How much water do you use

Albermarle

Currently 4 adults at home most of the time.
Plenty of showers and a couple of baths a week. Dishwasher on once or twice a day, washing machine twice a day.
Garden gets watered but not excessively. Very occasional car wash. I do not flush the loo every time but everybody else does.
Water usage is 375 L a day, which surprisingly is lower than average for a 4 adult household. The figures for the latter vary depending on where you look, but somewhere around 500L +/- 50L .
I was quite surprised that we saved about £100 a year by moving to a water meter.
My theory is that our showers tend to be quite short and this is what is helping to keep consumption below average, despite frequent dishwasher/washing machine use. 

horsewithnoname

I don’t know, I’m on water rates, I think paying for water is wrong; happy to pay to have useable water delivered to my home but I don’t think people should have to pay for what should be a basic human right. I don’t waste water, but not flushing the toilet? Revolting! 

Anyway, when most people are on meters, the price of water will rocket because the greedy water companies won’t let that opportunity pass them by. 

Dizzycap

I've been on a water meter for around 6 years. My 'set' water bill went from what was then £495 per annum down to £85 a year once my water meter was installed! Best move I ever made For 2 people our present water & sewage bill is £240 per annum - £20 a month. There are a number of FREE water saving devices that are still available from water suppliers sent out free of charge. One of the best, imho, is the water floater for the toilet system which means it only fills up by 50% and works & flushes absolutely fine. I also have a garden which I water with collected rain water in an outside tapped drain pipe water butt, but I also use a hosepipe when absolutely needed, as there's no point building up a beautiful garden that has cost money over the years, to let it wither and die due to non or underwatering, is there?!

matelodave

horsewithnoname said:

I don’t know, I’m on water rates, I think paying for water is wrong; happy to pay to have useable water delivered to my home but I don’t think people should have to pay for what should be a basic human right. I don’t waste water, but not flushing the toilet? Revolting! 

Anyway, when most people are on meters, the price of water will rocket because the greedy water companies won’t let that opportunity pass them by. 

perhaps it is but having it cleaned and delivered direct to your kitchen ready to drink and having effluent removed  and disposed of, costs money, as does the maintenance of the infrastructure to enable it all to happen.

I'm sure you could save yourself a few bob by baling it out of the nearest river,  boiling it before you drink it and burying your waste in the back garden.

Albermarle

horsewithnoname said:

I don’t know, I’m on water rates, I think paying for water is wrong; happy to pay to have useable water delivered to my home but I don’t think people should have to pay for what should be a basic human right. I don’t waste water, but not flushing the toilet? Revolting! 

Anyway, when most people are on meters, the price of water will rocket because the greedy water companies won’t let that opportunity pass them by. 

The MSE advice about flushing toilets is - If it is yellow let it mellow, if it is brown flush it down.


Presumably for water to be freely supplied and removed, then the cost would have to come from more general taxation, which tends to be unpopular.

horsewithnoname

matelodave said:

horsewithnoname said:

I don’t know, I’m on water rates, I think paying for water is wrong; happy to pay to have useable water delivered to my home but I don’t think people should have to pay for what should be a basic human right. I don’t waste water, but not flushing the toilet? Revolting! 

Anyway, when most people are on meters, the price of water will rocket because the greedy water companies won’t let that opportunity pass them by. 

perhaps it is but having it cleaned and delivered direct to your kitchen ready to drink and having effluent removed  and disposed of, costs money, as does the maintenance of the infrastructure to enable it all to happen.

I'm sure you could save yourself a few bob by baling it out of the nearest river,  boiling it before you drink it and burying your waste in the back garden.

That’s what I pay my water rates for. As I said originally if you read what I said. 

And I’m not talking about “saving a few bob”, again, if you actually read before replying. 

horsewithnoname

Albermarle said:

horsewithnoname said:

I don’t know, I’m on water rates, I think paying for water is wrong; happy to pay to have useable water delivered to my home but I don’t think people should have to pay for what should be a basic human right. I don’t waste water, but not flushing the toilet? Revolting! 

Anyway, when most people are on meters, the price of water will rocket because the greedy water companies won’t let that opportunity pass them by. 

The MSE advice about flushing toilets is - If it is yellow let it mellow, if it is brown flush it down.


Presumably for water to be freely supplied and removed, then the cost would have to come from more general taxation, which tends to be unpopular.

I never said it should be totally free. Though that is a good suggestion. 

I assume the advice on not flushing your toilet is for metered water? Which are the sort of things having to pay for the amount of water you use drives you to. 

No thanks. 

mmmmikey

horsewithnoname said:

Albermarle said:

horsewithnoname said:

I don’t know, I’m on water rates, I think paying for water is wrong; happy to pay to have useable water delivered to my home but I don’t think people should have to pay for what should be a basic human right. I don’t waste water, but not flushing the toilet? Revolting! 

Anyway, when most people are on meters, the price of water will rocket because the greedy water companies won’t let that opportunity pass them by. 

The MSE advice about flushing toilets is - If it is yellow let it mellow, if it is brown flush it down.


Presumably for water to be freely supplied and removed, then the cost would have to come from more general taxation, which tends to be unpopular.

I never said it should be totally free. Though that is a good suggestion. 

I assume the advice on not flushing your toilet is for metered water? Which are the sort of things having to pay for the amount of water you use drives you to. 

No thanks. 

It's precisely that mindset that drives prices up and is one of the reasons those without meters have taken the biggest hit on prices. But if you're into waste and don't like saving money then fill your boots....

SuzeQStan

2 adults large 3 bed house - when we 1st moved in our water metered house 6 years ago our monthly dd was over £50 for water.

we soon realised we had a leaky loo and with a £6 (inc shipping) diaphragm part from online website which OH fitted after watching yewtoobe video we reduced our monthly water dd to £30 per month.

OH showers every day - me every other day with sink wash in between,  

dishwasher run 3 times & 4 loads of clothes washing per week.

Garden watered from 4x 200 litre + rain barrels - weather permitting.  Garden is a passionate pastime so won’t let it die and will use mains water if I have to (usually means a month of mains watering each year)

Use water collected in washing up bowls (and other tubs) from sinks/ shower whilst waiting on it coming up to temperature. These are poured into the rain barrels. 

We don’t run water whilst brushing teeth, use the small flush when we can.  

Water from condenser dryer added to rain barrels.

we are on a water meter and used to be charged £30 per month but this has been raised recently to £43 per month.  So our efforts have redoubled. As per latest bill our average usage is 204litres per day.  This did include recent pressure washing so might be skewed.

Currently costing a DIY soak away but so far these appear to be an expensive undertaking.  Would be grateful if anyone had experience or a helpful link to a least costly option.

mmmmikey

SuzeQStan said:

2 adults large 3 bed house - when we 1st moved in our water metered house 6 years ago our monthly dd was over £50 for water.

we soon realised we had a leaky loo and with a £6 (inc shipping) diaphragm part from online website which OH fitted after watching yewtoobe video we reduced our monthly water dd to £30 per month.

OH showers every day - me every other day with sink wash in between,  

dishwasher run 3 times & 4 loads of clothes washing per week.

Garden watered from 4x 200 litre + rain barrels - weather permitting.  Garden is a passionate pastime so won’t let it die and will use mains water if I have to (usually means a month of mains watering each year)

Use water collected in washing up bowls (and other tubs) from sinks/ shower whilst waiting on it coming up to temperature. These are poured into the rain barrels. 

We don’t run water whilst brushing teeth, use the small flush when we can.  

Water from condenser dryer added to rain barrels.

we are on a water meter and used to be charged £30 per month but this has been raised recently to £43 per month.  So our efforts have redoubled. As per latest bill our average usage is 204litres per day.  This did include recent pressure washing so might be skewed.

Currently costing a DIY soak away but so far these appear to be an expensive undertaking.  Would be grateful if anyone had experience or a helpful link to a least costly option.

Hi - it's years ( hmmm.... decades ) since I dug a hole for a soakaway working as a teenage labourer for a local builder, so your post got me thinking and Googling. As far as I can see the current norm is to use some kind of soakaway crate, rather than just dig a hole and fill it with loosely packed rubble. But even having said that it doesn't look to me to be all that expensive as a DIY proposition, with maybe £200 or £300 expenditure for drainage pipes, soakaway crate, etc. Or do you consider that expensive - I guess it's all a bit subjective? I'm assuming you'd dig the hole and trenches yourself and have somewhere to lose the spoil. Or is there a restriction in your property which means you need something special? Or maybe you need to do other drainage work? 

Given the recent price rises, it's something that might make sense for me too, so thanks for the idea