Wont the soap kill the grass or plants?

Benefits if you are a two person family like us....

Used to pay £24 a month Standing Order when on normal yearly charge without a water meter.

Then paid only £13 a month Standing Order when moved to property with a water meter. So, obviously we use a lot less with a water meter and only paid for what we used.

However, then moved to Scotland where water charge is included in Council Tax so back to square one

Some plants might be sensitive to the soap, but not grass...

Hi guys. I am single and live in a small 3 bed semi. I don't have a meter but I did some calculations and I would save at least £100 a year if I had a meter. Yet I have gone by all these years reluctant to switch. Why? Well I am not convinced about what the water companies will do once *everybody* is on a meter. Sure its cheaper now to be on a meter, but thats because they need to give an incentive to switch. My worry is that once we are all on meters they will jack up the price and there will be nothing we can do about it. At least if there is a crisis and I need to use loads of water I know I will not pay any more.

It also annoys me that in a time of a supposed water shortage, the companies will not get their own houses in order and fix their leaking mains. They should. Only then will I start to heed any hosepipe bans, not that there are any in my area anyway...

All new properties are automatically fitted with meters as are all properties that change owners. With the problems with water shortages that we have at present it could be that the government insist that all properties are switched over within a certain period of time, such as 5 years for example.

I have been amased that we have ignored water desalination in the UK. This is used in many parts of the world to produce extra water very effectively.

Regards,
Art.

Before we decided to change to a water meter,I filled in an online water calculator it gives you a good idea as to how much you would save.
Go to your water suppliers website and select calculator.
We had our meter fitted in May of this year and I have already worked out that our first bill will be half of what we paid monthly by direct debit.
As suggested to you already you can change back within a year,so go on take the plunge,was that a joke I just made ?

[QUOTE=dag]The thing that bothers me with water meters is - what happens when your next door neighbour is disconnected due to non-payment of water bills?


Legally speaking it is only business/commercial customers that may have their water disconnected due to non payment. If you happened to live above a shop and shared the supply then the shop's water couldn't be cut off.

Its probably also the main reason that there won't be loads of Utility suppliers clamouring to sell you water if and when it is ever deregulated. They won't want to take on the massive debts that many water companies have due to the fact that they have to keep supplying even when people don't pay for the service.

I am on a water meter, and my bills are 50% less than if I wasnt. And that with me and my girlfriend, and she uses alot of water, and we wash 2 cars every weekend.

Yes I'd love to save a few hundred pounds on my yearly bill in the short term but what about the long term? Its not just usage, its standing charges that are lower on meters. So what guarantees do we have that once we are all on meters, the water companies won't jack up the standing charges, as they have done for people still on the rateable value compared to metered prices (see below Anglian Water's prices)

standing charge metered
water supply £24.00
sewerage services £62.00 (properties connected for both foul and surface water drainage)

Standing Charge Unmetered
water supply £95.35
sewerage services £115.11 (properties connected for both foul and surface water drainage)

Either that or they have put metered standing charges artificially low to encourage people to switch. Its also possible that they might raise the cost per cubic metre once everybody is on a meter. Once you are on a meter theres no going back. All I am saying is that yes if you try it for a year of course its cheaper now, but will it be so in the future? I've yet to see any convincing evidence to reassure me.

You have defined a potential problem, however the water companies are regulated and all price increases have to be approved.

Given the problem; what is your solution?

Are you suggesting that people should remain on the RV based bills and pay more than they need to, thus subsidising those on meters.

Or do you think that having ‘lured’ people on to metered bills, they will make RV based bills more attractive? If so why would they do that?

I hope the above does not sound facetious.

I'm not sure I have a solution, wish I did. I wouldn't think that they will make RV based bills more attractive as then the remaining people wouldn't switch. I think they want everybody on meters so they use less. Anglian Water have even said if you switch to a meter than they will cover the repair cost if the supply pipe on your property bursts, normally you would have to pay for this on rates.

I don't have much faith in the regulators, very often they have proved to be incompetent at what they are supposed to be doing.

My water bill was nearly £390 per annum. Since having the meter installed I pay £160 per annum. The part of the country I live in is one of the dearest for water as we have to pay for the crockles and ements who invade our countryside and beaches.

I had a water meter at my previous house. 2 of us lived there and the bill was £180 a year. I was pleased with it. We moved to our new house 15 months ago, same area and company, same occupancy. I was somewhat concerned to see the dial on the meter whizzing around even when no water was being used, and the tank was not refilling. I was more concerned when I got the first years bill-£580!!!..I turned the stop tap off, which is located next to the meter, and still it whizzed around. I contacted Severn Trent who were helpful and told me to turn the water off overnight and check the readings, I did and found one cubic metre had been used overnight (not by us though!) Severn trent arranged for a meter fitter to attend, and he confirmed by looking at it whizzing around whilst no water was being used, that it was faulty, and gave us a new one. The result- we are now using 0.17 cubic metres a day.
We had a bit of hassle getting a refund off Severn Trent. Firstly they decided to base our previous years bill on our usage 2 years ago. I argued this stating our new home was more efficient in that we don't have a bath, we have a new eco friendly washing machine and we have a water butt to water the garden. Our usage 2 years ago was 0.34 cubic metres a day. I did a check over 10 days after our new meter was fitted and found it to be 0.17. It took a few phone calls to win my case but to be fair to them they agreed with me and gave me £30 compensation for my stress. Very nice too! So yes I think water meters are good if they are working, I now regularly do a reading and check our daily usage is similiar. My next door neighbour, with a similiar house and same water company, but not on a meter, pays £360 a year. We are looking at £200 maximum for our next yearly bill.
One thing of interest that the meter fitter said is that the fitted battery inside the meter should be replaced occasionally, I think he said every 10 years but don't quote me on that. Severn Trent have to change it.
Hope this helps you!

I thought it might be useful if I tell you about my experience with South West Water and my request to have a meter fitted.
The surveyor came to see if a meter could be fitted but decided that we couldn't have one because the main supply tap was in the main road and it would have been too dangerous for the meter readers to position a meter there.
As an alternative to having a water meter, he then offered an alternative; An ASSESSED CHARGE based on the amount of people living in the property. As there are two of us, this came to £121.50 per year. (I need to say that we pay 'sewage charges' of £20.00 separately and annually; a sum paid by 7 properties.)
I'm certain that not many people know about the Assessed Charge system. So, if you live in a rural area and have a mains tap that is in a difficult position, it would be worth you asking for a water meter and then requesting an Assessed Charge if the water company decide that it would be too difficult/dangerous for them to position a meter for you.

A Meter works for me!
After moving into my new house I received a Water Services Bill from Thames Water which was based on my Rateable value. (Detached, 4 Beds 2 Adults ,2 Teens,D/washer, Wash M/c, 30 power showers p/w, 3 baths.)

They wanted £855.65 for the year (1/4/05 – 31/3/06) or £2.34 per day.

I ordered a Meter (for free) and after 232 days (including Garden auto watering in our dry Summer) I have paid 93p per day!
A Meter slashed my bill by 60% or £513.00 per year!!!!
"you know it makes sense"

We have moved from a one bedflat and no meter where paying a £189 a year. And just before we moved I got the new bill and it was going to be £210 a year.

We are now in a 3 bedroom house. Same amount of people and the last 6 month bill was £79 on a meter. Had no choice as it was already here when we moved in.

And we have a rather ancient 7 year old washing machine so that will drink a little bit of water. Glad when it finally breaks down and I can get a nice eco one.

So we are looking at a bill of about £180 a year. I have no idea what it would be on a rateable value. But I reckon close to £250-£300 a year.

So for us it is a money saver. Only problem being is if you are in a family house like this. It may well be more expensive and put people off buying the house. But will cross that bridge when we get to it.

Yours

Calley

Anglia Water will fit a meter and let you try it for six months. We tried it and after 3 months went back to the old method as it was going to work out more expensive. This was in the winter so no watering the garden, car washing etc. Not sure what went wrong as most of my neighbours cut their bills by half.

I have been advised by my water supplier to take an annual insurance cover for water supply pipe cover. In essence it will cover any burst pipe repairs that may occur from the mains supply into my house. Is it worth it, and has anyone experieced repairs without the cover?

Hi,

I'm in the process of buying my first home, a three bed semi. I've been dooing some budgeting thanks to this website and am exploring all avenues of saving money.

As I will be the only resident at this property I'm considering a water meter. I know the rateable value of the water is £268 annually, and I've checked Yorkshire Waters Calculator for a compabable quote on a water meter. I seem that my annual bill will go down to between £106 - £186. Does this sound realistic? or is this a sales gimmick?

I'll have no dishwasher, prefer showers to baths, only have a lawn and low maintenace garden.

As I work full time the chances are that I will only be at the property on evenings and weekends. As a single male I don't cook much and probably be fed and watered now and again at my parents house ()

Finally do the water boards charge to install a meter? In particular Yorkshire Water? If so how much?

I've had a good look on YW website but can't find any indication of a charge..

Any help would be greatly appreciated....

Not sure if Yorkshire Water charge to install a meter. I had a friend in a house on Yorkshire Water a couple of years ago, they had a meter and were the sole occupier and their bill at that time was £10 a month. They acheived this by being very economical with water, used a shower etc, so your quote looks ok. Hope this helps