Water charges

nickcc

macman wrote: »

Ok, so you are metered. Is this bill actual, or estimated?
You can’t change water supplier, in England, but you can change all the other utility suppliers. Are you on the best gas and electricity tariffs? if on SVT you could be paying £300pa over the cheapest.
Water prices vary by as much as 250% between regions, with South West Water being by far the most expensive.
Your CT single person discount should be 25%.

Certainly agree with your comment regards South West Water being the most expensive. Our quarterly bill averages almost £200 with no charge for surface water discharge as we have soakaways for rainwater, there's also only two of us. SWW claim that part of the extra cost is due to maintaing clean beaches and the extra cost of handling all the extra sewerage created by the tourist trade, perhaps the businesses that benefit from the tourists should cover the extra charges.

greenbee

My metered water charge has gone down to £6.80/month. I don't pay for sewerage or surface water drainage though as I have a shared treatment plant (which is sometimes cheap and sometimes VERY expensive) and soakaways).

I work away a lot, which partly explains the low usage. It's also dropped since I replaced my washing machine with one that uses a lot less water, and stopped washing up by hand (the sink hold more water than the DW uses).

nickcc

greenbee wrote: »

My metered water charge has gone down to £6.80/month. I don't pay for sewerage or surface water drainage though as I have a shared treatment plant (which is sometimes cheap and sometimes VERY expensive) and soakaways).

I work away a lot, which partly explains the low usage. It's also dropped since I replaced my washing machine with one that uses a lot less water, and stopped washing up by hand (the sink hold more water than the DW uses).

We've had septic tanks in the past and found the waste removal charge, every three years in our case, worked out considerably less than sewerage charges. We've also had dishwashers for many years and heard the similar tales of their use being less than hand washing, unfortunately what they don't tell you is the cost of the electricity they consume when they heat up the cold water and dry the dishes, mind you I still wouldn't be without one.

greenbee

nickcc wrote: »

We've had septic tanks in the past and found the waste removal charge, every three years in our case, worked out considerably less than sewerage charges. We've also had dishwashers for many years and heard the similar tales of their use being less than hand washing, unfortunately what they don't tell you is the cost of the electricity they consume when they heat up the cold water and dry the dishes, mind you I still wouldn't be without one.

It's not a septic tank, it's a treatment plant, so if it behaves there's just the cost of the electricity and emptying to share. If it doesn't then there are new pumps, blowers etc to fund (plus investigation and fitting). Sometimes it uses a lot of electricity, sometimes it doesn't, and we're not always sure why! It's generally cheaper than mains sewerage though, although that doesn't stop some of the sharers complaining about the cost - they only notice when we have a big bill and forget that most of the time they're not being billed for anything!

My hot water is oil-heated, so the DW works out cheaper as well as more convenient If oil prices go down significantly, that may change.

LondonLiz

Hi Ditty, have you checked with your water supplier of they have a single occupier rate and/or a discount for number of bedrooms? I have just been given a credit for 6 years of being on the wrong assessed water rate for both these facts. Its saving me over £120 per year going forward.



I don't know if a child is counted as an occupant for the single occupier rate, but it is worth asking!



NB: Assessed charge is where getting a water meter isn't possible e.g. the majority of flats. My supplier will review the charge if you request a meter and it can't be done, but you do have to ask.