Many people may not realise how much we are being ripped off!

Shortlands_Shopper

The point of the post is to highlight something people may not know and to see if we can share water saving tips, which saves money & the planet!

We received our biannual water bill last week and it had increased an eye watering 278% since last July. We have always been in a water meter and  we really are baffled because we know that nothing has changed.

But having looked into the bill in closer detail this morning I can see that we are now charged via our water meter for the same amount of freshwater used as waste water, yes it may be a lower rate but what makes no sense whatsoever is the fact that not all freshwater used becomes waste water?  I was disgruntled to find out that we are being charged for what comes in as the same as what goes out when it’s not the same, as you drink & cook with water.

Having looked into it some companies do make a slight reduction allowing for the usage of the water but not Thames Water they are out to rip all of their customers off. We’ve already expecting a 25% hike from the bills from April onwards, we personally feel this just takes the biscuit.

I don’t see the point in us having regulatory authorities like OFFWAT in place when they are consistently on the utility suppliers side without protecting consumers.

If you were not aware of this charge being the same for the freshwater and the waste water take a look at your last water bill and you’ll see for yourself how badly we are being ripped off in the UK.

Sadly Thames Water are running at a loss of 1.65 billion, has recently paid out nearly £2.5 million in bonuses to senior managers. This was revealed in documents that also showed the money came from an emergency loan meant to keep the company afloat. Specifically, £2.46 million was paid to 21 managers on April 30. There have also been reports of a retention scheme that could have given bonuses of up to 50% of salary to senior executives, potentially adding £1 million to their annual salary.

Any REAL ideas out there for truly reducing our water bills appreciated, as we are a 1 income family at the moment.🙏🏻

Robin9

Are you on a meter ?


If not do so. You expect your cost to half.

  If it proves more expensive you can go back to Rateable Value basis I think in 2 years.

Being on a meter seems to concentrate the mind --  i have gone from 110 m3 a year to 80 m3. Now paying about £500  (Severn Trent)

Voyager2002

The best idea is to take part in this, or related action:
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/water-belongs-to-all-of-us-back-the-peoples-plan-for-water?source=twitter&

Shortlands_Shopper

We are on a water meter, always have been and isn’t the action net work link for Norwich? 😉

Robin9

Can you give us the readings from the water meter please for the last few years and note particularly if any of the readings are Estimated.
.
Can you read the meter yourself ?   Not always an easy  task if its in the footpath

subjecttocontract

We pay around £500 a year for 80 cubic metres of water.......that's less than 1 penny a litre.
Best value utility there is.

Robin9

I agree @subjecttocontract   less than £1.50 a day. (just as mine)

We've had a couple of local breakdowns and you really miss it when the taps run dry and the toilets don't flush.

Shortlands_Shopper

All our bills are meter readings and TW tried to say our consumption doubled, none estimated. I’ve worked from home for last 9 years hence I know no changes, our neighbours next door but one again 2 of them living in house who use dishwasher, water garden etc saw their bill come in £5 under ours and was shocked themselves as theirs was 275% increase - we are a terrace of houses, we are going to see if we can do a 4 hour test with stopcock off and do readings before & after aa advised by Thames water to prove our meters are not on the blink as 25 years old!

I was just after any tips & tricks we may not have thought about for saving water really here 🙏🏻 

Robin9

Good that you are doing a 4 hour test -  doubling of consumption suggests a leak on your side of the meter. 

singhini

@subjecttocontract
@Robin9

Me too - i spend roughly £20 a month on water.
Its an absolute luxury to be able to walk upto a tap and have the ability to drink directly from it (rather than walk to a well in the middle of a village). And the water company also take my dirty waste water and deal with it.
My annual water bill = £250
My annual council tax bill = £2,700 (can i get the council to sweep my street or prune the trees = NO)


@Shortlands_Shopper
Any real ideas out there for truly reducing our water bills appreciated

Monthly meter readings would be my advice. Even though i have a water meter i log into my account and submit monthly meter readings (it forced me to look into what i was using and would also highlight any issues like a leak relatively quickly). 

subjecttocontract

You need to look at your historical consumption and check it against your latest bill. It's dead simple to do, once you get past the indignation, complaining and feeling sorry for yourself phase. Either you have a leak or you dont.....but that's the first place to go to reconcile your bill. If you have a leak it will be absolutely obvious by looking at and comparing the consumption figures on the bills.