09 Mar 2015

A question about : Should I get a Meter

Hi

I say yes, hubby says no.

We live in the Wessex Water area. Four bedroom house and there are four of us.

Unmetered we currently pay Ј949.70 per annum.

We do water our baskets and containers in summer with watering cans and we do clean the car once a week with a hose. Never use a sprinkler.

I can't find anyone who pays as much as us, surely we would be better off?

What does anyone think.

Foreversummer

Best answers:

  • The best part of Ј1000 a year for water does sound like a lot. Have you got a high rateable value.
    The average for a 4 person household is about 220 cu.m a year
    Wessex Water website charges (from their website)
    Water 220cu.m @ Ј2.2446 = Ј493.81 plus standing charge of Ј24 p/a = Ј517.81
    Sewerage = 220 cu.m @ Ј1.8574 plus Ј54 s/c = Ј462.62
    Giving a total of Ј980.43 which is a little more expensive however with a meter you do have the opportunity to reduce your costs by reducing your consumption.
    Reading the meter and monitoring what you use can help you reduce your usage as can saving water by have shorter or fewer showers/baths. Fitting flow reducers to taps & the shower will save even more (often free from the water company).
    Not letting water run down the sink when washing, rinsing or cleaning your teeth.
    Only using the washing machine & dishwasher with full loads.
    Only filling kettles & saucepans with as much water as you need.
    Not only will these save water but they'll save energy as well
  • Since you can revert to RV billing within the first 12m of installation anyway, it's a no-brainer to fit a meter and see. If it doesn't save you money, switch back.
    Your annual bill does seem very high-what is the RV (from the bill)?
  • Check water consumption here
    https://www.ccwater.org.uk/watermetercalculator/
  • Thank you all for your comments and I apologise for the delay in replying.
    From my water bill it says the Rateable Value is Ј274. I've no idea how to compare it with others. Does that seem very high for a 4 bedroom house in a small village?
    I know Wessex Water is one of the most expensive in the country.
    Foreversummer
  • It really doesn't matter, that's the RV that was fixed many years ago and you can't change it.
    Have a look at the Wessex Water website and fight your way around it to find out about metering. In the FAQs they confirm that you can revert to RV billing if you find a meter doesn't save you money within the first 12 months so really you've got nothing to lose by trying it and quite a lot to gain if you try to be a bit economical.
    Have a look https://www.wessexwater.co.uk/do-it-o...t.aspx?id=1402
    I'm with Anglian Water and just our RV standing charges are Ј508 without even adding the house RV which is another Ј100. Being on a meter we pay Ј325 for 65cu.m saving us over Ј275 a year.
  • I've moved into a new place and just got my first bill. Living alone, don't wash the car, never watered the garden. Readings taken by them when I moved in and just over 5 months later, show 10 cubic metres used = Ј24 (under Ј5/month). I am at home all day and use a bath, not a shower. Don't use the washing machine, no dishwasher (do it by hand).
    Half my bill is standing charge (Ј12). 123p per cubic meter the bill says (I received it this morning, so it's just here).
  • Like a previous poster said, you have a year to change your mind so no harm in getting one fitted to see. I doubt very much you'd be worse off unless you're incredibly wasteful to the point you should be ashamed of your wasteful ways being on MSE! ;-) I used to get bill of Ј11 by myself (for my combined water and sewage), and now my husband lives with me it's about Ј22 which makes sense, unlike other bills water useage does rise and multiply by the number of people fairly eaqually. We have a 50:50 mix of bath and showers, don't water the garden much except a few cans full for the pots in summer, wash the car every now and again and tend to leave the odd yellow to mellow in the loo to save a few flushes. So we're not wasteful but we don't fret over every drop either. You'd easily pay half what you currently do without having to change your useage habits much at all. Free money! Do it now.
  • Do remember once you've switched to a meter, you can't switch back - even if it costs you more.
    I assumed the rule of thumb was if there are less people than bedrooms, you're better off on the meter.
    In a 3 bed semi, living alone, I also got bills of between Ј11-Ј19 a month like emmylou30.
    Ultimately only you know your habits.
  • One slight caveat - you might have to 'get heavy' with your water company.
    Southern Water switched me to metering 'in error'. When I put my foot down, I was told I could get the change rescinded within a year if the bills were higher, which they were. I had to threaten them with the regulator to get it changed
    There is a good reason why so many of our water companies are now owned by foreign investors.
  • Presumably that information about an error had not been input to the 'all knowing computer' and it 'thought' that it was a mandatory change.
    You are absolutely correct about water companies being attractive to foreign investors. For all the power of the Regulator - and it does have teeth - companies are in a win/win situation; they get their revenue and profit regardless. Look at the share price of Severn Trent - doubled over the last 5 years and it is a racing certainty that there will be another offer from a foreign firm soon.
    If since 1990 they had enforced the provision of the Water Act that allows them to fit meters on change of occupant, there would be far fewer unmetered properties and a fairer system of charging i.e. pay for what you use!
  • Whoa! You are attacking - with justification - the structure of the current water industry.
    I am not in any way defending the privatisation of the water industry. Maggie pulled off a master stroke by selling off an industry with a largely ill maintained Victorian infrastructure and the customers are picking up the bill for sorting it out - and will do for decades to come.
    To have some areas of the country e.g. The South West paying over 3 times the price for water than other areas is indefensible.(no personal interest - I live in one of the cheaper areas for water!)
    My point earlier was to dispute your contention that metering was a way of increasing profits for the water companies - and it isn't. In fact the water companies have been guilty in not complying with the aim of the Water Act; which was to increase the number of metered properties.
    On the wider issue of fairness. It is a nonsense that some unmetered properties are paying far less than average on the basis of their Rateable Value.(RV) The RV on most properties in England and Wales was assessed as long ago as 1973 on the basis of a notional rent the property could command. I gave an example in the last paragraph of post#11. Surely there is no justification for not paying for what water we consume.
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