Anybody have a water meter??

[HH171222]

Hello peeps hope you're doing good. So I'm about a month away from moving into my new house which happens to have a water meter (Yorkshire Waters). It initially put me off but the house in in a very good location plus near my mums and hardly any houses go up for sale here so I'm lucky to have got it. I remember feeling better about the water meter after looking online and people saying it actually helped them save money but I want to know others experience because I'm feeling shitty about it again. It's me husband and a 6 month old baby. We do use a lot of water but not an insane amount either. I tend to shower every other day, husband showers everyday due to his job and baby twice a week and then other normal uses aswell. I won't be using a hosepipe. How much does it cost you and how many people are they living with you usage etc? I wish they did a fixed rate for a water meter too.

I'm with South West Water 😊

We moved into our current house four years ago and the water rates charge was very high - double our old house as it’s larger. It was going to be around £800 per year. So I got a meter fitted - the seal was that if desired I could, within a two year period, have it removed and go back to water rates.

we pay £50 a month - 3 adults who have daily ( or more) showers, dishwasher, daily laundry, garden watering etc

so it was worthwhile.

I do have to have a word with DH when he gets a bit carried away with leaving the hosepipe on for too long though

£31 a month, less than half previous fixed amount with 4 People. Wish we had got one sooner! I think you will be fine so long as you are not doing anything crazy with hosepipes and hot tubs.

@HH171222 don't worry you didn't come across as rude

We had a meter installed two months ago, can't quote on any savings yet

What I will say is that I wish we'd done it sooner. The figure we've been paying is for two adults to each have five baths a week and for each to also have two showers

DH hasn't ever had a bath in the twelve years we've lived here!

Anglian Water have a calculator which you can use to estimate your annual usage:

https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/help-and-advice/save-water/water-usage-calculator/

Yorkshire Water may have one too but I'm familiar with AW having spent time working for an outfit that was contracted to them. That should at least allow you to estimate your metered usage and bill. I'd be very surprised if you were worse off metered than based on Rateable Value.

New builds have been fitted with meters for well over 25 years and many others have been fitted at the occupier's request. AIUI the water companies can make meters compulsory and a few, in areas of extreme water stress, are doing so. Others, like Thames referenced above, will fit them over time.

The other loose end above about rateable value or estimated usage mixes up two things. If you're billed on RV and want a meter but it's not practical to fit one then you can be billed on estimated usage.

There are also Social Tariffs for people on low incomes and most companies also have another offer or offers for people needing to use large quantities due to health conditions.

We live in London. Three bedroomed house with two of us. Metered.We're paying five pounds a month at the moment!
We couldn't have a meter at our old house due to weird plumbing and it was a lot more expensive.

I wish I had a water meter but I live in a flat and they can't fit one.

I pay £35 a month for a single person, no dishwasher, bath 3x a week, 2 loads of washing a week.

I'm massively overpaying but can't do anything about it.

In northwest england water company United Utilities. Family of 3. Daily showers, lots of washing at least a load a day sometimes up to 3. Dishwasher and water the garden when needed. Hot tub last summer that holds 500 gallons. Only filled it once though. Annual bills about £550/year. Paid every 6 months.

Do you get a single person discount?

Two of us here....daily showers, twice in summer hosepipe, dishwasher on daily. £35 a month. Used to be £47.

I pay £22pm with United utilities (live alone)
My dad pays £12 but I shower/bath more and have long hair!

No such thing as a single person discount for water.

@Bromptotoo I have checked the yorkshire water calculator they have and have out slightly larger numbers in like 15 flushes a day and 14 showers a week etc and even then it's coming up to max 500 a year so i definitely think it's for the better and feel much happier about it.

I just did the South West Water calculator and it says I use about £27 a month for a family of 3.

Which is about right as we're always in credit 😊

They'll assess your estimated usage differently if they know you're single occupancy, rather than house type/size etc

Different area to you but a water meter has saved us loads. Our unmetered charge was about £80 a month and we pay £55 on a meter.

Family of 5, I'd say we're heavy water users. 3 dirty sporty boys that shower daily, a very mud loving dog, dh who loves gardening and has the hosepipe out every day from May to September and one bedwetter so far more than average machine use. Plus paddling pool i summer etc.

We had ours installed 13 years ago, at the time I remember our bill being £56 per month before it was fitted, we are now a family of 4 with showers/baths/cars/paddling pools etc and we now spend £45 per month, so in 13 years we still haven't reached the original non metered amount.

You get charged on how many people live in the household so if there is one person you pay less than a household with two people.

We had a water meter fitted about five years ago.

During that time we are 3/4 adults, large house and garden. DD and I shower daily, DH has a bath every morning. Washing machine and dishwasher at least daily. Ornamental pond. Water the lawns and flower beds throughout summer. Last summer a lot (we didn't have a ban).

DH says it's cheaper with the meter.

Yorkshire Water here too.
£34 a month.
It's me and my child. We do have a fair amount of baths. But pretty normal apart from that I would have thought.
I'm sure it'd be more if we weren't on a meter to be honest