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Total water charges - £10 per month??

Jet
Jet Posts: 1,638 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
I'm not on a meter but have spoken to various people over the years who are on meters and some of them tell me their total water bill's are as low as £10 per month. :eek:

I live with my 10 year old son and consider myself to be quite frugal with water but when I enter the figures into the calculator, I can't get the cost much lower that £300 per year.

How do people do it?

Comments

  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,056 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Rampant Recycler
    Not only does the price of water and sewerage vary a lot depending on where you live, but also the structure of metered water charges varies greatly across the country.

    Some charge a very low standing charge and highish water charges per cubic metre, others much higher standing charges and lower water charges.

    The average consumption for 2 people will be approx 120 cubic metres per year. For most water companies it would be very very difficult to get anything like a £120pa bill.
  • Jet
    Jet Posts: 1,638 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    Cardew wrote: »
    Not only does the price of water and sewerage vary a lot depending on where you live, but also the structure of metered water charges varies greatly across the country.

    Some charge a very low standing charge and highish water charges per cubic metre, others much higher standing charges and lower water charges.

    The average consumption for 2 people will be approx 120 cubic metres per year. For most water companies it would be very very difficult to get anything like a £120pa bill.

    This is with Essex and Suffolk Water. I'm coming to the conclusion these people never wash!:o
  • deanos
    deanos Posts: 11,239 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Uniform Washer
    Cardew wrote: »
    The average consumption for 2 people will be approx 120 cubic metres per year. For most water companies it would be very very difficult to get anything like a £120pa bill.

    There are quite alot of people who are well under this figure, i know someone who's meter has only just clicked over to 1 and its been fitted 4 years, they use water butt water for everything, baths, cups of tea etc :eek:
  • rosszero
    rosszero Posts: 25 Forumite
    Using it to drink tea with!? I've read several times that its strongly advised not to drink water from a butt as it runs off roofs and so more than likely the water runs through bird poo and you can get ill.

    How do they use it for bathing? How's the water heated first? :S
  • Gers
    Gers Posts: 12,866 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I'm on a meter and pay about £30.00 per quarter. It's not about 'saving' water but being aware of how it's used.

    Not filling the kettle up to make a pot of tea, saving the 'run off' water when waiting for the hot to come through, not running water for brushing teeth, maximising the washing machine load and (my favourite) having only sailor showers! That means wetting body, turning water off, washing body and then turning the water back on again to rinse.

    There are loads of other ways to keep water usage to a minimum without compromising health, hygiene of quality of life, there's a thread about it all on another board here if you can do a search.
  • deanos
    deanos Posts: 11,239 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Uniform Washer
    rosszero wrote: »
    Using it to drink tea with!? I've read several times that its strongly advised not to drink water from a butt as it runs off roofs and so more than likely the water runs through bird poo and you can get ill.

    How do they use it for bathing? How's the water heated first? :S

    God knows what they do probably heat it up with the kettle, i dunno :confused:

    1 unit in 4 years is the lowest consumption i have seen and the meter isnt faulty either
  • Andy_Hamilton
    Andy_Hamilton Posts: 660 Forumite
    My newbuild has me + my lodger for 4 days per week. Mine is £10-11 per month.
    4 loads of washing per week in 7kg washer.
    4-5 sink fulls of water for dishes (not making enough mess to do it less or I use just a small amout of water in.
    Probably 11 showers per week plus 1 or 2 baths.

    For my shower I get wet then turn off the water, soap up and just as the shampoo is about to drip into eyes i turn on the water again. I then spend ages rinsing but only use under 1" of water in the bottom of the bath when the plug is in.
    Lets get this straight. Say my house is worth £100K, it drops £20K and I complain but I should not complain when I actually pay £200K via a mortgage:rolleyes:
  • emweaver
    emweaver Posts: 8,419 Forumite
    my bill is averaging £500 a yr for a family of 3! im sure that cant be right?
    Wins so far this year: Mum to be bath set, follow me Domino Dog, Vital baby feeding set, Spiderman goody bag, free pack of Kiplings cakes, £15 love to shop voucher, HTC Desire, Olive oil cooking spray, Original Source Strawberry Shower Gel, Garnier skin care hamper, Marc Jacobs fragrance.
  • taylor1_2
    taylor1_2 Posts: 32 Forumite
    Hi i live in the south west on a council estate and my rates are £619 per year,my sis lives in derbyshire and pays £140 per year some difference eh i am gutted
  • mech_2
    mech_2 Posts: 620 Forumite
    I am on a water meter, but where I live £10 a month isn't really feasible. Just the standing charges come to £9.25 a month. I am aware I could dig up all my drains and redirect my guttering into soakaways and then get a discount, but it's more hassle than it's worth IMO.
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