Water meters - pros and cons?

Flora0987

scootermacc wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience or advice on whether gettnig a water meter might save money or not?

I have a natural reluctance against the idea in case my billis astronomical, but this is emotion not fact.

Anyone help?

What did you decide to do in the end? Im in the same predicament

System

Can I share with you my learning on water rates/meters/bills in the last few months

My mother is on water rates and asked for a meter for the house she has just moved into. As the water supply feeds two houses not just hers a meter cannot be fitted. But as a single person she had her usuage assesed and her water rates have come down by 50% !!!!!!!!!!

after this news I went straight round to my Dad's....

My Dad is also on water rates and paying more than me (on a meter) in my 6 bed house with a washer and shower on practically 8 hours a day! When I contacted the water company the said they had based their water rates on 4 people living in my Dads house and if my Dad had of called them to advise them of a change in circumstances like my sister leaving the house in 1997 and me leaving in 2000 and Mum leaving in 2004 his rates would have been adjusted accordingly!!

The utility company have advised that Dad has a water meter with a 1 year to change his mind and the approx cost per year would be £220.00 a year compared to £813 he is paying currently.

My question to you is..If you are on water rates does your water supplier know how many people live in your house????????

Cardew

JW1975 wrote: »

Can I share with you my learning on water rates/meters/bills in the last few months

My mother is on water rates and asked for a meter for the house she has just moved into. As the water supply feeds two houses not just hers a meter cannot be fitted. But as a single person she had her usuage assesed and her water rates have come down by 50% !!!!!!!!!!

after this news I went straight round to my Dad's....

My Dad is also on water rates and paying more than me (on a meter) in my 6 bed house with a washer and shower on practically 8 hours a day! When I contacted the water company the said they had based their water rates on 4 people living in my Dads house and if my Dad had of called them to advise them of a change in circumstances like my sister leaving the house in 1997 and me leaving in 2000 and Mum leaving in 2004 his rates would have been adjusted accordingly!!

The utility company have advised that Dad has a water meter with a 1 year to change his mind and the approx cost per year would be £220.00 a year compared to £813 he is paying currently.

My question to you is..If you are on water rates does your water supplier know how many people live in your house????????

I am afraid you have either been mis-informed or misunderstood and your post is incorrect.

To talk of 'water rates' is in itself misleading. Those not on a meter are charged on the Rateable Value(RV)* of their property and it has nothing to with how many people live in the house, and importantly the water company have no power to alter that RV.

The RV was the basis of 'local taxes' prior to April 1990 when it changed to the Poll Tax and now Council tax. In essence the RV was based on the notional rent a property could command, and was assessed for most properties in 1973, but no later than 1990. The RV, and hence water charges, remains the same if there are 20 people in the house or just one; so you, mother and sister leaving home would have not affected his charges by a single penny.

*I don't think your mother would have had 'her water usage assessed' as you state. If she had applied for a meter, and one could not be fitted, she can elect for an 'assessed charge'. These are standard rates dependant on number of bedrooms or number of occupants. The rate for these charges can be looked up on their website, and as a single person your mother will pay the same if she uses no water or leaves a hose running 24/7!

ogg_2

We (2 of us) have had a water meter for 11 years, having requested one to be installed when we moved in. The previous occupants paid £177 a year for just water. We have a septic tank for sewerage, which was pumped out 7 years ago.

We immediately reduced that to £120 a year with the meter. We only started paying £177 a year, two years ago. Since then, the price of water has increased by 20%.

We have managed to reduce our water consumption by about 20% by simple changes:
1. not running the tap when cleaning our teeth

2. We have a power shower but run the cold water till it comes hot, into a bucket and use that to flush the toilet. That's about 4 litres. That saves about 2400 litres a year.

3. Apparently a power shower uses, on average, 80 litres per shower. We have reduced that to 8 litres, saving 31,000 litres a year, running the shower for just 1 minute.

4. Not running the tap when washing vegetables.

5. Using washing machine once a week.

6. Have Water butts in the Garden containing about 3000 litres.
We use our dishwasher daily as before.

Cardew

ogg wrote: »

2. We have a power shower but run the cold water till it comes hot, into a bucket and use that to flush the toilet. That's about 4 litres. That saves about 2400 litres a year.

3. Apparently a power shower uses, on average, 80 litres per shower. We have reduced that to 8 litres, saving 31,000 litres a year, running the shower for just 1 minute.

.

Welcome to the forum.

There is often confusion on between the terms 'power shower' and 'electric shower'.

An electric shower has a cold water feed, whilst a 'power shower' is fed hot water from a tank with a pump to increase the flow. Not many people have the latter.

I take it with those flow rates are using in your calculations you do have a proper power shower?

GooliesOfFire

Good to hear that some single people save by having their water meters installed. I live with my wife and 2 children so it wouldn't be any good to me.

I pay just over £50 a month. I'm with Anglian Water.

Rainbow_Chaser_2

I'd recommend any couples / singles to get a water meter fitted.

My husband and I live in Sheffield and come under Yorkshire Water - we used to pay around £50 a month for our water - now it is down to circa £18 - and that does not include any additional skimping on water.

I was so impressed I got my Mum onto it too.

Obviously not quite as economical for larger families, but works for us.

Picster

I moved into a rental flat 6 months ago which has a water meter. I had heard a lot of horror stories of huge bills when on a meter.
My old flat was on a flat tariff at £350 a year with Thames water. So far the water meter is going to work out less than that. We are a couple with no children, shower at least once a day, no bath. Other than that, just cooking, dishwasher and washing machine. So for us it's OK - for now.

If we were an average family I'm pretty sure having a water meter would push our bill well over £400 per year. I would certainly factor that in to a decision to buy or rent another property when we have a family. I had an electric meter a few years back and that was a real millstone. Never again.

Cardew

Picster wrote: »

If we were an average family I'm pretty sure having a water meter would push our bill well over £400 per year. I would certainly factor that in to a decision to buy or rent another property when we have a family. I had an electric meter a few years back and that was a real millstone. Never again.

1. It is pretty certain that you will soon have no option and a meter will be compulsory when you move. Since 1990 water companies could insist on new occupants having a meter. Some enforced that regulation, others didn't. All the signs are that all will be enforcing that regulation.

2. Don't you have an electricity meter?

dab43

I have just had a water meter fitted.
Does anyone know how to convert the figures you read off to money/cost.
So I can get an idea how much I am spending on water?.