LeMarchand Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I'm of the firm opinion that most companies want what's best for their balance sheet and not what's best for their customers, and so I'm very wary of the water meter idea. Especially when many water companies have capped off reservoirs so that they can use the land for housing. OTH, others claim they save money. Next door neighbour asked what I thought, and I'm going to point her at https://www.ccwater.org.uk/watermetercalculator/ but she's unlikely to use the internet (though she has a laptop that she uses to Skype family in the USA - I know because I set it up) and her son is unlikely to do it for her. So, what do people think? 2 bed bungalow with decent size garden in a "nice" area (known to the posties as "God's Waiting Room"). 2 occupants, obviously don't know their showering or loo habits, but she did say she washes clothes every other day or so.
gtg93 Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 Water meter would probably be cheaper. However last time I looked (early last year), if you switch to a water meter and it works out more expensive, the supplier must legally allow you to move back onto your old tariff. That rule applies for 2 years after making the switch. 1
Katy Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 Mum switched to a water meter when she was on her own, think it was about half the price of not being on one.. however I moved back in, followed by my sister and her boyfriend so she got it changed back quick. Think she might have had the meter switched back on now we've all moved back out again! 1
cburrows Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 (edited) 2 of us Myself and Fiancee, use water like normal and we asked for a meter when we realised the previous people had debt of £800 and saved a fortune, was paying £80 ish and that went to £46 straight away. now its the low £20's. south West Water are really good at giving us back what ever credit we amass, having said that they are not allowed to keep more than about £200 of clients credit. Edited July 2, 2018 by cburrows 2
Pyroman Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 We've had water meters in the last few houses we've rented. Loads cheaper than what they'd quoted as a standard rate. two of us in the house. 1
Achandler Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I think everyone should be on a meter nowadays, it's stupid that they are optional. You use the water, so you pay for it, seems fair but thats a different arguement. It depends on the size of house, for example, a none water mater terrace for me was £28 a month, moved to a bigger house with a water meter and we pay £35, but a big chunk of that is the fixed price to take the water away, as there is still some dependency on size of property. 1
LeMarchand Posted July 2, 2018 Author Posted July 2, 2018 I think everyone should be on a meter nowadays, it's stupid that they are optional. You use the water, so you pay for it, seems fair but thats a different arguement. It's not like it's free if you're not on a meter! I just don't trust private companies to do what's best for their customers.
Garacesh Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I think everyone should be on a meter nowadays, it's stupid that they are optional. You use the water, so you pay for it, seems fair but thats a different arguement. It depends on the size of house, for example, a none water mater terrace for me was £28 a month, moved to a bigger house with a water meter and we pay £35, but a big chunk of that is the fixed price to take the water away, as there is still some dependency on size of property. I've moved into a house with no water meter, I still have to pay, but what I pay is an approximation of what the average household uses.. So for 2 adults, no children I think that worked out at around £25 a month. A meter might be cheaper, might not be, but I'd rather not switch because companies are still pushing vulnerable 'smart' meters and I'm having none of that. Admittedly I don't know if that applies to the water sector, but this puts me off. United Utilities seem happy to charge me standard water rates and I'm happy to pay them, so everyone's golden. 1
Linfit Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 They are likely to save money if they have a meter. My water rates were around £800 a year and my water bill with a meter was £350 last year. Unless its a large family house with a family in it, or the rates are unusually low, you are more likely to save then not. Having the meter also encourages you to think about your water usage, and as well as being environmentally better, this helps reduce the bill even further. I know I am more careful now becuase I know that every litre is metered, even though I would have a big saving anyway. As already mentioned, there is a cooling off period anyway, so it it doesn't pay, it can be removed. 1
Achandler Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 If your not on a meter, you could turn your taps on all day and still pay the same. Everyone should in my opinion be charged for what you use, as that's the fairest way. Smart energy meters are a different kettle of fish and I don't and won't have one, I already have a meter. I don't need a little display running to tell me what i'm using.
MatthewL Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I'm on a meter as that is how it was when I moved in. I live on my own and pay about £30-40 a month via DD, I just use water as I normally would, I use the same amount of water each month (take a reading each month), suites me fine paying for what I use.
mikeprice Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I have a meter in my house - I think it was pretty new as the reading was very low and it was all shiny and new looking funny thing is that it seems to be able ot communicate back to the water company with its reading as they have never asked me for one and the bills are accurate are there smart water meters???
mikeprice Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I have a meter in my house - I think it was pretty new as the reading was very low and it was all shiny and new looking funny thing is that it seems to be able ot communicate back to the water company with its reading as they have never asked me for one and the bills are accurate are there smart water meters??? to answer my own question - the meter seems to send the readings over radio frequency to a passing car - no other smart stuff involved on the subject of insecure smart meters - as they aren't connected to my home network in any way- how much of a problem are they?
BOOT Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I'm on a meter as that is how it was when I moved in. I live on my own and pay about £30-40 a month via DD, I just use water as I normally would, I use the same amount of water each month (take a reading each month), suites me fine paying for what I use. £30-£40 a month seems very high. On my own with a meter, I'm only paying £8 a month.
Garacesh Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 If your not on a meter, you could turn your taps on all day and still pay the same. Everyone should in my opinion be charged for what you use, as that's the fairest way. Smart energy meters are a different kettle of fish and I don't and won't have one, I already have a meter. I don't need a little display running to tell me what i'm using. I'd happily have a 'dumb' meter fitted, but I doubt I'd ever be given that choice. Had a 'dumb' meter at the last place, was more than happy to submit meter readings and pay for what I'd used.
JordanT91 Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I'm on a meter as that is how it was when I moved in. I live on my own and pay about £30-40 a month via DD, I just use water as I normally would, I use the same amount of water each month (take a reading each month), suites me fine paying for what I use. That seems very high, unless you use an extreme amount of water. I pay £30/month for 2 people. You've either got a leak, are paying for someone else's water or you account will be in credit by quite a bit due to an unrealistic DD amount.
bossman Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 I have an allotment which doesn't have connected water and I currently have to carry over 100 litres of water every evening via 4 x 25 litre containers...we don't have a water meter and i'm thankful for that as our rateable water is only £120 per year....I fancy it would be quite a lot more expensive if we did.... Water like every other service is constantly rising in price per unit but they never seem to bring the price down... people would probably be less suspicious of smart meters if prices came down per unit...but I fear the more people that convert to smart metering to save money the more the companies will put up the unit cost as people use less.......utility companies still have to make a profit for their shareholders and this cannot be obtained if the customer is using less of the commodity....commonsense really...
Zoom7000 Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 If your not on a meter, you could turn your taps on all day and still pay the same. Everyone should in my opinion be charged for what you use, as that's the fairest way. This is my problem with the current system. When I moved in to my place in 2008, the landlord had just converted a single property in to 2 flats. I called Thames Water to let them know to charge me for a flat, not a house and to also charge the woman upstairs for water too. It was a flat rate property and they told me they have to put a meter in to recalculate. I asked about the lady upstairs and was told they tried to contact her, but she wasn't opening the door. So now, I have a meter and the new people living upstairs don't, because someone didn't bother to open the door! How is that fair? I have to watch what I use, whilst the people upstairs can use whatever they like and pay a lot less on flat rate than my family metered rate. I'm sorry, but it should be 1 rule for all, not some benefit for some and extra cost for others.
MatthewL Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 That seems very high, unless you use an extreme amount of water. I pay £30/month for 2 people. You've either got a leak, are paying for someone else's water or you account will be in credit by quite a bit due to an unrealistic DD amount. Defiantly no leak, I am in credit but I had 2 large bills a while back as I had a faulty plunger on a toilet and got left for a couple of days whilst I went away, it does need reviewing but not on the top of my list at the moment.
LeMarchand Posted July 2, 2018 Author Posted July 2, 2018 If your not on a meter, you could turn your taps on all day and still pay the same. Everyone should in my opinion be charged for what you use, as that's the fairest way. This is my problem with the current system. When I moved in to my place in 2008, the landlord had just converted a single property in to 2 flats. I called Thames Water to let them know to charge me for a flat, not a house and to also charge the woman upstairs for water too. It was a flat rate property and they told me they have to put a meter in to recalculate. I asked about the lady upstairs and was told they tried to contact her, but she wasn't opening the door. So now, I have a meter and the new people living upstairs don't, because someone didn't bother to open the door! How is that fair? I have to watch what I use, whilst the people upstairs can use whatever they like and pay a lot less on flat rate than my family metered rate. I'm sorry, but it should be 1 rule for all, not some benefit for some and extra cost for others. True but, apart from Del Boy when bottling his own water, I don't think people are that profligate with water usage. I just object to potentially paying extra for something that used to be part of an all you can eat buffet, particularly when water companies are selling off assets and failing to upkeep/improve their holdings. If the money was going to the public purse rather than stockholders and execs I'd be happier about it. Besides, water isn't the only unfair system: I seem to be the only person in the country who pays the advertised rate for my TV/phone/broadband. VM seem to place their only well-trained staff on the "I'm going to leave unless I get a deal" phones as I never seem to get a deal . Anyway, certainly sounds like a good deal for my neighbour, so I'll let her know. Thanks for all the advice, folks.
Katy Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 Besides, water isn't the only unfair system: I seem to be the only person in the country who pays the advertised rate for my TV/phone/broadband. VM seem to place their only well-trained staff on the "I'm going to leave unless I get a deal" phones as I never seem to get a deal . After the thread about VM prices earlier I checked and I'm actually paying *more* than the advertised price somehow... Might swap to a water meter myself, 2 of us with dishwasher and washing machine but don't really use that much water.
XiJ Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 We moved from a <£16 a month 2 bed terrace that was on water rages to a 4 bed new build so didn’t get a choice of water meter or not. That said I’m pleasantly surprised at the -£20 a month for 4 of us which includes 2 adults and 2 kids. We don’t really skimp on water and I even occasionally wash the car at home now. I even watered some of the garden yesterday. The cynic in me says once everyone is on a meter they’ll hike the price !
AXE Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 Been without water in Stroud for the last 4 days. Can't even flush a toilet, take a shower or even wash up a plate and fork.
bwestlake Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 Been without water in Stroud for the last 4 days. Can't even flush a toilet, take a shower or even wash up a plate and fork. Where about in Stroud? My Girlfriend lives by the police station and hasn’t had any issues?
SpuffMonkey Posted July 2, 2018 Posted July 2, 2018 (edited) Not a fan of water meters myself - I'd much sooner have an unlimited connection (like I do for bb). On a slightly connected subject - I've been reading some correspondance in New Scientist recent about energy smart meters - I hadn't realised that they were initially being pushed so that the companies could do "surge charging" at busy times. I note that isn't heavily publicised! I think I'll be staying on my old fashioned meter https://www.newscientist.com/letter/mg23831791-100-smart-meters-as-a-plan-for-peak-power-pricing/ https://www.newscientist.com/letter/mg23831822-700-smart-meters-as-a-plan-for-peak-power-pricing/ Edited July 2, 2018 by SpuffMonkey 1
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