do you use a lot of water?

I checked our usage from the bills - no need to read the meter.

Well I don’t see your reasoning Maddy when you say you shouldn’t pay by usage That s like saying a family of 10 out for a meal pay the same set price as a family of 2 or a shopping bill for 5 people should be the same as a shopping bill for 2 people ….makes no sense

Very thrifty with water and only use what is essential. Use the rain water but in the garden for flowers which we do by hand.

We don’t have a water shortage in mid Wales, 95% of the water in our system is surface water, and I’m surrounded by reservoirs, there are 9 within 40 miles of where I live.
I have water butts but no water meter. It rains so much here in the winter that I don’t feel guilty about watering the garden, only the pots though, not the lawn. On one hand, I know we are lucky, on the other in the winter it can be raining every day for weeks which is miserable.

I do have a meter, but as I am very careful, I'm not bothered.

BlueBelle

Well I don’t see your reasoning Maddy when you say you shouldn’t pay by usage That s like saying a family of 10 out for a meal pay the same set price as a family of 2 or a shopping bill for 5 people should be the same as a shopping bill for 2 people ….makes no sense

I agree Bluebelle. We saved ££££s with a meter.
Houses without meters are rare around here.

114 litres a month, tanith is less than 4 litres a day.

I think Oldnproud is right - this must be a mistake as a low flush in a "dual-flush" loo still uses 3-4 litres.
I think most of us need to use the toilet at some point during the day!

NotSpaghetti

^114 litres a month^, tanith is less than 4 litres a day.

I think Oldnproud is right - this must be a mistake as a low flush in a "dual-flush" loo still uses 3-4 litres.
I think most of us need to use the toilet at some point during the day!

We use at least 114 litres each a DAY here.

Our bill is £23 per month Southern Water, we have three water butts, I bath occasionally, otherwise both of us quickly shower, we do have a meter.

I was surprised how much drinking water we use and can only tell when on holiday, if we can’t drink the tap water
On holiday recently we bought gallons of bottled water, the containers were huge and difficult to both carry and get the water out of, (but better than buying lots of small plastic bottles for recycling.)

Calendargirl

Should add the water company read the meters either yearly or half yearly, so they do get accurate readings also.

Same here and I rely on that as my meter is far too difficult to read.
As I’m in a hosepipe ban region I’ve been saving used water for the garden. It’s amazing just how much you waste when washing hands, washing or draining vegetables etc. so we’ve been keeping a bowl in the sink and then pouring the waste into empty milk bottles.

No water meter here but I am careful of my water use. Showers not baths, avoid random washing up and load it all in the dishwasher, use the washing machine sparingly. We are in the NW so no shortage of rainwater for the garden. We asked for a water meter but can’t have one because this small group of very old ex farm cottages is on a shared supply. Very irritating when in the shower and a neighbour runs the cold tap.

We have a meter but I don't know how much we use. We pay £27 a month so I'm happy that we're not being wasteful.

£33 a month here, down from £96 a month 2 years ago before the meter was fitted.
Ours includes umpteen machine washes and showers / baths due to having a dirty business.
Never watered the garden other than a few veggies during lockdown as it doesn’t need it.

Showers don’t always use less water than a bath btw.

We put water tanks in during our last drought so we fill the pool up with that and water the garden,too. If you don’t water things here in Summer they die within a few hot days. Sad sight when you go on hols and come back to brown crinkly plants.

We try very hard to make the best use of our water. I use more in the Summer as I water the tomatoes and other plants in pots.

I use water from the water butts for plants in the garden when newly planted but they ran dry earlier in the year - now replenished thanks to the Wimbledon rain!

We have a meter but I don’t know how much we use. I do try to be reasonably economical (having said that I’ve had the sprinkler on the garden early this morning) and do get irritated with dh for e.g. letting the cold tap run full blast while he’s brushing his teeth. Minor in the great scheme of things I know, but the unnecessary waste does grieve me. (A bit.)

Sorry everyone my mistake its 114 litres per day 🤭 what an idiot.

Oh, and we have 2 water butts which we use almost exclusively for watering my many pots.

We're mindful of water usage. We shower, not bathe, run the dishwasher full, wash clothing on lowest settings. However, we do carefully water our garden, veg, flowers, some shrubs.

We've an underground system that saves rain water and grey water for outdoor use in gardens and for drip sprinklers. Brilliant!

If I'm not going out that day, I sometimes don't take a shower, just a quick wash. I have M.E. so this is frequent. When I shower I have a bucket in it to save the water while it's warming up. I use it to water my garden (nearly all containers).
I save the water used for washing fruit and veg too, and any drained cooking water. I have water butts, and leave out buckets if rain is forecast.
I use watering spikes in the garden when it's dry, and also old plates and saucers underneath plants.
I don't always flush away pees.
I use liquid soap (usually block soap melted down with water) as it saves having to wet hands/body before washing hands/showering, then rinse off.
I keep any water too grubby for plants (greasy washing up water etc.) to soak pans rather than running water to do it.

I think I may be a bit obsessive having read this back!!!

We only use what`s necessary.
We have a 9kg washing machine drum,so only do a wash twice a week.
Haven`t got a water butt,but have three buckets to catch rainfall.

I live on my own and I am paying £40 a month - I have a quick daily shower, use the washing machine about once in 5 days, and dishwasher, about once in 3 days. I queried this - they are coming to check if there is a leak and in the meanwhile , they have reduced my DD to £25 pm

BlueBelle

Whoops posted too soon the meter is outside in the ground I could nt tread it without something to open it and get on my hands and knees

Yes BlueBelle.
When we got our water meter, I understood it would be read automatically. To my astonishment, I received a letter from the water company asking me to read the meter, which was about 70 cm below ground level in the middle of the pavement outside our house. We removed the cover and noticed that the dial was covered in dirt and illegible. If you knelt down, swept the dirt off and used an inverted selfie stick you could actually take a photo of the meter on your phone. 🤣🤣🤣
The water company apologised.

Water butt for garden, mostly showers and I save my laundry to go in with DD2’s. Water meter here and I pay £18 a month, less than half of what my neighbour with no meter pays. Never wash car at home either.

I’m in the NE, so we have Kielder. By the way, all new builds have meters - mostly inaccessible to the resident, but at least it ensures pay for what you use.