Cycling UK Forum

Graham wrote:
NB: One other benefit of getting a meter is that you will start to think about how you use the precious resource of high-quality drinking water.
Bear in mind that I'm an eco-mentalist. My water saving methods tend to the extreme i.e I use about 10 m3 per year.

So your the one parked down by the canal with the buckets and sunken rear susension

I don't know why meters weren't made compulsory decades ago. Imagine the price of food if you paid an annual subscription to Tesco and then helped yourself to as much as you want........

I lived alone in a 2 bed semi a few years ago, can't remember my bill but it was enough for me to think I was paying far too much. Phoned severn trent about having a meter fitted and they messed me around something chronic, back and forth between departments etc.

The cynic in me thought they'd sussed my situation and they'd be out of pocket, the last woman I spoke to claimed they'd estimated (based on my quoted usage) I'd only save approx £1 p/m

Went ahead and had it fitted anyway and the bill fell by an astronomic amount, was something like £10 a month I think. I don't pay the bills here so I've no idea what we're charged.

Trigger wrote:I lived alone in a 2 bed semi a few years ago, can't remember my bill but it was enough for me to think I was paying far too much. Phoned severn trent about having a meter fitted and they messed me around something chronic, back and forth between departments etc.

The cynic in me thought they'd sussed my situation and they'd be out of pocket, the last woman I spoke to claimed they'd estimated (based on my quoted usage) I'd only save approx £1 p/m

Went ahead and had it fitted anyway and the bill fell by an astronomic amount, was something like £10 a month I think. I don't pay the bills here so I've no idea what we're charged.

Hi,
I think Water companies are there to pull the wool (like energy companies who have tarrifs like mobile phone companies, who would really sit down and work it out me of course) Rates £550, Meter fitted, looking like a grand a year
Turn off stop cock and heh............the dials are still going round
Company (contract) who fitted meter in 45 mins, when water company was pressed by me admitted that they were on BONUS
Threatening letters to take me to court, yeh you think I am scared....Not.
They back down after I comunicated with no less than five different staff (time wasting, who's is paying for this incompetence, we are)
They refit (Water company) meter and hey its £400 / annum, well I never
The same contract firm who ticked boxes without work, and rail workers died

What was started as a joke, has turned into something FAR too serious.
Oh, by the way, all new builds have water meters.
Kelly.

Saving water/money is a serious business both from a financial and environmental point of view.

Seems like some people aren't claiming light user rates plus also a sewage abatement rebate. i have 21% knocked off my sewage charge (already actual use-10%)and don't pay standing charge but slightly higher rate per Cubic Metre under the light user scheme.
My annual bill is approx £65-£70/year as most water gets recycled.
I actually paid for my meter and had arranged for it to be fitted when i moved into the house 16 years ago. have saved about £5000 in that time

axel_knutt wrote:I don't know why meters weren't made compulsory decades ago. Imagine the price of food if you paid an annual subscription to Tesco and then helped yourself to as much as you want........

You mean the same way as people pay for road usage?

horizon wrote:

axel_knutt wrote:I don't know why meters weren't made compulsory decades ago. Imagine the price of food if you paid an annual subscription to Tesco and then helped yourself to as much as you want........

You mean the same way as people pay for road usage?

Hi,
You mean the same way as people pay for waste disposal from your home

Exactly.

Pay for what you use is a good idea providing you use a lot.
What about the frugal amongst us?
It's very possible to pay more in standing charge than in consumption!

We do about 6,000miles a year in the car, but we still have to pay VED and insurance the same as we would pay if we did 100,000miles a year.

Ditto water, electricity and gas.
Be as frugal as you want, but you still pay through the nose.

We don't have a water meter, and we can use as much water as we want. It costs us no more than if we used no water at all. I can water the garden, have a nice deep bath, wash the car, pressure wash the decking and the drive, wash the dishes, have another bath, wash the windows with a hose .............. all for the same price even if I did all that all day every day. I could leave the tap running continually.

Also, a thought:
Say I have no water meter and live on a terrace where all the other houses have meters.
What's to stop me from connecting my (free) water to all the other houses and supplying them free of charge?
They'd still have to pay their standing charge of course, but they would consume nothing.

horizon wrote:

axel_knutt wrote:I don't know why meters weren't made compulsory decades ago. Imagine the price of food if you paid an annual subscription to Tesco and then helped yourself to as much as you want........

You mean the same way as people pay for road usage?

Yes, road tax would go on the price of petrol as well if I had my way.

My understanding is that a single person, or a couple will save money if they change to a meter. If you have more in the household than that, a meter isn't economically viable.

(I've just typed this and realised that I should be onto Thames Water asap to get a meter now there's just two of us in the house!)

Jan

Mick F wrote:Say I have no water meter and live on a terrace where all the other houses have meters.
What's to stop me from connecting my (free) water to all the other houses and supplying them free of charge?
They'd still have to pay their standing charge of course, but they would consume nothing.

I put that on the MSE forum as a moneysaving tip once, but the moderators deleted it! I don't know why, I can't find anywhere where it says that the water you buy is not for resale.

Another moneysaving scheme I cooked up to highlight the stupidity of water bills based on Rateable Value was generating "free" electricity using a turbine driven off tapwater.

jan19 wrote:My understanding is that a single person, or a couple will save money if they change to a meter. If you have more in the household than that, a meter isn't economically viable.

(I've just typed this and realised that I should be onto Thames Water asap to get a meter now there's just two of us in the house!)

Jan

Hi,
South West Water, It was that you can have a meter for One Year and change back if you dont want it
Check you local water supplier for conditions.
Yes I am saying that up to two people in SWW would be better off on a meter, Assuming that you dont carry on wasting water and you give the way you use water a thought
If you did go on a meter and did nothing then there's a chance that it would be the same.
Of course, if you are frugal for a month or two and you can see that the whole year spent at this sensible use will save you its your choice what you do.

We did a bit of research a while back about swapping to a meter. SWW have the highest bills in the country BTW.

We reckoned it wouldn't save us a bean ............. but at the same time we'd have to be careful and feel guilty about water use. Far simpler and easier to stay unmetered. As I said, we can use as much as we want.
Wanna buy some from us?

Also, I cut my own trees and have a lovely woodburner. Other than my efforts with a chainsaw, we have free hot water and heating.

If you do want some of our water, you can have it cold or hot. The choice is yours.
Fancy a nice hot deep bath whilst you're here?

Mick F wrote:We did a bit of research a while back about swapping to a meter. SWW have the highest bills in the country BTW.
We reckoned it wouldn't save us a bean ............. but at the same time we'd have to be careful and feel guilty about water use. Far simpler and easier to stay unmetered. As I said, we can use as much as we want.
Wanna buy some from us?
Also, I cut my own trees and have a lovely woodburner. Other than my efforts with a chainsaw, we have free hot water and heating.
If you do want some of our water, you can have it cold or hot. The choice is yours.
Fancy a nice hot deep bath whilst you're here?

Hi,
This is probably a very accurate indication of or current water use......................
http://www.southwestwater.co.uk/index.cfm?articleid=7314
So its of to Mic F's for a news years bash for our baths and washing down the bikes cars and boats, not to mention my mouldy old 3 ton truck
Plenty of tea cakes and cudle up to the log burner
Put the kettle on, mines a pint
Spot the difference ours is the lower one