Water Meters for Every Household

We bought a house which didn’t have one but changed to a water meter once our 3 teenage daughters had gone to university/left home.
It made sense!
I just thought about the difference in consumption - showers, washing machine, dishwasher in a household of 5 and then just the two of us. No brainer!

I doubt that water companies have the power to make water meters compulsory. Clean potable water should be available to all.

I wish I'd had a water meter years ago; I'd have saved ££££s. I only had one installed when I moved here 3 years ago and am paying £17 a month against the £42 in my previous house. I could kick myself now!

When I lived in Scotland I investigated the prospect of having a water meter fitted. The obstacles put in front of me were astonishing. The main ones I recollect are that I had to underwrite the cost of the feasibility inspection for installation and then the installation itself. The latter I remember as being minimum £500. It was also suggested to me that there might be a legal problem. No contest. I withdrew immediately.

Not having a meter doesn't mean people don't pay for the water they use, it just means the water isn't measured. My bill is currently 75 quid a month so pretty sure I pay for my useage

I ve had a water meter for years I didn’t pay anything for the installation or anything else since apart from my usage bills

Same here BlueBelle and you could keep the meter for 12 months and, if you decided it wasn't more economical for you, they'd remove it. I haven't heard of anyone doing that though.

in scotland our water charge is in with our council tax, putting a water meter in would only tell us how much water we are using but not make any difference to the cost, if it did my water charges would be low as i don't use the boiler for hot water as i boil a kettle if i have dishes and that is very seldom as i mostly use paper plates as i live on my own.

We have had a water meter for several years. All we did was ring the water board and ask. It was supplied and installed free of charge. Our bill went down from £56 to £20.
I run my dishwasher and washing machine as normal, and have a 3 minute shower daily.

Given how much bother a smart meter for electricity led to I'm not volunteering to have a water meter!

We have a water meter but I'm not sure it helps us save water or money.
.we had it installed years ago and our water bills did fall as it measures what we actually use rather than our bills being based on rateable value.

We haven’t got a water meter and pay £46 a month for water.

Maria48 there's an online calculator to help you work out whether you'd be better off with a water meter. Have a look on your water supplier's website.

They say that if you have more bedrooms than people (many of us on here, probably) then you benefit from a meter, and that works in reverse too.

On that basis we would probably benefit. We have 4 bedrooms with 2 of us, and we go away a lot.

I'm a bit uneasy though. A friend of mine lives alone, and she got very high water bills because of a leak in the supply (or something similar - it was an outside problem that had nothing to do with her, anyway). She had a terrible job persuading the water board that they were overcharging her.

All the houses near us built when ours was in the 80s have water meters. It's never been a problem, although I don't know what it would be like to have one installed now. We're responsible for all the pipework up to the water meter so if there was ever a leak our side of the water meter we would have to dig our drive up to find it. Whether it's cheaper for us I don't know.

Dripping taps? When we lived in Jersey, CI, in 1970s, you would ring the water company and they’d send someone to change the washer free of charge. That’s how precious water was then. I imagine it’s more so now.
Never watered the lawn and only give the flowers a good soak once a fortnight. Showers not baths and wait for full loads for various machines. It’s not hard to be reasonably careful.
We’ve only had a meter for a short time, but good habits are valuable.

Our water were installed last year we weren't given a choice. We could stay on unmetered tarrif for 2yrs then we will be switched over or you could ask to be switched before that. I've just switched and my monthly bill came down from £46 to £30 straight away. My neighbour who's bean on a meter for ages only pays £21 a month. I'm pretty sure mine may come down further when they reassess my usage in 6mths.

A neighbour few years ago told me this ... they hadn't got a water meter neighbour next door had one , neighbour with water meter was having her detached house sprayed ... think was to water proof it ... yes probably guessed asked the neighbour without a water if she could use their water ... they did say yes ... although personally I think it is a cheek! I do have a water meter

I pay 40 a month ( no water metre im the NW) ...3 adults at home...3 GD and 2 other adult children who stay over a lot and a dog.... wouldn't like to risk moving over to one

Blossoming

I doubt that water companies have the power to make water meters compulsory. Clean potable water should be available to all.

Making them compulsory wouldn’t mean people had no clean water, though. Just that they are likely to be more careful about wasting it.

I endorse the idea of fewer residents than bedrooms. My neighbour who also lives alone pays twice as much as me - she pays £37 and I pay £18. I can’t understand why she won’t get a meter and pay for what she uses. I’d recommend anyone to sign up for the trial period, then see how you feel. Costs nothing.

Our tiny home had an extension built on the side some 40+ yrs ago( not by us) .Years later when councils were messing about with the different rating systems the water rates became a seperate bill for all.
Water rates were charged by footprint area.At the time we lived in a bigger house with 2 showers/toilets and our water rates exceeded our neighbours due to the footprint of our extension.We paid for the privilege of facilities used by our young family.
Now after downsizing we have one very small bathroom but because of footprint the rates per month are double DSs with 4 bedrooms, 3 ensuites ,utility etc.I have tried to get DH to transfer to a meter but for whatever reasons he is so reluctant.In present day climate any reduction would be welcoming.

I’m sure most pensioner households with only one or two occupants would save money with a water meter, but what about the households with families. Families use much more water with all the laundry and bathing of children. I think in a first world country such as ours, that water should be available to all and if families were metered it’s likely that they would try to save money by economising on water, which is not a position that they should be in. Hygiene is important, I don’t want families to feel the need to economise on cleanliness.

Party4, why not ring the water company and ask then about metering and hand the phone to DH, so they can explain it to him.