How much water do YOU use?

13

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  • Dan29
    Dan29 Posts: 4,760
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    Cardew wrote:
    The Rateable Value system finished in 1989 so it will not change from £177.

    £414 is high for a RV of £177 - £2.34 per £1 of RV. In my area(Severn Trent) it is £1.61 per £1 of RV and that is with surface water entering sewer instead of a soakaway.

    It seems the average consumption is 160-180 cu mtr per year - you can calculate your metered charges from that.

    Thanks for your reply. The current bill breaks down as follows:

    Water:
    Standing Charge ............. £95.30
    plus 53.29p per £ of RV .... £94.32
    Customer dividend: .......... -£9.00

    Sewerage: Surface Water Drainage and Foul
    Standing Charge ............ £115.84
    plus 71.36p per £ of RV ... £126.31
    Customer dividend: .......... -£9.00

    The costs after switching to a water meter are detailed on this page. As you say, the average consumption appears to be about 160-180 cubic meters per year, but I'm not sure how to calculate what the new charge would be, given that they list different volumetric charges for water and sewerage?

    Thanks again
    Dan

    .
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    Dan29,
    Both your unmeasured and metered charges are assessed on a different basis to mine.
    On unmeasured you have much higher Standing Charges but lower charges on the RV.

    Your metered charges are higher than mine.

    Looking at your link for 160-180 Cu Mtr your charges would be £426 - £475 if your surface water drains into the sewer. If the surface water does not drain into a sewer the charges would be £366 - £411.

    Mind you if your surface water does not drain into the sewer you should not be paying as much as you are currently paying.

    As I understand it you are unlikely to save much by going to metered water unless your useage is below average.
  • Dan29
    Dan29 Posts: 4,760
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    Thanks again Cardew. I reached the same conclusion after speaking to Welsh Water (not that they were much help!). Our surface water does drain into the sewer but I'll be looking into whether this can be changed.
    .
  • Gambler
    Gambler Posts: 3,210
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    Currenty averaging 25 cubic meter per month - this seems high?

    2 adults, 1 child,
    2 baths per day
    2 showers per day
    dishwasher
    washing every day
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    Gambler wrote:
    Currenty averaging 25 cubic meter per month - this seems high?

    2 adults, 1 child,
    2 baths per day
    2 showers per day
    dishwasher
    washing every day
    According to the Water Boards the average is 160 litres per person per day.
    For 3 people that is 480 litres a day. As a cubic metre is 1,000 litres that is just under 0.5 cubic metres a day which equates to approx 180 cubic meters a year. From this thread that also seems about the average consumption.

    You appear to be using 50-60% more than average. approx 250 litres a day

    Have you checked if you have a leak?

    The big users of water are obviously baths and washing machines – about 100 litres each time.
  • Allengg
    Allengg Posts: 4 Newbie
    "The big users of water are obviously baths and washing machines – about 100 litres each time."

    In reality the biggest users of water are toilets.
    Here in Canada we have an abundance of water, but, almost all homes are metered. I was looking to compare our water useage to other places, our daily use seems high at 300 litres per day. Since we also pay "sewage" rates based on water use, saving a little will help, and our rates are not low.
    The surprise to me is how much water, per capita, UK people use. Seems high !
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    Allengg wrote:

    In reality the biggest users of water are toilets.
    Here in Canada we have an abundance of water, but, almost all homes are metered. I was looking to compare our water useage to other places, our daily use seems high at 300 litres per day. Since we also pay "sewage" rates based on water use, saving a little will help, and our rates are not low.
    The surprise to me is how much water, per capita, UK people use. Seems high !

    Hi, Allengg
    We are also charged per cu mtr for sewerage - it is assumed that 90% of supplied water returns to the sewer.

    It is estimated that the average toilet flush in UK uses 10 liters.

    What is the 300 litres per day you use? per individual? As stated earlier it averages 160 litres per day per person in UK.

    If your Washing machines are like those in the USA, they use lots of water.
  • Allengg
    Allengg Posts: 4 Newbie
    My omission, 2 adults and many visitors.
    The average toilet uses 13 litres per flush, in Canada. Low volume units use 6.
    from a Canadian Gov't website:here

    Toilets are typically the largest user of water in the home. On average, each person in the household will flush a toilet five times per day. Old toilets (pre-1950) use up to 26 litres per flush. Toilets manufactured between the 1950s and the 1980s typically use 20 litres per flush. Improvements in water efficiency began in the 1980’s as a result of refinements in the design of conventional gravity toilets, new fixture designs and many state and federal initiatives in the United States to promote water conservation. In 1994 the United States passed the Energy Policy Act to mandate that all toilets sold, or imported into the United States be low-volume fixtures that use no more than 1.6 U.S. gallons per flush (six litres). Australia, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Singapore also have standards for low-volume.
  • Just checked my first months usage without having made any great changes to the way we use water. As a family we've used 11.7 cubic metres which leaves me absolutely gobsmacked:j . We have a household of 2 adults and 2 teenage sons. We all shower daily apart from my wife who has a bath, 2 cars are washed weekly, we use about 8 or 9 washing loads per week plus the dishwasher is used once a day. On the basis of using approx 12 cu metres per month I'll be saving about £150 per year on my RV based water bill:D
  • dougk_2
    dougk_2 Posts: 1,403 Forumite
    Having lived on my own and having regular showers and washing machine 2 or 3 times a week. I used only 75 cubic meters in two years - This saved a fortune on the water.
    I guess if you are at work most days your toilet is probably only flushed three times in a day! Also avoid needless things like hosepipes and sprinklers (oh and washing the car - it only gets dirty again!)
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