Quote for new water mains supply - is it reasonable?

Grumpy_chap

I think it is most highly improbable that future standing charges would vary based upon the diameter of the supply pipe.

The Water Companies simply do not have that level of details about their assets to be able to accurately bill on that basis.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870798#Comment_81870798

Pre-privatisation yes, but since then they have been improving their asset management systems. I would expect all new supplies since (say) 2000 would have the supply pipe size and material recorded. We (at least in England) are all heading towards having smart water metering so even for historic connections there will be a new opportunity to capture (missing) data on property and supply pipe details. Historically it was unusual for domestic properties to have more than a 1" supply pipe, so one possible approach might be to assume connections are 25mm unless records show otherwise.

Again, I'm not saying this is something which will happen, but rather it could be a possible way for a future government to address the affordability of water and sewerage services.

WIAWSNB

Surely the bills are based on actual consumption? So if the larger pipe led to an intended higher water use, they'd get billed accordingly?

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81871084#Comment_81871084

Metered household bills have a standing charge element and a volumetric element. The volume element is the total volume consumed during the billing period. It doesn't reflect how the water was used in terms of time of day.

Clean water consumption (and discharge to foul sewers) is diurnal, and one of the pressures on the strugling infrastructure is coping with the daily peaks. Charging solely on the basis of total volume in the billing period isn't going to help much with the peak demand problem.

There are different ways of addressing the issue - for example time of use water billing (with smart meters), fitting flow restrictors on supply pipes, charging more for larger diameter supplies. My bet would be on the latter as the least worst… it allows the politicians and industry spokespeople to use the simplistic "it is only right that people who use more should pay more" line, which is very difficult to argue against - so long as those with medical needs etc are protected.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870838#Comment_81870838

I understand from your posts as a whole that you are an intelligent and generally well-informed individual and value your contributions to the forum.

Which really makes it all the more implausible that you really believe that the Water Companies have been improving their asset management systems to such an extent that they would have information to such a level of detail to provide supply pipe connections to private properties. Half the time, the Water Companies do not even know how many connections there actually are, let alone where the pipe is routed and what size it is.

The records all rely on GIS and that data is notoriously inaccurate. The Water Companies spend a considerable amount to track down "unauthorised" connections. It's quite rare for the Water Companies to even know as much as what side of the road a pipe is, let alone anything more detailed than that.