Water meter- nightmare!

vygec

Hi
we moved into our new house 2 years ago, and as a result a water meter was imposed on us by the water company (Essex & Suffolk Water).
Initially our DD was £16, but this was raised to £34 earlier this year.
As a family, there are 2 adults and 2 babies, both under 3.
We are quite reserved whilst using water, but over time we are finding our lives becoming a misery in attempt to keeping water usage/bills to a minimum.
We dont use a dishwasher, but we have a fair size pond in the garden which requires topping up with water pretty much every day.
Is it in anyway an option for me to ask the water company to go back to a fixed charge as opposed to a meter?, would this make it cheaper for us?
As it really is doing our heads in, the way we use water to keep the bills down.
Any advice appreciated.

kazwookie

Hi :hello:

Fix the leak on the pond, as IMO it shouldn't need topping up every day, and also is a pond a good idea with small children (Kazwookie waits to be shot down in flames for this comment!) might be safer / cheaper to remove it . fill it in.

Is the DD £34 for a month?

vygec

Originally, thought it was a leak, but had it checked thoroughly..no leaks found. the pond looses water through evaporation, and i have a waterfall running, which also contributes to this.
Just to add the pond is completely safe, a specialist company came and installed a pond saefty system, preventing anyone in falling in.
DD is £34 a month.

bengal-stripe

I’m a single person, living in a one-bedroom flat, and I pay (flat fee, no water meter) £ 5.02 per week (or £ 21.75 per month).

There are four of you living in a house with garden and pool, and you only pay some 50 % more.
My water consumption might be 1/10th of yours.

Flat rates for water are totally unfair. Everything else is based on consumption - use a lot, pay a lot - and not flat rates
(apart from the ‘eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet’).

mute_posting

vygec wrote: »

Hi
we moved into our new house 2 years ago, and as a result a water meter was imposed on us by the water company (Essex & Suffolk Water).
Initially our DD was £16, but this was raised to £34 earlier this year.
As a family, there are 2 adults and 2 babies, both under 3.
We are quite reserved whilst using water, but over time we are finding our lives becoming a misery in attempt to keeping water usage/bills to a minimum.
We dont use a dishwasher, but we have a fair size pond in the garden which requires topping up with water pretty much every day.
Is it in anyway an option for me to ask the water company to go back to a fixed charge as opposed to a meter?, would this make it cheaper for us?
As it really is doing our heads in, the way we use water to keep the bills down.
Any advice appreciated.

If the meter was imposed on you because of the "change of ownership rule" then AFAIK you can't go onto a RV type bill. I think you need 3 kids of school age to be considered for the so-called "social tarrifs" - not that you would probably be eligible with a pond!

Dishwashers are actually more economical with water if they are always run full (about 14-16 litres) - ane more hygenic too

Have you got low flush toilets? If not put some bricks in the cistern(s) so they fill with less water.

At the end of the day, if you are prepared to pay money to have work done to "make the pond safe", the pond is obviously of some importance to you so I don't think you have any room to complain about being charged for the water you fill it with!

JMHO

MP

melbury

vygec wrote: »

Hi
we moved into our new house 2 years ago, and as a result a water meter was imposed on us by the water company (Essex & Suffolk Water).
Initially our DD was £16, but this was raised to £34 earlier this year.
As a family, there are 2 adults and 2 babies, both under 3.
We are quite reserved whilst using water, but over time we are finding our lives becoming a misery in attempt to keeping water usage/bills to a minimum.
We dont use a dishwasher, but we have a fair size pond in the garden which requires topping up with water pretty much every day.
Is it in anyway an option for me to ask the water company to go back to a fixed charge as opposed to a meter?, would this make it cheaper for us?
As it really is doing our heads in, the way we use water to keep the bills down.
Any advice appreciated.

We pay £39.50 per month DD for a house with three adults (one away quite a lot at university). There isn't usually anyone at home during weekdays and we have tried everything we can think of to keep the bills down. The real killer is the sewerage charge, which is basically the same again as the water. We have water butts for watering garden and very rarely wash the cars, but just can't win because the charges keep going up.

However, I definitely think that EVERYONE should be metered and pay for what they use. The old RV system is a joke.

emweaver

I pay £50 a mth, well dont pay as I cant afford it so am paying £5 a week, gosh ill be in debt forever! But my bills are averaging £50 a mth for 2 adults and a toddler. Its ridiculous as we are really careful on water, have no ponds, fountains, hose pipe etc. My sewerage charge is MORE than the water I use but about £30 a bill

emweaver

has anyone noticed their charges go up EVERY bill?

zzzLazyDaisy

If you have a water meter, please check the readings once a month or so. If you have a sudden unexplained rise in water use, contact the water board and get them to check the meter.

I have always paid around £25 a month (single person living on own, occasionally have friends/family to stay). I pay by DD and get a bill every six months. About a 18mths ago I had a new water meter fitted and my bills suddenly shot up. Water charges had taken a hike and I'd had a burst pipe during the winter and put it down to that. My monthly DD was increased to cover the shortfall and after that I was really really careful. The next bill was over £400 for 6 months. I nearly had a breakdown - I'm on benefits and that is a HUGE bill.

So then I checked the water meter - no taps on but it was whizzing round like a wasp on speed. Turned the water off at the mains stop tap.... and the meter continued to whizz round even though no water was going through it.

The water company sent an engineer out who confirmed the meter was faulty. My bills were recalculated, and it urned out that I'd been billed £600 too much (hadn't actually paid that, because I was still paying the old DD while they sorted it out). In the end, they owed me £36, and my DD was reduced.

So don't just assume the water meter must be right!

Ms_Chocaholic

We pay £18 pcm for water through a meter - there's two adults in our house, both out working all day + we have a dishwasher.

Can't believe how cheap our water is compared to others here.

emweaver

ours was about £20 mth when there were just 2 of us