Water meters

If you have a big house that you may want to sell in the future a water meter can be unpopular with families. I believe that you can have the meter removed but someone buying can not. If you have a smallish house or have no intention of moving I believe it will save you money. I have a old house and the water company said they could not fit a meter so I have a specially reduced bill based on number of occupants. It seems that in older properties the pipes can go on to other houses so difficult to isolate. It seems that someone in my area was paying for the water used by the house behind them as well as their own.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

reported

If the thought of the impact of a meter might have on selling worries you, check the rules in your area - as I said upthread, in my area water meters are installed whenever a house has a change of owner

If your house is in a higher council tax band then a meter is a definite saver. Your bill size suggests you will make a huge saving by having a meter. I saved a fortune. Add a bit of fun by finding new ways to reduce water consumption whenever they put up the charges, hence making your bill go down instead of up.

We had a water meter fitted 25 years ago. Our bill is only 24.00 a month and we have a large house. 25 years ago it was 50.00 before we had it fitted.

That's very kind, and mine to you!

I had a water meter fitted at the last house and saved a lot of money, but I was on my own then, working full time and with the commute was only at home for 10 hours a day, when I didn't go out in the evening after work!

Now there are two of us, both retired and at home in the day time. We spend longer in the shower because we move slower, need the loo every couple of hours (I worked out 20 flushes a day on average...), use the washing machine more because we tend to leak, and so on. Plus the other half insists on washing most dishes by hand before loading the dishwasher. We also have a garden pond which needs topping up with tap water when the water butt runs dry! so I have resisted having a water meter at this house because I think we are likely to need more and more water as we get older. I am afraid of winding up like my mother who moved to a house with a meter & was so worried about the water bill she stopped showering regularly, only flushed the loo once or twice a day etc.

Most water boards (or whatever they're called now) have a calculator on their website which you can use to determine whether you are better off with a water meter; I suggest you check this before you commit as once you opt for a meter you are stuck with it!

I am so glad that that you posted this topic BAMM 2015.
I have been wondering about a water meter for ages as my Partner and I live in a bungalow. Not boring at all, very, very helpful. Thank You.

We had one installed a few years ago, there's just the two of us, no shower or outside tap or hosepipe so minimal water usage. Our meter is in the kitchen cupboard because the outside stopcock is imperial and the equipment is now in metric so the whole stopcock would have had to be replaced at our expense. No-one reads the meter, it is done electronically and the bills have dropped to a fraction of what they were. The installation made no mess at all.

in my area water meters are installed whenever a house has a change of owner
I'd never heard of that, maryeliza, so I've checked out the situation in this area. Apparently if you have a water meter installed here, you can opt to stop using it within a certain period after installation. Someone moving into a house with a meter installed, though, has no option but to use it. Interesting.

Just the two of you (like us) - a water meter will save you pounds.

Maggie yes that just shows the importance of checking your local supplier - what the legislation did was to enable not direct local water companies so basically they can choose - my area has chosen that on change of ownership, you have to have a meter installed. This is an interesting ttthread isn’t it?

PS We were told that if the meter bill was higher at the end of a year than before the meter then the meter could be un-installed free of charge but if we sold the house within the year the meter would have to stay.

I was thinking about a meter until I got chatting to a man who worked for water board at a party & he told me that they are encouraging everyone to get a meter by making the bills less & then the prices will rise a lot once the majority have switched.
I also fill 2 ponds in garden in summer & water garden & although we shower mainly I have the dishwasher & washing machine on daily. I think I'll stay with our current payments until we are forced to change- which will come sooner or later apparently.

We had no voice but to have a water meter but last year we were the victims of water theft ( yes really ) when we received a bill for £1800 for 6 months . Long story very short ( and boy did it take some working out and proving ) but a window cleaning company were using our garden tap to fill their vast water storage vessel on the back of their truck . It resulted in almost being taken to court by the water company .

Sorry for digressing but if you have a water meter and an outside tap PLEASE keep it locked or switched off when your not at home !

Having a meter makes you much more careful with water, as you actually pay for what you use and dispose of . My sister doesn’t have a meter and uses water like .... well like water ? ? ?

I'm with Anglian Water. They have a yearly charge of £525 plus an extra amount based on the rateable value of your property. There are two of us in our house and we pay half that for metered water.

Charleygirl have you changed your mind? I can’t help but think that,as you seem to be using water very sparingly you must be better off with a meter.
Surely your tank doesn’t need to be drained very often.
The vote on here seems to be unanimous, how often does that happen on gransnet?
We are on a meter and it’s much cheaper than it was. I agree with Gabriella it could mean that householders are more careful but I don’t think that is always the case. I have always been very aware of wasting water and it was still cheaper for us although I don’t believe my habits have changed.

If you don't have a meter, it is illegal to use an unattended hose or watering system. Our watering system probably costs us £20 extra a year, but we consider it worth it to keep plants alive when we are not home.

What’s unanimous, PamelaJ?

Sorry Maggiemaybe,
I got the impression that everyone was pro water meters.
I must have missed the posters who disagreed.
So there wasn’t an actual vote- just a figure of speech.

No problem, PamelaJ1, as you say there'll rarely be a consensus on Gransnet!

But as I said early in the thread, we're not having a water meter installed, because we wouldn't want a family moving in here after us to be lumbered with a much higher bill. Ours is low anyway because our house is on the lowest Council Tax band, so it would make precious little difference to the two of us now. But we brought up our three children here, and I'm very glad we didn't have a meter in those days!

With a meter we pay about £40.00 a month. Previously when we lived in a property without a meter the annual cost was about £1600. As the house was Victorian and we had no idea where the pipes ran we were too worried by the thought of leaks to sign up for a meter.
We are a household of 2 adults, showers not baths but lots of washing!

We had a letter from our water supplier recently, informing us that our reading was much higher than previously, and advising us to check for water leaks. We already knew we'd have a huge bill this time as we had a problem with the bathroom toilet continuously running. We tried to fix it ourselves, but had to resort to getting a plumber in. It needed new innards!
I thought it was good of the water company to let us know.