The bloody water bill! Would you get a meter in this scenario??

[Bemyclementine]

I just don't understand why its so much! Just checked my banking and my water bill has gone up to just shy of £100 a month. 2 bed end terrace, 1 adult, 2 dc.

I do 4 or 5 loads of washing a week. No shower in the house, but the bath is used maybe 4 times a week max (we shower at swimming/gym) If i have a bath the kids get in after.

Slimline dishwasher used 4 or 5 times a week.

10 litres of water a day for animal purposes, less in winter as catch rainwater.

Very occasional paddling pool in summer

Does £100 a month sound a lot to you?

I don’t have a meter, 3 bed semi. I’m sure I pay 300 odd a year

@Bemyclementine you misunderstood how you are being billed. They don't give a stiff how much water you are or aren't using when you are a customer without a meter.

They set a cost per rateable value and that's it. You could use 1/10 as much, you could use 10x as much, and your water company won't know or care.

The amount that charge is allowed to go up by is complete different to the price increases for metered customers.

The assumption is that all customers who use average or less than average have chosen to swap to meters, so the only people remaining unmetered are probably heavy users of water and so are charged disproportionately more.

I listened to More Or Less about this on R4 18 months ago and went on a meter as a result. In the first year it has saved us £580.

No but you can use various calculators to give indication. I plopped my usage into my water company's calc. Do nut underestimate flushing😂

I would query it with the water company as well as get a meter fitted. We moved into a terrace house that needed a lot of work in it so rented for three months. House was empty, no water being used, but meter kept on going. Turned out there was a big leak…….

We moved to a meter and it saved £300 a year. I pay £27 .per month.

Water for us is our most expensive bill.

Welsh Water charges are ridiculous. I don't understand why we pay so much compared to other parts of the UK.

The gov always mentions energy costs but never water is also write to mp

We're a two person household, short showers, no garden to water. It's metered and £75/month.It used to be £30. It's gone up a lot over the last few years, like everything!

Also, there have been water leaks on my street almost continuously for the last 13 years of living here, so that's why it's so bloody expensive. The infrastructure is bollocks.

They DO know how much you're using as they've been installing meters for every property (in our area - Severn Trent - at least). It's just whether you opt to pay based on that actual amount used or otherwise the rateable value.

Sad to say, whilst meters may bring a saving in the short term, I think we will basically just have to get used to the fact that our water bills will be huge and there's not a great deal we can do about it.

Call me a conspiracist, but I reckon the utilities suppliers have a certain minimum amount that they determine to get in from the average household and they just adjust prices upwards accordingly. If you're on rateable, they increase that single value and the standing charge; if you have a meter, they increase the unit rate.

Just like with electrical appliances: we've been told for decades to go for more efficient choices, and the average modern appliance uses a tiny fraction of the power that its equivalent from 30 years ago did. They used to tell us how very much cheaper our electricity bills would be when we all switched to modern, super-efficient appliances. Nowadays, the only appliances you can buy are the super-efficient ones and the electricity bills are bigger than ever.

Do you mean the flushing of the toilet or of your face when you get the sky-high bill and wonder how on earth you'll pay it?

Toilet 😂

@Bemyclementine if you are on water rates then you can use zero litres or you can use 1 Million litres. It will still cost the same.

The Rateable Value charge is based on the pre 1989 Council rates system and hasn't been reevaluated since the Poll Tax came in during the Thatcher era.

Once the water companies were separated from the councils they no longer had access to rates information. That's why everything built or converted since 1989 is metered.

If your mother lives alone, a meter might be better. I live alone in a flat and applied for a meter(which I already knew was not suitable for a meter to be fitted but the meter engineer has to inspect to verify this). They could not fit one but, as I live alone, they gave me a single occupant reduced charge (Thames Water) from then on.

Our water charges have risen from £43 a month in 2021 to £86 a month now - so doubled in 5 years. We have got the water company calling this afternoon to see if we are able to have a meter. In the meantime our bill has been reduced to £57 a month based on a questionnaire we filled in. 2 adults, only a shower etc

this is not correct our house was built in 1995 and we dont have a meter. Someone is calling the afternoon to see if we can have one

Wow, I pay £60 on a meter, family of 3. Washer is never off. 2 showers a day each. Dishwasher on daily. I’d consider a meter. If it’s not cheaper you have a year to change back if I remember correctly

I live with my dog in a two bed house. Would almost certainly be better off with a meter. Have been booked in to have the work done for months but I've just found out after a hour or more on a chatbot that I can't have one because they'd have to dig in the neighbour's front drive and they won't allow it. I wouldn't mind so much if it was a nice drive but it's Tarmaced and fairly ugly. Might have been nice if the water company had told me too rather than just sending a bill. At least they don't live there - it's a rental.

I got my first water meter in 2001 when I moved into a private rental. In those days you were supposed to get permission from the LL. I never bothered and they did not check as it was all done online. I must have saved a good few hundred over the years as there is only me here. I do enjoy two showers a day because it helps my arthritis but being a single I dont have a lot of washing to do.

You can't use a million litres as, although they state that it's unlimited, they have policies of 'reasonable use'. Essentially, if you use way, way more than they estimate a household of your size 'should' need to use, they will register it as a leak or other problem and tell you that you must get it fixed by a certain deadline.

And if you somehow prove/insist that it isn't a leak and it's all genuine household use, they will likely tell you that it's 'too much' for paying on rateable value and that you must switch to a meter. Interestingly, if you pay rateable but barely use any water, they won't be rushing around to demand you use more to get your fair money's worth...!

I live alone on a meter its just gone up to £75 a month! What they are saying as my usage on the bill is ridiculous and nowhere near what i'm doing. I have had multiple plumbers out to find a leak and nothing has ever been found.And to be honest, the amount they say i'm using, the house would be underwater by now if there was a leak.

I have a meter. 6 adults in the house currently £110 a month. That’s with South West Water which is ridiculously expensive. Had an email suggesting it might go up again as well 😭😭

2 adults, a shower each day, 4 loads of washing and dishwasher 4/5 times a week. £103 a month with Southern Water.

I got it originally for being solo parent, low income. They definitely do do schemes for this. Its worth contacting them.