Do you have a water meter?

Hi Happygran There is a very useful guide on the Consumer Council for Water's website that will calculate whether you will be better off with/without a water meter.

My sister lives alone but she too loves her baths and we worked out she would probably be better off without a meter.

Do have a look I think it may help you to decide.

www.ccwater.org.uk

Thanks for that, Gillybob. It was very helpful. I've looked at the site, and it looks as though I wouldn't save by having a water meter.

I thought the idea of water meters was to save water. We had one, compulsorily, in Oxfordshire. I didn't stop washing nappies nearly every day, but I did save teapot dregs for watering houseplants and the garden. They thrived on cold tea

Not sure Argyll has heard of water meters. No need – the problem here is too much water most of the time.

I had a water meter installed about 4 years ago, and as I live alone, cut my bills by half. I am conscious of how much water I use, more in terms of the garden than in the house. When I do need to water (seems so long ago!) I use a watering can rather than a hosepipe.

It's not the water that falls from the sky bags its the cost of collecting, treating and transporting water to your house that is the key issue when it comes to paying for water. All new houses have had them automatically for a long time now in England and Wales.

I think water meters serve 2 purposes. One being that it makes you more aware of the water you might waste as there is always a sense of "having to pay for it" and the second being that single people and/or couples are not having to pay for water they do not use based on an average for the size of the property.

I think I am right in saying that all new build properties automatically have water meters installed.

Sounds a bit like the North East coast Bags we never suffer from water shortages.

We have a water meter her in France. I have to admit to not being too careful with usage within the house - DH uses our well for topping up the pool and watering etc which is really good. We have been told that the well has 'good' water but we do not use it for house water only as a precaution that it is totally safe - the pool is treated anyway of course.

I guess our reservoirs are big enough for the population they serve then, jess, so far. The pipe network, which was probably the old Victorian one in our area, has had to have serious work done on it in the last year. Before that we had several waterless periods every year because of under-road leaks. It's great that Scottish Water finally got round to doing the repairs (laying new pipes) in the remoter areas.

Surely what falls out of the sky makes some difference, if only by keeping reservoirs topped up (or not, as the case may be, and indeed was in spring last year)?

Wasn't there a problem with artesian wells drying out too? Those depend on the rainfall that isn't diverted for domestic and industrial use. Come on, jess, surely you can't say annual rainfall isn't one of the most important things when it comes to water costs? If water comanies can bank on there being enough rainfall to keep the resers topped up, they don't have to build as much water storage for a start. Am I really being too simplistic? I know you are more knowledgable about the intricacies than I am, but it seems intuitive than high rainfall will help at least. No?

I am certain that my water bills would on the whole be cheaper if I had a meter but every time there is a problem here, it is water related. There has been water dripping through holes (made by me) in the ceiling, a pipe leaking, water gushing out of my dishwasher or washing machine or a slow leak from a tap. I will live without a meter for as long as I possible can.

It is worth having a meter if you are a small household. We saved a lot until the Gch moved in.
I think it is a green thing to do as it makes you think and gives you an argument for the younger generation who can stay in the shower 10 minutes!

I have a water meter but I use very little as I don't have a washing machine or dishwasher, so it is just one shower or bath a day and a couple of bowls for washing up. However, my bill was still quite high by French standards, as the actual amount used plays a very small part in the final bill, which is mainly made up of obligatory contributions to local, departmental and regional water and sewerage supply, repairs, etc. These are the same no matter how much water I use - I think it would be fairer if they could be related to consumption.

I've saved a fortune since I switched to a water meter. Only did it when my son eventually left home as he and his girlfriend were always using the washing machine and having showers etc. My big worry was having a leak somewhere [which did happen soon after I had the meter fitted, but you can always turn the water off]. I do the washing up once a day [sometimes less ] and have a system of washing that uses as little water as possible [even though I still rinse everything]. When I clean the windows I use any left over water to water the garden. As for baths [I love baths] I know this sounds gross but I have two of those large plastic containers and I put the bathwater into them and use the water for flushing the loo. In fact, having a power shower means that I probably don't use much more water having a bath than a shower. I'm a bit concerend about what I'll do if we have a dry summer as I used to water the lawn all the time but I think I'll just watch it turn brown and think of how much money I'm saving. I know it all sounds a bit anal but I want to retire later this year and need to reduce my bills as much as possible. With my son leaving home as well I don't have the washing machine on constantly. And you also have a year to change back if you don't like having a meter. I try to put plastic flower pots inside terracotta ones to hold moisture in more. I'm paying @ £25 a month [think it's gone down recently as well].

On the subject of having masses of water here in the North East. My cousin lives down South and has been subject to water shortages/hosepipe bans etc on numerous occasions. We were chatting recently about diverting some of our water down South via a huge pipeline and I said that we should charge for it as it is ours after all. She disagreed stating that the water falls from the sky and therefore doesn't really belong to anyone. I disagreed and said that the water falls from the sky onto us and therefore it is ours just the same as the sun shines more on her in the South so is therefore hers and when they find a way of diverting some of it up North then the South can have some of our water.

Tegan I do the same as you, using the bath water for flushing the loo and watering the garden.
We had a meter installed, at our request.The fact that we now pay £15 a month for water instead of £42 makes it very worthwhile!

All new housing has water meters and I believe I'm right in saying that when you move to another property - old or new - a water meter will automatically be installed even if the previous owner did not have one and whether you want one or not.

I don't agree with the compulsory introduction of water meters. I think there's a danger that larger families on medium or low incomes will try to economise on water usage and this could have health consequences.

As to the question about savings, my mum had a water meter fitted and now pays less than half of what she was paying before - but she is extremely careful about how she uses it - to the point that she won't use her washing machine (she hand washes underclothes and I do the rest in my washing machine) and has a "washdown" rather than a bath.

I think it's worth having a meter if there are only two in the house. My washer is intelligent enough to put enough water for the wash no excess.i do save bath water if there is a drought-bring out a selection of small buckets and just keep taking a couple outside whenever I go past. If there is discoloured water because there has been a leak on the main road the water board will credit you with"free"water. I always insisted on a letter. We had several burst water mains this winter with funny coloured water. I also have water butts for the garden .

I haven't got round to sorting out water butts; that's my next job. [so glad it's not just me with the bath water ].

bags if rainfall per annum dictated water costs then it should be cheaper in areas like Wales and N West. But it is not. The main reason is that many people live up hills and water has to be pumped to give them adequate pressure. Water is very heavy and requires a lot of energy to pump it. So the electricity bill for the water company is high and this is part of the cost. (this is the most obvious factor)
Cost of construction and pumping also the reason why long distance water transfer schemes (e.g. from NW to SE) are implausible in the extreme.

OK, thanks. I see. But I still thought water meters were to try and make people be more careful about their usage – essentially to use less. So my point about water meters being to save water rather than money still stands (until you knock it down with unassailable logic ).

BTW, people live up hills near me because there's very little flat land.

I have a water metre my choice and my monthly payment has gone from 42£ to 15£ i dont have a bath just shower and my toilet does half flush or full flush just thought i would share the toilet thing x

Well bags I guess for the customer the main motivation is going to be saving money on the water bill. On the company's side, they might prefer to sell more water - were it not the case that water resources are usually limited so they prefer customers to use less. There are only so much water that you can get from a reservoir or extract from a river and finding another source is extremely expensive. So in the company's interests to conserve water.

Can't say I've noticed Scottish Water being very bothered either way, jess. Perhaps they're too busy reconnecting people's water supplies after bursts to worry about how much people are or aren't using. Could be different in other parts of Scotland of course. I'm not sure you realise just how much 'excess' runoff there is in some parts of Scotland

london,