Moving into a house with a water meter

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Im moving from a 4 bed house (unmetered) to a 3 bed house (metered). Currently pay £55 a month for water. Only me living in the house, most of the time, and I work away from home 2 days a week.

Will I pay more or less for water in the new house? Again, me only (mostly) and 2 days working away.

You’ll pay less, most likely. We pay £56 pcm on a meter for me and DH (and DS in the holidays) and it more than covers the cost so we are building up an excess in the account

Less I think. Are you currently paying the Assessed Household charge (the unmetered rate applied when a water meter cannot be installed at a property)?

Or is that just a Thames Water thing?

AHC is a total rip off - I insisted a water meter was installed at the flat we stayed at while our home was being renovated. The AHC was extortionate for a 2 bed flat.

I would be very surprised if it is not a fair bit less,
metered means you are only paying for what you use compared to unmetered where you could be using tons but only really in some way possibly beneficial if there are loads of you using loads of water (also just me here!) I used to be in a rental unmetered and didn’t really think about it too much until moved to new place metered and the water bill was significantly less compared to before!

That’s good to know. I’ve never had a water meter before so a bit worried I’d pay a lot more!

A general rule of thumb is if you have more bedrooms than people, you should pay less on a water meter.

I’m with Northumbrian Water - I think it’s just a fixed amount they charge when there is no meter but it goes on the number of bedrooms rather than the number of people. I probably am paying too much at the moment!

That sounds very similar to Thames Water’s AHC! I think you will be better off metered. X

Almost certainly you will be better off (unless you have a leak or are massively wasteful).

If there's no meter then either the amount payable is charged as poundage based on the pre poll tax rateable value or the water co assess what they think you'd pay on a meter based on house type.

If you're single and living alone then, unless you have a garden watering system or a swimming pool you'll be better of with a meter.

Being charged for the actual volume consumed incentives you to save water. Things like showers rather than baths, only using the washer when it's full, boiling just the amount you need in the kettle and washing up once a day all help.

Some of the water companies, Anglian is one, will provide devices free of charge.to help save water. We had a shower timer and something to go in the loo tank to reduce its volume, they'll also fit diffusers to reduce flow when a tap is open.

If you take your own meter readings water meters also act as an "early warning" system for leaks. If your consumption goes up with no obvious changes to your usage in the house then it's likely to be a leak , even if it's not coming through to ground level.
It also makes you more inclined to do repairs like replacing tap washers and fixing leaking cisterns.
If you're on mains drainage then you may also see a reduction on the sewerage bill. Where water and sewerage services are provided by 2 different companies (like in Bristol and Bournemouth) the water company will tell the sewerage company the reading and the sewerage company will use that as a basis for billing (because you can't actually fit meter on a sewer!)

Have you tried using any water meter calculators?

My adult DS lives alone on a 2 bedroom house with a water metre. He showers every day and sometimes twice after sport. He cooks a lot so many dishes/runs dishwasher daily plus usual laundry and he pays about £30 per month.

I’m with Thames`water, living alone, and pay more with metered. But I use a lot of water.

I think less. I pay £44 / month, 2 bed, 2 people. Average usage I’d say. No dishwasher or outside tap, but amazing power shower which I bask under.

My water is £46 pcm - single person, daily shower, 3 to 4 washing loads pw, plus daily washing up (no dishwasher).

Water meters have been installed in pavements locally and they've been monitoring everyone's use before telling them they're switching over!

They estimate that we've used £57pm over ten months of monitoring - that's for two of us. We didn't know they were monitoring, and whilst we're not extravagant, I think we're both being a bit more careful. Both here most of the time.

If you’re paying for your water by annual billing, not on a meter, the amount you pay is based upon the old rateable value of the property. For the youngsters, rates ceased to be a thing in 1990!

They’ve set me off paying £40 a month. I suppose it’s less than what I was paying.

We pay £21 a month (soon to rise to £24) and there are three of us in the house.