Long term water meter thoughts? 3 May 2020 at 5:02PM in Water bills 17 replies 382 views

Competsoph

Hi all,

Hope you are all staying well! ☺️☺️
I am a FTB and considering a water meter. To begin with there will just be two of us in a 3 bed detached, we feel this goes with guidance on who is most appropriate for water meters. We are wanting to stay in the property for approx 10/15 years so not just a couple. I feel that water bills would be cheaper initially using a meter however we do have plans to have a family and I’m wanting to know what are people’s thoughts regarding growing your family and in turn water demand, on prices?
Context: we will in South Yorkshire, prices are approx £30 monthly on RV. 

We are pretty savvy when it comes to all household bills however we would expect the demand to rise if we have children/pets etc.

I understand most companies give you up to 24 months to trial the water meter, is this a tool some use to revert back after having a family? I’m unsure. Also does anyone have any experience of reverting back to standard tariff if previously having a water meter (within the given time frame, I am aware once you have a water meter long term you can not revert back!)

Thanks,
Sophie 

Cardew

You might not have the option to remain paying charges based on your RV. Water companies have had the power to fit a meter on change of property ownership since 1990. Some companies are now enforcing that condition, others are not. Also the government can make water meters compulsory to save water.

Mickey666

I moved from a property paying water charges based on RV to one with a meter.  Our water bills reduced drastically for a family of five.  Mind you, the new property had no sewerage charges, but even so our actual water usage costs fell significantly.

Competsoph

@Cardew I am aware of that thanks but currently the water supplies in my area do not enforce meters so I’m asking for experiences of those as mentioned above. Thanks for your response though!

RelievedSheff

We were in the Yorkshire Water area before moving last year and we found that our water bill dropped drastically when we had the meter fitted. We were paying £10pcm for the two of us with the water meter.

wild666

I do everything I can to lower all bills and the water meter is currently £11 a month and I want to get that down even more if I can. It is only my second year with a water meter and it is a quarter of the RV I was paying for water before having the meter fitted. 

tealady

wild666 said:

I do everything I can to lower all bills and the water meter is currently £11 a month and I want to get that down even more if I can. It is only my second year with a water meter and it is a quarter of the RV I was paying for water before having the meter fitted. 

Some things you can do are:-
Have water butts on downpipes  that water can be used on the garden.
Save washing up water, put on garden.
When running taps to get hot water save the cold. Ideal for flushing loo.
(apologies if you already do any of these)

Competsoph

Pretty good tips that I’ve read since being on this forum. I will definitely to looking into doing these things.

Im still really interested in people having master meters and then reverting back (within the usual 2 year period) is this a complicated procedure? Is there costs associated with this? What was the reason for reverting back to RV?

matelodave

I'd be paying at least double if I was on RV charging - the very first thing we did when moving in was to get a meter fitted.

Normally once a meter is fitted then you cannot go back to RV charging once the 12 or 24 month "trial" period is over and neither can you go back if you move into a place that's already been fitted with a meter. Some water companies can insist that you have a meter whether you want one or not.

TBH it's the only fair and reasonable way to pay for water and sewerage, it makes you more aware of your consumption and gives you an incentive to use less rather than just wasting it. Why should a two person family pay the same as a four to five person household who may use 2-3 times the amount..

Cardew

Competsoph said:

Im still really interested in people having master meters and then reverting back (within the usual 2 year period) is this a complicated procedure? Is there costs associated with this? What was the reason for reverting back to RV?

No costs and perfectly straightforward. The meter isn't removed and will be used(for charging purposes) by the next occupant or if metering is made compulsory for that area.

The reason for reverting back is because people believe it will be cheaper based on RV. This might well be the case if the occupants have, say, triplets and water consumption increases dramatically.

SeaVixen

Take a look at your water company's website - sometimes they are able to offer you free water saving kits.
I'm with United Utilities and recently got sent one of each of these things:
savewatersavemoney.co.uk/unitedutilities/free-water-saving-products
Even if you can't get some of these things for free - it might be worth you buying some of them if you think they'd help