compulsory water meters
 

Government orders water meters to be installed in millions more homes | the Daily Mail

More compulsory water meters!!!
I thought I might well pay less if I have to have a meter ---- but NO
I live alone, no dishwasher, 3 washing machine loads a week, one bath a day, wash up twice a day, dont leave the tap running whilst brushing and I find that Uswitch estimates that a water meter will cost me MORE !

Try the Uswitch and see
Find out how you can be more water efficient on uSwitch.com

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another RIP OFF looks like coming, £60-50 per yr worse off.:(

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A few years back a friend of mine got a County Court summons for non payment , so ended up having court costs added to the bill, so I don't know how she is getting away with it.

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Did you notice that at the end of that Mail article --- you will need planning permission for a patio or any paving over of your garden

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are ya sure ya friends daughter aint bulling? i know of someone who got away with it for only 2 yrs. then was done.:confused:

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thought i read somewhere a while back they were putting meters in all new house builds?

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I thought you already needed to have planning permission if it went over a sewer pipe or manhole in your garden. When i talked to one of the united utilities people who came out to check the drains etc a neighbour has built a conservatory over the sewer pipe and he said if we'd known about that then it wouldnt have been built - mind you its their own fault if anything happens with the pipe underneath - then they'd have to dig it up - and it wouldnt be united utilites fault all they'd do would level it out and if it had to be knocked down then they wouldnt be rebuilding it. It was their fault in the first place for building it over the sewer pipe they knew that was under there.

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I once worked for a woman who said 'if you go for a wee dont flush the toilet' because of how much it costs being on a water meter. I still flushed though because I think its dirty to leave any waste in the toilet, whether its liquid or solid. Attracts vermin and all sorts of nastiness in my opinion (was an outdoor loo)

Can understand why people wouldn't want to be on a water meter though, but if you live in a house that doesnt have one I dont see why you cant refuse to have one fitted?

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most water meters are just "flow meters" which work in either direction, all you need is a spanner to flip it around 180 degrees for 2/3rd's of any metering period , just make sure you use a similar thread sealant (tape or pipe dope) as the water company :D :D

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I wonder what they'd say if you sent them a bill? you never know if ya lucky they might just pay you! :rolleyes::D

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How much water do you use? Find out on uSwitch.com

this may be helpful, and toilet flushing costs the most:rolleyes:

If we did have to have meters put in, we certainly wouldnt take it for granted thats for sure.

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All new houses already have water meters fitted - I think water meters were installed in all new houses from about 1990 onwards, as all new build after the ontroduction of the 'Poll Tax' no longer had a rateable value, so water companies could not base their tariff on the Rateable Value of your home.

I moved into this house in Novemeber 1992 (when it was first built) and have always had a water meter. I currently get bills twice a year and in 2007 paid about £200 (that is for 2 people). I know that my next bill is due this month. Over the last 15 years I have had several bills that have been calculated wrongly, and have had to ring and query the bill and asking for a full breakdown of how they arrived at their charges.

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I am a single person in a band A 1 bedroom flat - pay £228
I was suprised that the Uswitch estimated that with a meter I would pay £40+ more.
My Hyndburn Homes landlord is due to upgrade my bathroom this year, so I am hoping to get a shower added, and a more efficient toilet (that doesn't need more than 1 flush at any time :rolleyes:)

I dont have a garden to water. The rules about 'paving over' are to prevent overloading of drains and flash floods, but I think that taking the 'planning permission' route is too beaurocratic - perhaps an increased sewerage levy would be less cumbersome to administer, and would make people think twice before paving.

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My house was built in 1995 and has no water meter, i dont want one either, whilst you have young children in the house (think its 16 and under) you pay no more than someone who doesnt have a meter, you have to ask your local water company for what reductions you are entitled to as i think if your on a low income your water rates can be reduced or have a set price instead of a pay as you use

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im only paying £17 amonth on my water that makes it £170 a year,(i pay over 10 months), so i cant see a meter being cheaper for me, so i dont want one either

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I'm like you Margaret, but I already have a shower. I have been toying with the idea of a water metre for a few years, I've heard pluses and minuses, so I may just toy wit the idea a little longer :D

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My bill is £330 per year, thats for a family of 5 living in a 3 bed house, its the set price for us and its not based on how much we use, my friend who lives down the road lives in a bigger house but its a 2 bed and there is only 3 of them and she pays £178 per year, for 2 extra kids im paying almost half more than her. im not sure how they work it out but thats what we have to pay

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I've just done that survey link thingy and ours would be more than twice as much! :eek:

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I have just done it too, i put in my postcode and it doesnt have my water company on there, it just has yorkshire :rolleyes:

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My old house had a compulsory water meter [new build 1997] it was surprisingly cheap worked out eventually at £150 max per year even less, always ended up with a rebate cos they over charged me per month. Now in no water meter house band b area & my bills are about £350 per year, but worked my usuage out on that link & the meter bill was estimated at £512 yet my usuage came to £217 which is less that the billed, yet says i dont need to bother with meter to make savings:confused:

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It looks as though the Uswitch site is not showing proper calculations of actual costs :confused:

I have looked on Money Saving Expert site and Uswitch site is the only comparison site he mentions as available for the calculation,

I have looked on United Utilities site for 'assessed bills' which you can have when meters are not practical (flats with shared main) and the charge shown for me would have me paying more!

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Just done the questionaire on uswitch - having a meter would save me £112 per year. Might just have one put in!!! Probably does help that living on my own, not washing up every day, just use the washer when i have a full load, the only problem is that it dont take my brews into account - probably double it if i counted all the brews!!!! :D

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I did enquire with UU last year about it & they said best to keep me on bill than meter for the time being as wouldnt make savings as such:confused:

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Anyone can save water from their toilet, they showed it on one of those tv programmes. You cut bottles in half and put then into the top of your toilet thing and when you flush it saves water that isn't necessarily needed for the flush.

Thrn again Margeret, if your needing to flush more than once for some reason then I guess this may not be a good idea for you!

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Surely no one was expecting it to be cheaper were they?

The cost per metered litre is bound to be more than the cost calculated for the lowest un-metered user. It’s called a back door increase.

In a one bedroom flat with only a shower instead of a bath and just me, my water usage is going to be about as minimal as you can get. Years on a warship where fresh water is strictly limited teaches the crew to be economical with fresh water. The desalination plant was only for the ship’s boilers back in the fifties and sixties so we took fresh water with us and once it was gone there was no more until we got back to port.

Yet I end up paying £234 with a meter as opposed to the $182 that I paid last year.

I wonder how many people did like I did the first time and put the usage related to their DAILY use and not WEEKLY use. Anyone who appears to pay less do it again and make sure that your figures are WEEKLY figures. I know it says ‘per week’ but it can be missed.

I don’t know how many customers United Utility has but based on my increase UU would get a minimum of an extra £52m pa for every one million customers if they were all on meters. I suspect that for the average family the increase would be over £100 pa and UU maybe has 5 million customers. That works out at an extra half a billion. That’s 25% for the fat cat bosses, 50% for the shareholders and 25% for the FREE meters.

You used to be able to buy heavy plastic ‘bags’ that you filled with water and placed in the cistern away from the moving parts. This in effect reduced the capacity of the cistern and thus less water was used per flush. Any plastic bag will do though or even a plastic bottle. In fact you can use anything that reduces the capacity of the cistern.

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I have a 3 bedroom house and a family of four.....

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just use a brick its easy enougth.

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gas , water and electricity should be put back into the govenments hands , these people are simply taking the pi**

if the govenment/council can compulsary purchase somones home at less than its real value im sure the same can be done with gas companies etc

i didnt realise my new home had a water meter until a few months after i moved in and im sure they will try to give me an estimated bill to which i will reply that i estimate i owe them sod all


those on meters can drop a house brick into the cistern tank and it will flush just as well using less water or adjust the float but if your not technicaly minded a brick is just as good , just dont go round telling people you dropped a brick in the loo it sounds wrong lol

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I don't think the u switch website is switched on very well with comparing water rates v water meters (great at other stuff though). I have had many elderly residents living alone converted to water meters and all but one have saved money...and the one that didn't was a keen gardener with lots of hanging baskets to water :rolleyes:

But for a family water meters are a real no no...it can almost become your biggest utility bill :eek:

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We are on a water meter and pay £30 a month for a family of four in a 3 bedroomed house.

I have heard that if there are more bedrooms in the house than there are people living there then a water meter will work out cheaper for them than having no meter.

My uncle lived alone in a 4 bedroomed house and requested a water meter to be fitted and it was a lot cheaper for him.

I don't find it cheaper for us though.

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oooh you need to keep quiet, they might have forgotten to put up your bill :D