Total water charges - £10 per month??

Jet

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?

Cardew

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 unit in 4 years is the lowest consumption i have seen and the meter isnt faulty either

Andy_Hamilton

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.

emweaver

my bill is averaging £500 a yr for a family of 3! im sure that cant be right?

taylor1_2

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

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.