Water meters - pros and cons?

Elaniel

Moving into my first house (rented) with my partner next week. It's two bedrooms and no water meter installed.

I do laundry maybe 3 times a week and have always been very conservative with showers, turning off sink when brushing teeth, etc. Severn Trent tell me that the water rates for where I'm moving are £21.58 a month. Does anyone know if a meter would benefit or not? Not entirely sure how they come to that figure. Is it under the presumption of how much water a house of that size would normally use?

abankerbutnotafatcat

ronaldmacdonald wrote: »

Old wives tale. If you ask to be metered they will provide. If you dont - they wont. Simples.

My local water co., Sutton & East Surrey or something similar, have a mandatory meter installation on change of owner. They promptly turned up a month after I moved in and I got a ridiculous amount (and ridiculously confusing) of water bills with all sorts of credits and charges.

As for installing a meter in a rented flat I would be outraged if my tenants did this. If they want a property with a water meter they should rent one. Saying that, if my rental property was a one (or maybe two) bed flat I would probably already have had one installed. It isn't which is why I would probably be so against one.

missjy

I was wondering whether it's worth my while installing a water meter. I have just purchased a property and will spend a good few months doing it up so it will be unoccupied except for me and workmen coming in and out. I have received a bill for the whole year which is over £200. Eventually when the house is ready it will just be me and baby living there. The house is a 3 bed semi which I think will have a good RV. On Martin's article it says that if you have more people living in a house than bedrooms then it is good idea to install water meter. I was wondering what people on this forum would recommend based on their experiences? Thanks x

Cardew

missjy wrote: »

I was wondering whether it's worth my while installing a water meter. I have just purchased a property and will spend a good few months doing it up so it will be unoccupied except for me and workmen coming in and out. I have received a bill for the whole year which is over £200. Eventually when the house is ready it will just be me and baby living there. The house is a 3 bed semi which I think will have a good RV. On Martin's article it says that if you have more people living in a house than bedrooms then it is good idea to install water meter. I was wondering what people on this forum would recommend based on their experiences? Thanks x

It depends totally on the RV of your house - without that nobody can advise.

missjy

How can I find out the RV that the water companies use?

Cardew

It is on the bill.

If you haven't yet had a bill, ring the water company with the address and ask them the Rateable Value.

Once you have this RV you can work out exactly how much you will be paying.

Swipe

Elaniel wrote: »

Moving into my first house (rented) with my partner next week. It's two bedrooms and no water meter installed.

I do laundry maybe 3 times a week and have always been very conservative with showers, turning off sink when brushing teeth, etc. Severn Trent tell me that the water rates for where I'm moving are £21.58 a month. Does anyone know if a meter would benefit or not? Not entirely sure how they come to that figure. Is it under the presumption of how much water a house of that size would normally use?

With two occupants you'd probably break even at £21 so I'd stay on water rates and forget being frugal with your water consumption.

Humphrey10

I've just received my first water bill for this property (moved in earlier this year), ~£75 for 5 months, Anglian Water. I rang up to query the original meter reading as it said 'estimated', was told it wasn't estimated really it was just the reading the day before I moved in, and then was told because I've used so little water I could move to another tariff, changing my bill to only ~£45, for water and sewerage! So less than £10 per month!

I'm a big fan of water meters now!

missjy

Cardew wrote: »

It depends totally on the RV of your house - without that nobody can advise.

The RV is £357.78 pa.

Cardew

missjy wrote: »

The RV is £357.78 pa.

That is not the RV. The RV is just in whole pounds - not pence.

It appears to be the amount you will be paying for a bill based on the RV.