Water Meters- Should We All Have One?

there are lakes filling could with evaporated water

I've got no idea what happened there, but the point was that there are lakes which fill with rainwater that then evaporates and falls again as more rain.

We do not have a water meter (Band G) we do have a 3,500 water harvesting tank sunk in the garden which we use for all garden watering and can be switched to flush all of our toilets also. Haven’t considered a water meter as it wouldn’t alter our usage.

Our lawn is watered as are our flower beds, baskets and pots, if any neighbours snitch they will look rather silly when we prove our water source.

Talking of flushing toilets, does anyone else go with the if it’s yellow let it mellow philosophy? We do, but have to remember now to flush if we have visitors, who might well be grossed out if they need the loo.

A couple of excellent posts Doddledog, thank you!

I agree with you about families struggling, Doodledog. I remember my mother going round to see a family she helped out. The six children were having their hair washed one by one in a bowl of cold water on the floor. My mother cried when she got home. And yes, they were the smelly kids at school.

I hate to think that people will be reduced to that in the 2020s.

I do not want a meter even though it would save us money. I used a lot more water when bringing up my family, when I didn't have any spare money. Now it is time for me to pay it back, so that today's children have the same opportunities to be clean and healthy.

I attempted to have a water meter installed. Potential costs and awful bureaucracy rendered this too difficult. I do believe I use far less water than assessors charge me for in with my council tax

I have a water meter, there is just me, apart from grandchildren once a week. I reuse as much water as i can, have a shower at my sisters(she is not on a water meter). i pay more for charges than i do for water usage.

Maggiemaybe

Talking of flushing toilets, does anyone else go with the if it’s yellow let it mellow philosophy? We do, but have to remember now to flush if we have visitors, who might well be grossed out if they need the loo.

Yes, we do Maggiemaybe. Fortunately we have an ensuite, so visitors don't see it!

It's remembering to flush if you go for a pee in someone else's house that can be a problem.

Well, lots of interesting comments here.

I'm happy with what I pay for my water, although I wish the water companies would take more care of it and not waste as much. I can't see me ever wanting to install a meter. And although on thinking back there will be times in the past where I have wasted water, eg half filling the washing machine, leaving the tap running when brushing my teeth, etc, I can honestly say that over the last few years I haven't been aware of wasting water.

CalendarGirl you seem extremely anxious about me hosing down my door mat while at the same time using the run off water to water my plants. The overall water I used would be about the same if I had only watered the plants. And I'm paying for it. I don't have a large household using larger volumes of water and so my overall water use will be less than most other households around me, but I'm happy to be paying the same as they do, and I'm also happy to make my choice as to how I use my water. Same as you choose to use water presumably from your tap to water your tomatoes and probably other plants as well.

"We are on a meter, we have just been watering said tomatoes from a watering can, sadly not from our numerous water butts as they are totally dry, but we are mindful of the water usage as we are paying for all we use. If we weren’t on a meter, well, we could just wander round with a hose, watering willy nilly."

If I pay for what I am using, or even overpay, I can choose how I use it, and I'm happy that I am not in any way contributing to any water deficit anywhere. But thanks for your concern.

Those of us without meters do not all wander about with a hose, watering willy nilly, because we are aware that is not socially responsible to do so at the moment.
Money is not automatically the driving factor for all of us in all circumstances.

Baggytrazzaz
Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean that it’s always going to be there for you to buy.

If we are going to ration water because it is scarce in some places, should we ration the number of holidays people have (or flights taken, or miles travelled) because fuel is also scarce? Or food?

Or should there be a limit to how many square metres of house any of us can occupy because of the housing shortage? We could restrict it to a bedroom per person, or work out a formula that takes account of garden space and indoor space and take it from there.

There's not enough money to go round, so should we ration that, too?

MerylStreep

Baggytrazzaz
Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean that it’s always going to be there for you to buy.

That’s not true in the UK MerylStreep. There isn’t a water shortage, there’s just no strategic planning to use what we have more effectively.

MerylStreep

Baggytrazzaz
Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean that it’s always going to be there for you to buy.

I am 100% certain that there will be sufficient water in my area to cover all of the needs of its residents and plenty more for at least the rest of my lifetime and longer.

As I've said, I am using less water overall than most of the other households in my street, we all pay the same, I am happy with what I am paying and I don't use any more than I need.

If it isn't available for us to buy either as a charge or via a meter, then we all have a problem.

I downsized and have a water meter here. I used to have a septic tank so our bill was lower.

We are so lucky to have water 'on tap' in the house aren't we. I went to the Beamish Museum, which has a row of miner's houses, and there wasn't anything in the kitchen to represent a 'sink'. I suppose someone went to the well or the hand pump and bought the water back in a bucket. Imagine doing that on a freezing night for your tin bath!

We were always told that if there are fewer residents than bedrooms, a water meter is a no brainer and to be truthful DH and I didn’t alter our habits when we got one. Living on my own now, my monthly charge has just gone down to £18. My neighbour who is also single doesn’t have a meter and her payment is twice mine.
Installation of the meter itself (Northumbrian Water) was free and we had 12 months to use it, before deciding to keep it or not.

I think I said this on another thread, if so sorry for the repetition.

All the houses around me have water meters. It certainly doesn't make many people think twice about using it round here - the mind set seems to be 'I pay for it so why shouldn't I use it' with little thought for the environment of anyone else.

We all have meters around here (London) as we're in a 'seriously water stressed' area - along with much of the South. We can choose a metered or unmetered bill, for now, but I'm sure that choice will soon be gone. I do think it makes sense to pay for what we use, if the charges are reasonable.

We have a meter, similar to others it was offered free and we could back out after a trial.
Just two of us, but I do have a bath rather than a shower sometimes and water the garden, in particular the veg patch and greenhouse.
We’re in S Hampshire.

When I was young we got 4 hours of water every 4 days. We were a family of six and lived in a hot country.
We didn’t smell, at least if we did then it wasn’t noticed because everyone else was as smelly as us.

Sorry forgot to say that yes we should have meters. However, if you are very rich, live in a big house and are a bit selfish ( in present dry conditions) then I think you don’t care one way or another and will keep filling the jacuzzi.

I could never understand how everyone was supposed to save money when getting a water meter. Either this meant the water companies were charging too much in the first place or that they would lose income by installing water meters so their takings wouldn't cover their outgoings in the end.

Kept away from a meter as long as I could on the grounds I could afford to pay a little bit more if it meant someone with a family could pay a little but less.

Now I'm in a new house I have to have one of course

We had no say and were told they would be fitting a meter. The work was done last week while we were away fir a few days.