Water bill

[silversun]

I know in the south west our water bills are higher than most but we just got our bill for the coming year, just under £1600.
Bog standard 3 bed semi, 4 people, average use, not on a meter.
Just wondered what others in a similar situation are paying and would it be cheaper on a meter?

😮😮 That's shocking! Yes, a meter would be cheaper. If they can't fit a meter then they will offer a discounted tariff. If you receive any form of benefits you can also access a cheaper tariff (on top of the first one). I'm in the South West amd thought it was a joke when I moved here and received my first bill.

You need a water meter, and then sensible usage. I always baulked at the idea of a water meter (yup, same with the fuel sm) I had a tiny 3 bed cottage,(MN would call it 2beds and a box) just the 2 of us,I can't remember how much we paid now, but we moved 2 bed detached bungalow,gks, often stay,we now pay £34 per month, supply and waste. SE UK. fairly expensive area.

That's absolutely ridiculous!

We're in the Midlands and got ours yesterday, 4 bed house, 4 people (2 adults, 2 children) higher than average usage I'd say, 3 x daily showers, we run the washing machine daily and Severn Trent have increased every customers monthly bill by roughly £11 to fund "improvements" over the next few years.

Our annual bill is around £370

Forgot to add, we're not on a water meter

I'm with Yorkshire water who have recently been fined £40 m for their contaminated water. My bill has gone up £150. I pay by direct debit. They aren't getting the last 2 payments. I refuse to pay for their incompetence and lack of investment into improving their services! Talk about passing the debt to the customer.

What was your previous bill? Bills were due to rise 27% on average in Wales but I know that those not on a meter are paying more.......and it has to be said rightly so if they are able to have a meter and choose not to

My huge gripe about large percentage increase is that large infrastructure project cost should be forseen and bills adjusted by smaller margins over a longer period to soften the blow

We are seeing this this trend across the board far too often in recent years where the consumer is getting hammered by top level incompetence

That's outrageous! You surely would be better with a meter.

Ours (Severn Trent) has increased by £96 a year. We will be paying £548 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026. 3 bed semi. 1 bathroom. 2 adults.

I'm with Yorkshire Water too and houses close by regularly flood with sewage as the infrastructure has collapsed so rather than pumping away it backs up. I would say we have fairly high usage and pay around £55.00 per month on a meter.

I pay £1000/ year for a 1 bed flat, 1 adult, no kid. Its ludicrous. I live in a converted house and was told I can't have a meter.

It’s gone up by £40 per month from last year, always assumed it was average for this part of the world (Devon)

yorkshire water here too, gone up just over 200 to nearly 850 a year now

Its an absolute scandal in the SW in my opinion and I am furious that they are allowed to put up our bills to cover their investment. They should use their profits for investment over many years and then pay shareholders any profit after necessary expenditure. How can the government and Ofwat say that they need to increase bills if we want them to do the stuff they should have been doing anyway?! How about we fine them heavily for not meeting their contractual obligations and then take the water companies back, for free? I can't believe there is no comeback for them and they're allowed to keep paying out dividends while giving us NOTHING.

Ours is about 75 per month on a meter btw, 3 bed semi, 5 person household but I've been told average usage.

I received my new water bill a few weeks ago and was really stressing, I put off looking at it. Oddly, I'm actually £121 in credit and my direct debit has not changed. I'm shocked to be honest, we live in a 4 bed detached house. 2 adults and 2 children. 3 adults have a daily bath, kids also bath several times a week. We are on a metre and I was dreading our bill!

I'm severn Trent as well, three/four bed and 1 bath - 3 adults and 1 child has gone up from £577 last year to £712 this year. Yours OP is outrageous, I was shocked at my water bill

We are not on a meter - we are 3 adults and one teen in a very small house, and every calculator indicates that a meter would increase our bills. Ours has gone from £480 per annum to a little over £600 this year.

I should have added that we pay £58.50 a month, so yours is very high in comparison!

I'm dreading my water bill. We are Thames water and what I think of them is unprintable. It's outrageous that bills are going up to facilitate "improvements" after they have paid so much to shareholders and been responsible for so much waste going into streams and rivers. We rent so no water meter. I'm waiting for the bill so I can have the satisfaction of ringing them up and giving them a piece of my mind.

I think water meters are only cheaper if you’re a single person, my bills were higher when I went on a meter as we’re a family with teens. I was forced into having the meter I wouldn’t have opted for it.

We are on a meter (have been for ages) and our water usage has decreased over the last 2 years but this year our bill has increased by 70%. Wrote to our MP who has contacted the water company for an explanation!

I’m on a meter, with 47% increase coming ours will be £1700.

In SE btw

we're with Severn Trent, 2025's bill has jumped ~28% to £575 for Apr25->Mar26

OMG - East Mids here but Severn Trent - 3 bed bungalow - one adult and two teens - £17.98 a month. On a water meter. It's literally my only bill that went down when ex moved out last year. Before that is was 24.26 My gas an electric however are £200 a month and barely on.

Thames water for us. We have a meter. At the moment we’re paying £95 a month. That’s for 4 adults in a large 5 bed house. I dread to think how much it’s going to go up by when the price increases kick in.

It's not as simple as that, the rule of thumb is that meters are likely to be cheaper if you have more bedrooms than people so it can be any number of people.

Barring physical problems with fitting a meter I'm surprised that more people don't try given that you can change back if its more expensive

Really confused by the amounts I'm seeing here. 3 bed masionette with 3 people and our bill for the entire year was like £160?