water meter - worth getting?

LindaJane47

Hi Windup - yes I would agree in some respects, except that if you look at every other aspect of our lives (gas use, electricty use, car mileage, money spent on holidays....income!!??) we are well below the average... So I thought it would be useful to find out how much water FRUGAL people use to give us an idea, rather than base it on the 'average' does that make sense? At the end of the day, water costs vary so much over the country, that the only way to compare anything is in actual water used

Seronera

jack_pott wrote: »

I know it's not compulsory, my point is that it should be. I know it's not in some people's interests, they're the profligate ones whose wasteful behaviour is being subsidised by frugal consumers. The people who can't have a meter are in a minority.

How do you know they are profligate? Have you met them all personally or is it just a prejudice you seen to be nursing very effectively. As someone who does not have a water meter for the reason of low rating on our property,I can assure we are very careful with water use all the same. I am a plumber/heating engineer and I do actually discourage the installation of power showers in view of their massive wastage. It's an uphill battle though.

Did you know that 10%of the water on the planet is polluted beyond use, and we cannot make any more of it. Now that is a frightening statistic if you consider its taken us less than 300 years to do that much damage.

Be careful who you denigrate

nearlyrich

We were on RV until around 2 years ago, two of us in a 4 bed now the children have both left, we were paying around £780 PA. We went for the meter with the proviso we could swap back if it worked out worse for us however based on United Utilities costing tools we thought it would be much less. It has worked out very much cheaper we pay around £300 a year now and we do sometimes wash cars however I would say we are frugal we turn the tap off when cleaning teeth for example and we shower rather than bath mainly. I only really do one or two loads of washing per week, I do a general wash with colour catcher (£1 from the pound shop for 20) and sometimes a white wash or a delicates depends what in the washing basket. I do towels and bedding every two weeks or less ( we have lots of towels and bedding so I don't need to do just a few at a time and I have a utility room where I can leave washing without it getting in the way.


We didn't even think about changing back after the year..we are saving £480 a year...

[Deleted User]

Seronera wrote: »

How do you know they are profligate? Have you met them all personally or is it just a prejudice you seen to be nursing very effectively. As someone who does not have a water meter for the reason of low rating on our property,I can assure we are very careful with water use all the same. I am a plumber/heating engineer and I do actually discourage the installation of power showers in view of their massive wastage. It's an uphill battle though.

Did you know that 10%of the water on the planet is polluted beyond use, and we cannot make any more of it. Now that is a frightening statistic if you consider its taken us less than 300 years to do that much damage.

Be careful who you denigrate

And what makes you think you are the norm rather than the exception, is that your prejudice?

It's a mathematical fact that a metered tariff provides an incentive to economise that the RV tariff doesn't, therefore the profligate will tend be preferentially attracted to RV tariffs. The higher the consumption the greater the incentive to opt for RV.

Ban RV tariffs, and ban standing charges.

DRP

jack_pott wrote: »

And what makes you think you are the norm rather than the exception, is that your prejudice?

It's a mathematical fact that a metered tariff provides an incentive to economise that the RV tariff doesn't, therefore the profligate will tend be preferentially attracted to RV tariffs. The higher the consumption the greater the incentive to opt for RV.

Ban RV tariffs, and ban standing charges.

be careful what you wish for...

as posted above, many of those households that are non-metered will be subsidising the rest... (just look at some of the examples given in this thread).

Seronera

jack_pott wrote: »

And what makes you think you are the norm rather than the exception, is that your prejudice?

It's a mathematical fact that a metered tariff provides an incentive to economise that the RV tariff doesn't, therefore the profligate will tend be preferentially attracted to RV tariffs. The higher the consumption the greater the incentive to opt for RV.

Ban RV tariffs, and ban standing charges.

I'm not making any assumptions or claims, unlike you. Having worked as a plumber and heating engineer for well over 20 years I have found that your accusations of profligacy on the part of those without meters is just not my experience of people. Maybe I just meet the right sort of people.

If you make an accusation you have to be able to provide proof. Either put up or shut up.

You can just as easily make the case that the well off don't give a monkeys whether they have a meter or not and that its individual character that dictates an attitude to water usage. If you visit the South East in a drought you will find lots of people with water meters merrily sprinkling their lawns as thats what they want to do. The assertion that the ownership or not of a water meter defines profligacy in any way seems a very flawed approach to me.....unless you can prove it.

Norman_Castle

LindaJane47 wrote: »

Hi Windup - yes I would agree in some respects, except that if you look at every other aspect of our lives (gas use, electricty use, car mileage, money spent on holidays....income!!??) we are well below the average... So I thought it would be useful to find out how much water FRUGAL people use to give us an idea, rather than base it on the 'average' does that make sense? At the end of the day, water costs vary so much over the country, that the only way to compare anything is in actual water used

For comparison, in 2014 I used 17 cubic meters in 176 days. Or 0.096 per day. Thats one person, washing machine, cooking daily etc. None used outside. I'm neither wasteful or frugal with water. I use what I need.

Current bill is approx £200 compared to £340 without a meter. All my other bills are below average.

From memory when my meter was fitted over 10 years ago the bills were £140 per year. Almost half of this was various standing charges so if my water use doubled the bill would only increase by about a third.

Biggles

LindaJane47 wrote: »

I know we can revert back if it's not cheaper, but that's not the point

Actually, it IS the point.

Almost certainly, as two fairly economical users in a 4-bed house, you will be a fair bit better off. But nobody on here can say exactly how much water you use (nor can you) and, as UU are one of the firms that say you can switch back at any time within 13 months, there's only one way to find out and the sooner you make the change, the more money you'll save!

Horizon81

OP are you planning to move anytime soon? Presumably your 4 bed house is a biggish family home so having a water meter may suit your lifestyle but be more expensive for someone using the property to the fullest. Of course this only becomes an issue if you plan to sell.

[Deleted User]

Seronera wrote: »

Either put up or shut up.

I already have put up. You shut up.

Any idiot who's numerate can see that if a bill increases with increasing water usage, that creates an incentive to cut consumption that self evidently isn't there with a flat rate tariff. If RV tariffs don't attract more profligate users than metered tariffs do then we must live in a country full of idiots who can't see which side their bread is buttered on.

Anyone who gets as agitated as you about the idea of compulsory meters doesn't sound very much like a frugal user.