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House and home

Water meters

(90 Posts)
BAMM2015 Wed 28-Mar-18 10:14:08

A bit of a random /boring post, but can anyone give me any advice/ opinions about having a water meter installed please? I have never checked what we pay for water before but the 2018 letter came last week and we will be paying £51 a month. Now that it's just the two of us at home we are wondering if it might work out cheaper to get a meter. Rather than check the companies' websites I thought I'd ask real people for advice and opinions.

TwiceAsNice Sat 08-Sept-18 08:38:45

I live in a one bedroom flat, downsized when I moved areas. I shower every day, have a dishwasher, washing machine goes on 3-4 times a week and my bill is £7 a month. The meter was already installed as it was a brand new flat. Much cheaper than the 3 bedroom house I previously lived in

midgey Fri 07-Sept-18 14:28:24

It is worth knowing that if you have three children under sixteen or a disabled person with certain problems if you have a water meter water companies guarantee that your bill will not be above a certain sum. Definitely worth checking out.

Wheniwasyourage Fri 07-Sept-18 14:28:17

Reported both the dodgy-looking posts on this thread. Don't know why the one which gillybob reported this morning hasn't been removed yet! I couldn't add a comment to the report as it wouldn't appear when I tried to type it (IYSWIM).

Chewbacca Fri 07-Sept-18 10:43:23

I was considering changing to a water meter and went on the UU website to investigate. They had a section where you entered all the information about how many of you were in the property; how many showers or baths did you have a week; did you have a dish washer etc. At the end of the questions, it told you whether you would be better off staying as you were or switching to a water meter. I stayed as I was. Worth checking your own water utility websites for similar.

ddavros Fri 07-Sept-18 10:21:53

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

Fennel Tue 04-Sept-18 21:52:13

last line should be
Friends in France had a similar leak, but they have a meter.
Bill for 3000+euro.

Fennel Tue 04-Sept-18 21:50:18

Someone we know has just found out that he has a leak in his backyard. Goodness knows how much water wasted. But he doesn't have a meter so it won't cost him.
OTO - bill for 3000+euro!

overthehill Tue 04-Sept-18 20:40:35

My experience is different to most. There are just us two retired in the house. Thames Water fitted a meter outside and send us a comparision of what we would spend on the meter compared to the monthly we spend now.
It turns out no difference at all. In fact last comparision was a £1 more if we are on a meter.
DH does love to water the garden and we have a automatic watering system for the pots, but we go away in the caravan about 8 weeks a year, we have one shower each per day, I put the dishwasher on once a day and the washing machine once nearly every day.
Our average usage according to TW is 441 litres a month what a 4 person household would expect to use.?

gillybob Mon 03-Sept-18 10:18:13

Yuk Reported .

hartnell Mon 03-Sept-18 09:56:40

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

Izabella Mon 16-Apr-18 08:28:04

Well that's good to hear Maggiemaybe. If only they would spread the word to our lot!

Pittcity Sun 15-Apr-18 19:30:42

Our metered water payments went down this year, presumably because we used our hose less. This wouldn't happen without a meter.

Maggiemaybe Sun 15-Apr-18 19:14:43

Then the youngsters in your family are a different breed to those in mine, who have a lot more care for the environment than I remember having.

Izabella Sun 15-Apr-18 18:24:21

£12.98 pcm for us on a water meter. We do watch what we use but have showers, d/w, outside tap and hose and w. Machine so use quite a few gadgets.

.Sticking my head above the parapet here a tad so here goes. Why shouldn't a young family be metered and pay for what they use? The youngsters in our extended family waste so much water with ne'er a thought for the environment and it just annoys this grannie. Just sayin' .

hildajenniJ Sun 15-Apr-18 14:32:27

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.

sprite66 Sun 15-Apr-18 12:45:15

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!

Maggiemaybe Thu 05-Apr-18 15:46:08

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!

PamelaJ1 Thu 05-Apr-18 14:56:38

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.

Maggiemaybe Thu 05-Apr-18 09:26:33

What’s unanimous, PamelaJ? hmm

Wobblybits Thu 05-Apr-18 09:15:11

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.

PamelaJ1 Thu 05-Apr-18 08:21:30

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.

Cressida Wed 04-Apr-18 23:34:34

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.

gillybob Wed 04-Apr-18 11:44:31

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 ? ? ?

gillybob Wed 04-Apr-18 11:41:43

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 !

Craftycat Wed 04-Apr-18 11:35:14

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.