on offer but thanks one and all - so much nicer to be prepared. :beer:

Cardew

If you look up the company on-line it will tell you exactly how much an assessed charge will be for your 2bed/2person home.


I suspect if they have contacted you, rather than you applying for a meter, I suspect your area is now in a compulsory metering zone(Southern water?)

spiro

If your internal stopcock is easy to get to, you could suggest they fit the meter inside. They offered me that until they realised the external stopcock was not where they thought it was so in the end they fitted it outside.