Water meter? DON'T

mokryna a man comes to read the meter which is underground at the bottom of my drive in October . So never have to read it myself. I couldn't in any case as I couldn't kneel down to read it .

When I lived in a 3 bedroom house 100+ miles away from where I live now . Even though on my own there where no water meters so I paid the same as my neighbours which in 2019 was £160.50 a month .

I moved to a 2 bed bungalow in 2019 have a combi boiler and water meter and this year I pay £30.85 a month .

I love having a combi boiler as no wasted hot water and saves money energy wise.

If you don’t already know a tip for reading the numbers on meters in difficult places, take a photo on your phone and then enlarge it.

it looks as though there is no leak.
I didnt want to change after 12 months because it was a reasonable amount compared to similar houses with 2 or more people.It's only this year that it has nearly doubled.
I have not changed my lifestyle but according to them I have but I.m buggared if I know how,there is no hot tub or daily car washing here.

It doesn’t sound right. We’re with Thames Water and there are 5 adults in this house. We’re paying £61 per month since the recent increase although this was based on an estimate which were certain is too high.

Allira

^and I cant get rid of the meter^

Why? I'd be on to them again!
You should be on a special rate for a single-person household.

There's no such thing as single person rate ....and once you have requested a meter there is no obligation for a water board to remove...they have the right to refuse

The people “in charge” of the different water companies seem to be at the helm of some enormous farce. The whole kit and caboodle is a scandalous.

I agree.

It's unco-ordinated, companies might be privatised but, unlike other companies, there is no choice for customers. The whole system is a complete mess.

Yes, it's scandalous.

I paid £15 per month for years, I'm with Thames water. Since the recent increase I'm paying £20 per month.
I'm a one person household.

Mollygo

According to my bank account, my bill has gone up by £6 since April, but the amount it says we will be charged pm is £13 less than it says we are supposed to be paying.
e.g. went from £20 to £26. “Your future bills will be £26”
But
“your charges are £39 pm”
It also lists my meter readings as “read by you”. We have never read the meter, as it’s down a hole in the pavement.
Confused? I am.

It's bonkers, isn't it? I think they just have some kind of random number generator and charge customers what they want - unless somebody complains.

growstuff

There's a Dancing Dicks Lane in Witham, Essex. (Hope that's not too rude.)

Sorry! Wrong thread!

There's a Dancing Dicks Lane in Witham, Essex. (Hope that's not too rude.)

The people “in charge” of the different water companies seem to be at the helm of some enormous farce. The whole kit and caboodle is a scandalous.

Ps most if not all social/council housing has a water meter.

It also lists my meter readings as “read by you”. We have never read the meter, as it’s down a hole in the pavement.
😂😂😂

Oh dear, I choked on my glass of water, sorry, I meant wine!

According to my bank account, my bill has gone up by £6 since April, but the amount it says we will be charged pm is £13 less than it says we are supposed to be paying.
e.g. went from £20 to £26. “Your future bills will be £26”
But
“your charges are £39 pm”
It also lists my meter readings as “read by you”. We have never read the meter, as it’s down a hole in the pavement.
Confused? I am.

I'm going to check ours forensically!!

I rang Yorkshire water yesterday to say I thought our water bill was too much. It’s £85 for the two of us. He said to check the water meter, we were both on our hands and knees outside but we can’t see any numbers.
I phoned back, they said they’d come out to check it but it’s going to cost £80 !
He did say it’s on the high side for two people. I’m going to ask my son if he’d have a look for us next time he’s here.

Hmm hmm!

This is daft. I don't usually look at the breakdown of my bill, so this thread has been useful.

I've discovered that over the past six months I've used £34.20 of clean water and my waste has cost £52.09.

(I've used much less than the cap, so I'm not eligible for that.)

However, how come I'm paying £30 a month for my water? My bill is just less than half of that. No wonder I've received a refund. I'd rather pay less in the first place. And how come my bill is so little compared with others? (Not that I'm complaining).

Before anybody thinks I don't use any water and must be really dirty, I have a shower most days, clean my teeth twice a day, wash my hands a few times every day, use the washing machine two or three times a week and the dishwasher every day or two days and flush the toilet as needed. That's fairly normal, I think.

This is nuts!

Notagranny44

I was under the impression that if you asked for a meter to be fitted, you could ask for it to be taken out again if you had not had it longer than 12 months. Maybe I've got that wrong! We're with Welsh Water and pay £73 a month for the two of us.

Apparently they can't fit us a meter because the stopcock on the hydrant is brass (I have no idea why that is a problem!).

Ask if you can be charged the average amount two people on a water meter would pay. Although ours has just gone up by quite a high percentage, I don't think it's that much per month.

Oh noooo! Apparently, there's a separate scheme for waste water, which in my case is dealt with by Anglian Water.

Do they have people who dream up ways of making things as difficult as possible?

It all seems like a postcode lottery.

Thank you to GNers. My water is supplied by Affinity Water and I've just looked up any discounts I might be able to claim.

I've discovered that there's a cap for people with a low income and even a further discount for people who receive Council Tax support. I don't receive Pension Credit, but I might fit the other categories - going to check now and I'll let you know how I get on. Maybe others should check too.

PS. How come Affinity Water didn't tell me about this, even though my inbox is full of emails from them?

A leak is quite a common occurrence so def get them to send somebody out to check.

I was under the impression that if you asked for a meter to be fitted, you could ask for it to be taken out again if you had not had it longer than 12 months. Maybe I've got that wrong! We're with Welsh Water and pay £73 a month for the two of us.

We resisted a water meter for ages and were paying £72 per month for water (two person household) with United Utilities.

This year we bit the bullet and had a meter installed. Our bill is now £30 per month, and we have 12 months to change our minds should we want to have it removed.

For us it’s been a no-brainier, but it appears that different water companies have different systems (and pricing?).

Nationalise!!!

We don’t think we had any choice about having a meter. It’s buried full fathom five in the front garden, I’ve never seen anyone read it and feel it must be too old for this to be done remotely. We’re unlucky enough to be Thames Water and were notified that our bills would be going up hugely.
But I do nothing because I make fairly heavy use of the garden hose.

Well, it’s interesting to see the differences in what water authorities charge.

Ours does a single household reduction but Anglia Water (used to live in that area) doesn’t and the charges for unmetered seem to be astronomical. The OPs £55 a month metered would still be saving her £££££.

This can’t be right, can it? That water, the most basic of human needs, is a major, almost unaffordable expense for some in some parts of the+country.