Water meters - pros and cons?

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  • Gothicfairy
    Gothicfairy Posts: 3,060 Forumite
    MaryJo987 wrote: »
    Water meters are unfair because (unlike gas and electricity) they are installed on the public highway rather than at your property. So what if a pipe bursts or leaks between the meter and your home, spewing out thousands of gallons of water? Trust me, I've seen this happen. Fortunately the property owner wasn't metered - but Heaven help him if he had been. You may save £50 to £100 by installing a water meter, but if an outside pipe bursts or leaks you would become liable for a small fortune :(

    They are not all fitted outside and there are allowances and adjustments that ALL water companies offer ( although you have to ask for them)
    Most will do an adjustment based on a massive leak on a drive or front garden say, but that does not apply to internal fixtures and fittings.
    I really have never heard of anyone having to pay a small fortune for an outside leak that they did not cause. Not to say it never has happened but I really do think it is few and far between and even reading this forum for the several years I have been would not suggest that is normal either.
    Also to add..my electric meter is outside as is my neighbours..
    There is a race of men that don't fit in; A race that can't stand still;
    So they break the hearts of kith and kin, and roam the world at will.

    Robert Service
  • Surely no-one is naive enough to think that metered water will be cheaper than rateable value when nearly everyone has been metered - it can't be as the water company would lose income. It can only be more expensive overall, as someone has to pay for the meters and their installation.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    Surely no-one is naive enough to think that metered water will be cheaper than rateable value when nearly everyone has been metered - it can't be as the water company would lose income. It can only be more expensive overall, as someone has to pay for the meters and their installation.

    Losing income from more on meters, doesn't affect their profits!!

    The water industry is still Regulated. If their costs are £Xmillion they are allowed to raise that in revenue plus whatever the Regulator allows them to make in profit.

    So if thousands of people pay less because they get a meter, or claim relief from Surface Water Drainage or metered customers use less water(and pay less), then they adjust their charges upward to still raise that £Xmillion plus their profit.
  • space_rider
    space_rider Posts: 1,741 Forumite
    My water bill with a meter is half the amount that I was paying based on RV at my old house. This is a new house so I don`t know what the RV would be if it wasn`t new.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    My water bill with a meter is half the amount that I was paying based on RV at my old house. This is a new house so I don`t know what the RV would be if it wasn`t new.

    No property built since 1990 has an RV, all had to have meters.
  • Cardew wrote: »
    Losing income from more on meters, doesn't affect their profits!!

    The water industry is still Regulated. If their costs are£Xmillion they are allowed to raise that in revenue plus whatever the Regulator allows them to make in profit.

    So if thousands of people pay less because they get a meter, or claim relief from Surface Water Drainage or metered customers use less water(and pay less), then they adjust their charges upward to still raise that£Xmillionplus their profit.


    That's what I said! Meters can be cheaper for some households when a few have them, but if everyone is metered the unit charge would be adjusted upward to maintain profits. This means covering existing costs + costs of meters + margin required by shareholders.
  • the water company want you to use less water.


    when everyone is metered and everyone uses less water the unit charge will be raised so that the water company's income is comparable with what it was previously. it seems there is more naivity around than I thought.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    edited 15 January 2011 at 2:28PM
    That's what I said! Meters can be cheaper for some households when a few have them, but if everyone is metered the unit charge would be adjusted upward to maintain profits. This means covering existing costs + costs of meters + margin required by shareholders.

    We are at cross-purposes!

    Your statement above is correct.

    However someone currently non-metered and charged on their RV could still see a huge reduction in their charges even in your scenario when everyone is metered.

    i.e. The companies overall revenue will remain the same when all are metered(plus a little extra for all the meters) but some with a high RV will still gain and some with a low RV will lose.
  • Gothicfairy
    Gothicfairy Posts: 3,060 Forumite
    if you live in a large house with a lot of bedrooms you will be cahrged on its RV thinking you have a large household 4beds = 4-5 people using water hence big water bill.

    That bit is not quite true, the RV was based on the rental value of a property and there are thousands of one bedroom flats that have a higher RV then 3 bedroom houses.
    Mine is a 3 bed terraced and my RV means my bills is less then £200 per year where as there are some flats not 1/2 mile from me with the RV to equal £600 plus water bills.


    The water companies are allowed to make x amount of profit no matter how that comes and at the moment there are thousands and thousands of people paying over £400 for RV properties but once everyone has a meter fitted the price will then be fixed per cubic meter and everyone should end up paying the say ( ie for their cubic meter usage)
    There is a race of men that don't fit in; A race that can't stand still;
    So they break the hearts of kith and kin, and roam the world at will.

    Robert Service
  • shelly wrote: »
    My info might be out of date but I thought that when a house is sold these days a water meter is installed regardless whether or not the new buyer wants it, so already having one in place would make no difference?

    Very happy to be corrected if wrong though :)

    Old wives tale. If you ask to be metered they will provide. If you dont - they wont. Simples.
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