Has anyone had a water meter fitted and found they actually paid less on their bill?

ferry

Hi all 
Just curious, we are due to have a water meter fitted,  am current just paying a fixed amount each month 
Has anyone actually experienced making a saving and not making any major lifestyle changes by having a meter as everyone I have spoken to have said their bills have risen...some substantially 

Thanks 

Davesquire

Nope!
Moved house with three young children, so was paying significantly more than the young professional couple to one side of me and the older couple the other side.
I complained (for what it was worth) to the water company who initially lied. They stated that it was a legal requirement.At the time, it was not - they were being pressured by the Government to get everyone onto a meter. When I played this back to them, they then acknowledged that this was the case.
What does surprise me is that nobody appears to give two figs as to the lack of competition - one of the reasons excuses for privatisation. I bet if you looked at the shareholder lists of the water companies you would find an awful lot of politicians on there, sat back watching the cash-cow deliver. If you can get electricity/gas/phone signal down a line from different companies, you can certainly get water.
As one of only three "essentials" defined by the World Health Organisation, it certainly shouldn't be in private hands.

JGB1955

We are with Severn Trent. 
From 2007 to 2012 our average annual bill was £505. 
In 2013 we went on to a water meter.  Our average annual bill for the past 8 years has been £303.
That's £1,600 in my pocket.  There are only 2 of us, living in a 4 bedroom house - the savings would not be as high if my daughter was still living at home!  We are currently paying £27 per month. 

Soot2006

Our bill went from £35 to £20/month after installation of water meter in 2008. Moved house o a much larger property but same occupants and same usage. Also had a meter so the bill stayed the same. 2021, the monthly cost is at £27, so STILL cheaper than in our smaller house without a meter!

JJ_Egan

Current RV circa £650 PA .

Water meter  roughly £270 PA .

tim_p

Yep, plummeted from around 70 / month to less than £25. Wessex Water area, meter fitted in 2010.  Good decision. 

Elmer_BeFuddled

Ours dropped by c 50%. Mainly because there are 2 of us in a 2 bed flat. The water rates would be partly based on the fact that 4 people could reside here, so potentially double usage.
It could possibly be less usage but as SWMBO is a carer the wash m/c has to be used daily in these troubled times.

Cardew

Davesquire said:

Nope!
Moved house with three young children, so was paying significantly more than the young professional couple to one side of me and the older couple the other side.
I complained (for what it was worth) to the water company who initially lied. They stated that it was a legal requirement.At the time, it was not - they were being pressured by the Government to get everyone onto a meter. When I played this back to them, they then acknowledged that this was the case.
What does surprise me is that nobody appears to give two figs as to the lack of competition - one of the reasons excuses for privatisation. I bet if you looked at the shareholder lists of the water companies you would find an awful lot of politicians on there, sat back watching the cash-cow deliver. If you can get electricity/gas/phone signal down a line from different companies, you can certainly get water.
As one of only three "essentials" defined by the World Health Organisation, it certainly shouldn't be in private hands.

I certainly agree that the Water industry shouldn’t be in private hands.  However the largely Victorian water/sewerage infrastructure had deteriorated due to years of lack of investment. The Government came up with the ‘master stroke’ of privatisation and thus getting the water companies pay for the modernisation of the infrastructure; obviously by giving the customer higher bills.

Competition was never the reason(or excuse) for privatisation. The 10 Regional Water Authorities simply became the 10 Water Companies.

The one saving grace of the Water Act was to appoint a Regulator(Ofwat) and give it teeth.  They give price ceilings, targets and restrict the level of profit.

You haven’t said when you bought your house, but since April 1990 water meters were compulsory for new build property, but existing homeowners could elect for a meter or remain on the Rateable Value system of charging. However on change of owner the water company had the power to compulsorily fit a meter – and should have done so; albeit many companies did not bother.

What is your point about neighbours paying less than yourself? Did you feel it unjust?

Brewer20

Definitely worth going on a metered supply if you aren't a high user of water. Nothing changed for us much apart from sharing the same bath water (not together of course it ain't big enough) that's in winter, we shower in the warmer months. We have a garden so fitted a water butt for that to catch rainwater. Be sensible about how much you use and start saving money with a meter fitted, ours was around £42 now around £24 per month payment.

ferry

Thanks guys. So it could work in my favour being a family of 4
Out of interest if a meter is fitted and my bills end up higher can I revert to unmetered billing? Thames Water by the way
Thank you

matelodave

We've had a water meter for around 25 years in two different houses. Presently we are with Anglian Water and saving around £300 a year by having one.
We don't do anything special to save water although we don't stand in the shower for ages. We even have an automatic garden watering system which gets used between around May and September and still only pay £36 a month