Compulsory water meter

tincat

A friend has moved into a rented property, and when she phoned to connect to thames water, they said she would have to have a meter, even though the property doesn't have a meter at the moment.

I thought that you were only forced to have a meter when the property was sold?

I don't know if the house has changed owners, but surely a tenant wouldn't classify as requiring to have a meter installed?

Any advice/knowledge appreciated.

Hapless_2

It does depend on the area, many water companies install them on change of occupier.

Cardew

The regulations certainly state that water companies should install meters on change of occupier.

Not all companies enforce this regulation, although they should.

For those houses that are better off without a meter(the minority) the owners sometimes keep the account in their name and get the tenant to re-imburse them.

tincat

Hi - her meter was installed yesterday. She would like to know what type of allowance of water you get with Thames water?

On the fixed rate she was paying £25 per month. She has 2 showers per day (powershower), and her kids have 1 bath per day filled quite high. Does at least 5 washing cycles per week, and uses the dishwasher every day.

Then there's the usual running water for teeth, washing hands, flushing etc etc.

Will she get hammered?

tincat

Another thing that we've thought of is that her previous house where she was paying £25 was only a 2 bedroom. Now she's in a 4 bedroom, would the standard monthly rate have been higher? She's still in the same area.

noonesperfect

Please don't get me wrong, but does she need to have two showers a day?
Power showers use alot of water so it would certainly pay her to cut down to one a day. Dare I suggest alternate days and a good wash in between?
Are the kids young enough that they can share a bath?

It will help if she makes sure the children (and her!) don't leave taps running whilst teeth cleaning etc. It's amazing how much water is wasted that way.

The water board will set a rate at which to charge her for the first year then subsequent years will be adjusted according to her use.

Ours went down, but I suspect at her present rate of use it will rise!!

LittlePiskey

Hiya,

I actually had a Thames Water meter fitted myself actually - its on a house i've bought (I was meant to have one fitted in the flat I was renting before as I was a new occupant but there was a problem with the water supply so they couldn't do it).

As she has moved from a 2 to a 4 bed house it is very likely that her standard charge would have gone up anyway.

You may find the following link of some use as it details all of Thames waters charges/ how they calculate your bill etc.....
http://www.thameswater.co.uk/UK/region/en_gb/content/Section_Homepages/Section_Homepage_000465.jsp?SECT=Section_Homepage_000465

Hope that's of some help.
x

Stompa

The calculator here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/5086298.stm

should give you a rough idea of usage.

Woby_Tide

peopel do realise that water meters are also meant to highlight peoples water usage and perhaps make them think about the consequences of their actions going forward as part of a bigger 'social responsibility', not just calculate the bills?

I mean denying someone 2 powershowers and a very full bath per day, poor lambs, whatever next. Unless they have a medical reason for needing excess water theres not much sympathy from a water company with what you choose to do with it. if they do have certified medical reasons then contact the water company to find out teh options. Because a water meter is installed doesn't mean that the bills will need to be metered.

Hapless_2

2 showers a day, Even my oh didn't do that when he worked on a pig farm!

tincat

:rotfl:

V funny about the 2 showers per day, but true. She's South African and for them it's a done thing. BTW apparently they're quite short showers (morning washing hair and thorough body, and evening just a body rinse/cleanse).

The kids share a bath, and the reason it's full-ish is because they'll play in it for about 45 mins and they love it.

I'm not S African, but I could never go out the house if I hadn't showered that day.