Do you have a water meter?

I never knew there was a half-flush option with toilets! It does seem a huge waste of water to empty the cistern for one small wee...

I think you have to have a special flush button, ana. I never know which one is which when I come across such so I probably often do the wrong one. They both seem to go down whichever you push as well.

We just have an old-fashioned yank handle.

Yes of course bags but it is only ever possible to collect a tine % of the rainfall and convert it into potable water. Was Scottish part of the main privatisation? Or was that just England and wales?

Yes Ana2 knobs one half empty's the other is full

The things you learn on Gransnet!

Scottish water is still Scottish as far as I know. And the half-flush has been around for quite a long time now.

Had to check on Wiki, jess. It seems Scottish Water is accountable to the public via the Scottish government and is assessed against privatised water companies. You will know what that means better than I do.

The tiny percentage being collectable comes back to my point about rainfall being relevant, I think. Mind you, there are a lot of natural lochs (collection points) in Scotland which might make a difference. Also, in the Highlands particularly, many people still get their water piped straight from springs and burns.

I obviously don't get out enough, anno...

I have a water meter and live in a 4 bedroom band G house.
My water bill comes to an average of £21 per month.
I water the garden and wash the car about 40 times a year using a pressure hose.
If I did not have a water meter my water bill would be a lot more.

Frank

We had a water meter installed when we bought our house 17 years ago. Our water bill immediately plummeted by nearly two thirds. This despite the fact that we made no effort to use less water than before we had the meter. We both prefer baths to showers and do not use washing machine od dishwasher daily. Just when we have enough clothes/dishes to make up a full load. In dry summers I water the vegetable garden, but as little as possible. Despite having seven water butts, the contents do not last long in a dry patch.

I'm sure it's the right thing to do for a couple or a single person. For us with 3 teenagers who shower twice a day (yes teenage lads do wash!), two dishwasher loads per day, etc. I doubt if it would be worth it.

We collect water for the garden in four large water butts. If they run dry we use watering can for food crops. Not bothered if the lawn goes yellow and doesn't need mowing. Car goes to a car wash occasionally.

So, in spite of what jess says about the infrastructure being what water bills are mainly about, having a water meter would seem to make a difference to the cost of a household's water. Now I'm properly confused.

I also remember back when I was ten, eleven, we lived in a rented farmhouse while my parents were looking for a suitable house to buy. There was a tap on the outside wall of an old barn which the occupants of three caravans in a nearby field used for their water. The cost of the water they used was charged to my parents' bill because there was only the one registered 'user' of the watcer to that address. After my dad spoke to the caravan dwellers about not using a hose to wash their car quite so often, please, my parents' water bill went down. This was before the advent of water meters but clearly the water authority was able to monitor the supply to the farm.

If it could be done then, why do we need water meters now? Can someone explain?

In my last house, four beds with only me there most of the time, a water meter made a big difference to my bills. My present house, two beds and still with me on my own doesn't have a water meter, on the advice of the water company whose web site said it wouldn't be cost effective. However, I think all new homes are obliged to have a water meter.

A water meter is just a way of charging bags. A water company has ongoing costs. If it has to build new reservoirs etc it has investment costs. It also has shareholders who would like a dividend. In order to cover these outgoings they devise a charging policy that balances the requirements put on them by the regulators, operating pressures, fairness to customers and the need to get an adequate amount of income coming in. One of the operating pressures might be a concern about water resources and wanting to avoid having to invest in new infrastructure.
Most companies and I think the regulator broadly think that metering is the fairest way to charge - you pay for what you get, just like electricity or gas. It also has the benefit of encouraging the conservation of water.

Yes, and in Oxfordshire (so possibly other places too) when a house changes ownership, a water meter has to be fitted before the new owners move in. This is how we had a water meter. The previous owners had owned the house since it had been built in the late fifties.

Exactly, jess. I understand all that. Can you answer my question though about water boards managing to measure water usage at a particular addres before modern water meters were introduced?

They didn't bags . Charge was on a formula which used rateable value.
They would know how much water was passing into a certain area if they had a big meter at a junction in the system and they could guess the average based on number of properties. In order to manage leakage you need these big area meters.

I pay a lot less at my present metered house than I used to at my old address.
Probably because water usage depends on how many people live at the address not how big or valuable the house is...and also because my daughters have left home and the men in my life have little inclination to wash!!

We had water meter fitted yesterday.

Just 2of us our w rates were over £700 year so think we will save bit .

We shall see!
Do have dishwasher on every day and washer most days.
Have showers and baths hey oh we can change back after year. if not happy.

celebgran i think you will still be better off ..it was a good move for me but i dont have a dishwasher x

I was so interested by this thread that I got out the bills to see how much we are paying and did the calculation and found that we would probably only save £56 a year. When I enquired as to where a meter would be fitted I was told beside the stop tap in the kitchen. To do that they would have to remove a very expensive piece of my kitchen so I guess I stay unmetered.

Water meters are usually fitted at the "boundary stop tap" Harrigran - that is usually situated on the pavement. I have never heard of one inside a property. Possible exception might be in an existing apartment but I am not sure about that.
Worth checking if you actually want one.

Oh dear harrigran they did it all outside! We were lucky nice chap explained it all.