Water meter megathread

[jgharston]

We rent houses out and would not like it if a tenant just went ahead and had a meter installed as unlike token meters a water meter becomes permanant after 12 mths.

Why?, it's /their/ money that's paying the water bill, not yours.

will they cut you off when you can't pay due to losing your job

They can cut you off with non-metered water as well, if you're not in a protected group, and if you're on benefits, you *are* in a protected group.

[Murphy Jnr]

We are currently paying £40 a month and when we queried this were told it was because we had two bathrooms.

 

We'd love to get a water meter but are renting so we are unsure if we'd need the landlord's permission beforehand.

 

How does that figure then. Do they bill you for what they think you might use?

[taxman]

How does that figure then. Do they bill you for what they think you might use?

 

Yes, their estimate bears no relation to actual use as far as we can see.

[Rupert_Baehr]

Do you need your landlord's permission to decide who to buy gas or electricity from? Non-shared utilities consumption is occupier's responsibility, not owner's responsibility.

Yorkshire Water's application page is here: http://www.yorkshirewater.com/your-water-services/water-meters/applying-for-a-water-meter.aspx

 

Changing gas or electricity suppliers does not involve any structural alteration. Inserting a water meter into a line is an alteration and you might need the landlord's permission.

 

The decision to fit a water meter is not (quite) as simple as it should be.

 

If you live in a house with a high rateable value and you are a small family, then pay-as-you-go (metred) water may be cheaper.

 

If you live in a house which hasn't been re-assessed recently and your family is large, then 'fixed charge' may be cheaper.

 

'Paying for what you use' doesn't seem to be unreasonable.

 

Should the water companies decide that a significant number of customers on 'fixed rate' charges were using too much, then presumably they would 'offer' those customers a water meter or a higher fixed charge. If they haven't done that, does it not suggest to you that they are making more money out of families paying fixed charges than they are out of metered supplies?

 

If water meters allow the water companies to make more money from their customers, why do they not require everybody to have one?

[mj.scuba]

We used to pay £48 per month unmetered. After having a meter fitted we now pay £14 per month, for a two adults two kids family.

[Stranza]

We had a meter installed 16 years ago and it's been great, so good we got my Dad's changed to a meter too. When he was paying rates he spent around £45 per month now he pays £15. For the first year he asked his direct debit to be set at his old rate price of £45 (he was worried he would get into arrears and didn't believe he would save) so after the first year he was in lots of credit which he left on his account so for almost three years he paid £2 per month (the minimum direct debit ) which made him even happier!

For large families who can't control their usage it's not worth it but for smaller families they are ideal.

Another benefit of a meter is you can actually budget and take control of your usage, it's a great incentive to use less water. I know alot of people couldn't care less about wasting water but it does feel more wasteful if YOUR paying for every drop, like when you run the tap while brushing your teeth just to watch the water go down the hole

If money is tight or your family income drops it can be a huge benefit being able to use less water and lower your bills like we can for the other utilities. Just changing how many wash loads you do (most people under load their machine and run it every day when it could be used as little as twice a week I had a machine repair man demonstrate to me exactly how much 6kg of clothes is after another repair) and other things you don't really notice can lower your bills nicely. Just like turning off lights and not leaving stuff on standby really but their will always be people who like to pay huge bills to save them the trouble of turning off and then like to complain about it

[Riche]

Yes so long as you do not wash your chav chariot every day.

[MrSmith]

I am thinking of having a water meter installed as I have been told that it would work out cheaper than the £52 : 00 per month which we are presently paying for our water rates. There is only two of us living at home so our water consumtion shouldn't be too great. Has anyone any experience of this move and if so, is it a cheaper way of obtaining water?

Looking forward to any comments or advice

Stonks

 

Our bill is lower on a meter but only because we recycle household waste water and catch and use all the rain water that falls on our property.

[Strix]

If water meters allow the water companies to make more money from their customers, why do they not require everybody to have one?

Because Anglian Water were installing compulsory meters 15 years ago until that got stomped on by the powers that be - and quite rightly so

 

I don't like the concept of metering, especially for those who need to count the pennies, such as large families

 

People can't be trusted to be conservative with their water use if it's not metered

 

People paying per unit aren't inclined to conserve water during droughts as they're buying it fair and square

 

The solution is water metered at one rate up to a maximum volume, then a highter rate for excessive use (which would take account of people watering 3 acre gardens etc)

[Sid Umpley]

everything else in a household is metered Gas, electricity etc so people are quite used to how that all works.

 

our water bill is now £16 per month instead of £40 since we had the metre installed. and we dont watch our usage at all.