Southern Water Bill

IOWJJBTM2025

Just got my latest Southern Water Bill and compared to previous.
Yearly Standing Charge for Water & Waste:-
2023/4  = £78.80
2024/5 = £90.00
2025/6 = £142.90

Cost for Water & Drainage per year:- (We average 102.4 Cu.M per Year)
2023/4 = £381.89
2024/5 = £433.62
2025/6 = £641.26

Our total Bill will be for 2025/6 will be £784.12 (1st April 25 to 31st March 26)
That is a total increase of 49.8% from last year. Last years increase was 13.7%

I realise that the Government are helping people with Energy Bills - Surely they should be capping the Water companies?

singhini

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

Just got my latest Southern Water Bill and compared to previous.
Yearly Standing Charge for Water & Waste:-
2023/4  = £78.80
2024/5 = £90.00
2025/6 = £142.90

Cost for Water & Drainage per year:- (We average 102.4 Cu.M per Year)
2023/4 = £381.89
2024/5 = £433.62
2025/6 = £641.26

Our total Bill will be for 2025/6 will be £784.12 (1st April 25 to 31st March 26)
That is a total increase of 49.8% from last year. Last years increase was 13.7%

I realise that the Government are helping people with Energy Bills - Surely they should be capping the Water companies?

Wow, that increase is huge.
I get why it feels frustrating, but honestly, compared to a lot of the world, we’re incredibly lucky to have clean water delivered straight to our homes. Most people don’t get that luxury at any price. I get that the bill stings, but maybe it’s worth pausing to appreciate what we do have, even if the cost is going up its still only about £2 a day.

I don't want to sound like im having a go at you as i used to moan about my water bills too, but a friend once made me stop and think about how lucky we are to have clean water straight from the tap. Took me a while to see it.

Now if you were talking about Council Tax Bills ----> Total Daylight Robbery!!!   (Water bills = Annoying)

EDIT: i just noticed you said Southern Water (6% of the rise looks like its down to Regulatory Penalty Rebates coming to an end) Why is my bill going up? | Southern Water



 

IOWJJBTM2025

What gets to me most is that there is no competition - I cannot compare rates with other suppliers like I can with my energy supplier.
It is only 4 months until next years increase is applied and I am guessing that it will take the bill to over £1000 per year.

The only thing I can do is use less water but I don't think we can save too much. I can moan at the family and ask them to use less water but there are 4 of us living in the house plus my sons girlfriend.
We do catch rain from the roof for watering the garden.

I did not realise how much water had gone up because within the last 9 months I have had 5 water bills. Apparently they have been doing maintenance on my road and every time they lift the manhole they take a meter reading which automatically creates a bill. 2 of the bills were within 3 weeks of each other.

I just remembered last night that a few years ago a friend had a debate with the water company. He had installed a personal water meter in his house and the reading was always less that the old main water meter. Doing the sums it worked out the supply meter was over reading by nearly 10% and using the evidence the water company did replace the main meter with a new meter which was more accurate - it still over read slightly but no where near 10%. His main water meter was a really old brass one which they said should have been replaced in any case.
At the time I  did some checks at my house by taking readings and filling up 2x 5 litre bottles. I carefully emptied the bottles into measuring jugs and it worked out that my main water meter was over reading by 2.8%. I wrote to Southern water showing then photos of the readings and the test. They responded by saying that the water meter accuracy of 2.8% was within tolerances set by standards and so did nothing. Back then when water was cheaper it worked out to be less than £2 per 6 month bill difference so I just accepted defeat.
I just worked out the cost now with the current rates 2.8% over read is £18 per year.

It is a very simple test to do if you have a calibrated jug. Take a photo of the meter before and after filling the jug.
My water meter can easily read to an accuracy of .01 litres.

Does anyone know what the accuracy of a water meter needs to be?

QrizB

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

It is only 4 months until next years increase is applied and I am guessing that it will take the bill to over £1000 per year.

Ofwat approved rises for the next four or five years, I think. Your supplier might be able to tell you what next year's prices will be.

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

The only thing I can do is use less water but I don't think we can save too much. I can moan at the family and ask them to use less water but there are 4 of us living in the house plus my sons girlfriend.

If your meter readings really do suggest 102.4 cubic metres a year, that's 280 litres a day. Which is pretty low for four-and-a-bit people. I'd expect you to be closer to 400 litres a day.

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

It is a very simple test to do if you have a calibrated jug.

Very few people own a calibrated jug.

Many will have a graduated jug, but that very different to a calibrated one.

Which UKAS body issued your jug with a calibration certificate, and when was it last checked?

Green_hopeful

We have got more careful with our water usage and have reduced it quite a lot. It’s about being mindful of usage. Our kids who don’t live at home run water like its free. I am amazed by how much water they just flush away without a second’s thought. 

IOWJJBTM2025

QrizB said:

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

It is only 4 months until next years increase is applied and I am guessing that it will take the bill to over £1000 per year.

Ofwat approved rises for the next four or five years, I think. Your supplier might be able to tell you what next year's prices will be.

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

The only thing I can do is use less water but I don't think we can save too much. I can moan at the family and ask them to use less water but there are 4 of us living in the house plus my sons girlfriend.

If your meter readings really do suggest 102.4 cubic metres a year, that's 280 litres a day. Which is pretty low for four-and-a-bit people. I'd expect you to be closer to 400 litres a day.

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

It is a very simple test to do if you have a calibrated jug.

Very few people own a calibrated jug.

Many will have a graduated jug, but that very different to a calibrated one.

Which UKAS body issued your jug with a calibration certificate, and when was it last checked?

Hi, most people have a calibrated jug of some type. I have a 1 litre, 2 litre and I also have a 250ml that I used to use to add flavourings.

If you take a photo of your meter and run off a measured 2 ltrs then take a photo of the meter again.
When looking at how much water you have used and it states over 2.05 ltrs you have a suspicion that the meter is over reading by 3%.
If the meter shows you have used 2.2 ltrs the meter is nearer to 10% over reading which is what my friends was.
I think that the standards state the meter has to be plus or minus 3% to be compliant.
Therefore if you suspect your meter is 3% over reading, contact your water supplier and they have equipment to validate.
I am pretty sad and have gone through all my bills since 2018 and can confirm our average is 280 ltrs per day.

QrizB

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

QrizB said:

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

It is only 4 months until next years increase is applied and I am guessing that it will take the bill to over £1000 per year.

Ofwat approved rises for the next four or five years, I think. Your supplier might be able to tell you what next year's prices will be.

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

The only thing I can do is use less water but I don't think we can save too much. I can moan at the family and ask them to use less water but there are 4 of us living in the house plus my sons girlfriend.

If your meter readings really do suggest 102.4 cubic metres a year, that's 280 litres a day. Which is pretty low for four-and-a-bit people. I'd expect you to be closer to 400 litres a day.

IOWJJBTM2025 said:

It is a very simple test to do if you have a calibrated jug.

Very few people own a calibrated jug.

Many will have a graduated jug, but that very different to a calibrated one.

Which UKAS body issued your jug with a calibration certificate, and when was it last checked?

Hi, most people have a calibrated jug of some type.

I know no private individuals who own calibrated jugs. I very much doubt that you own one. I am happy to assume you are misunderstanding rather than lying.

If you do have a calibrated jug, please tell us which national or international standard that calibration is traceable to, when it was last checked, and what body issued the most recent calibration certificate.

MattMattMattUK

The idea that you can accurately measure against your meter bases on 2 litres is farcical, you would struggle to be accurately measure within even 5% on 100 litres and that would require you careful running the meter up to the tick point before trying, the logging again at 100 litres. 

IOWJJBTM2025

MattMattMattUK said:

The idea that you can accurately measure against your meter bases on 2 litres is farcical, you would struggle to be accurately measure within even 5% on 100 litres and that would require you careful running the meter up to the tick point before trying, the logging again at 100 litres. 

Hi Matt - To try and explain how to read the meter I went out in the rain and did a video of the water meter while my wife ran a tap. The video lasted for 50 seconds so you can see before and after. My meter is what Southern water fitted a few years ago.
Your challenge - can you accurately tell me how many litres was used.

IOWJJBTM2025

Therefore my original suggestion for people to be able to do a very rough simple check on the accuracy of their water meter is as follows: -
Take a photo of your meter.
Run off a tap and as accurately as possible use 2 litres of water using measuring jug/s.
If the 0.0001 dial increases by one unit more (100ml) before and after, it indicates that there could be roughly 5% more water being recorded than being used. At this point you may choose to contact your water supplier to ask them to validate.
My understanding from what I could find is that the requirements for the water supplier are that the meter to be compliant must be plus or minus 3% accurate. My friends meter was over reading by 10% and they replaced his meter. I ran the same test at my mums and neighbours houses and their meters were both over reading by approx 2% so nothing would be done.
The cost for me on my water bill is approx £20 per year because my meter slightly over reads.

QrizB

Alternative hypothesis:

Your meter does not over read. Your measuring jug is uncalibrated and oversized.