Water Meters: do you have one? Did it make a difference?

[llizzie]

For the past three years I have been asking the water company to instal a meter for the water I use instead of a flat sum spread over the year in direct debit.

Last month I had my meter installed at last. I had received a water bill this year for £1,300. 5 years ago is was just £600 a year.

On Saturday I received a new monthly payment of £20 a month. I was told it would be less, but that is just stunning.

I hope it isn't a mistake.

I live alone. Mine is £16 per month on the metre.

2 of us here...pay £36 a month. Gone down from £46. Daily showers, dishwasher, washer on 4-5 times a week. watering garden at the moment. No baths.

2 of us here. Our payments are £22 a month on a meter direct debit used to be £50pm.

Ours Is £700 to £1000 a year depending how much children are at home (Uni). Still cheaper than the rateable annual cost if we didn’t have a meter. Twice daily morning and before bed quick showers, DH bath twice a month (as-well as daily showers), laundry and dishwasher everyday.

My parents always fought against a water meter because of anxiety. They changed when their rateable annual cost rose above £1000 a year. Their metered bill is under £300 a year now.

Mine was less there were 6 of us

Ours doubled (4 people, small house). But we figured we had been getting it cheap for the previous 20 years. It’s 40-46 a month again depending on DCs being at uni or not. Used to be £24 on rateable value.

If your water company hasn't already done it, most water companies prices have gone up 25-100% per unit this year- so your new £20 bill may soon increase.

Ours is still less than the rate amount we were initially charged when we moved in 20 years ago. Monthly payments have gone up recently though. Do the unmetered rates ever change?

2 of us (and dog), ours is £57 per month.

Placemarking to remind myself to switch to a meter!

Two of us and it is currently £25 a month.

The downside is that it is a smart meter and we keep getting “You have a leak” letters which are followed up a week or so later by “Thanks for fixing your leak letters”

We haven’t done anything.

Ours did go down but now it is extortionate. I don't think that's due to being on a meter though, more because of past dividends and no investment in the infrastructure so now we have to pay the difference 🙄

Ours dropped by £90 a month when we went on a water meter earlier this year.

I'd love a water meter, but my water company refuse to supply one, I live in a terraced house and 8 of us share the same connection to the mains.

I live alone and have a meter. My bill is £22 a month and I’m in credit by £46. Two years ago I didn’t have a meter and paid £48 a month.

It would obviously make a difference if you were a family of 8 though, all showering and washing clothes etc…there are tools online that you can use to calculate whether you’d be better off or not.

Thank you for responding to my thread. It is so useful to me to know, as it was quite a shock when the first bill came in. Now it is much better, but it still seems high compared with others.

Do you have a meter. They were asking me to pay £159 a month. Since the meter the direct debit is £20 a month. I live alone too.

I also have a band reduction from the local authority for disability, as well as the single occupancy discount, but I think they are still calculating on the old band. I suppose it is because all the other homes are a higher band.

My energy bill is very high, but I suppose that is put down to equipment, and I am not sure how much the CCTV uses.

Yes - our bill went down from £97 to £9 per month. That was in 2018 and it's steadily increased to £27 per month, but we've saved thousands.

I am sorry about that. My house is detached, but it shouldn't make that much difference.

They have had so much money from me in these past 5 years that it is very difficult for me to find the money. I threatened them with a lot of sites and authorities that help disabled people and this year they agreed to install one. I still have the copies of the online chat and the contacts I made.

Perhaps they are getting too much money from your terrace of 8? Perhaps if you all agreed to a meter and you campaigned to anyone who can help - even MPs and local authorities, they should do something?

They told me they would do a survey to see if I could have a meter, and they kept changing the date. We shouldn't have to go through so many hoops.

It could be that the water company doesn't want to lose their income?

Thank you for your post. Mine have gone up year on year. I have some going back a few years. Before covid it was just a little over £600 a year. Even last year's was a bit less than the bill they presented me with this year - £1,339. The payments were only a few £s less than the Council Tax, though I do have a Band reduction and the single occupancy reductions.

That made me even more determined to fight for it. I had saved the site chats from 2023/24 and they really had to do something about it.

I think they resist because it means they don't have so much income. My energy bill is currently £300 a month!

Hi I’m in a similiar place with terrace & water feeding 6 homes. I’ve just had a meter installed under the sink would that be possible for you?

I hope not. They were taking over £150 a month this year. The bill was about £1,330. The only things I can cut down on is food and carers. I can't do without either.

I live alone. I don't drink the tap water. It is concentrated with the chemicals if you live alone and you have to run so much off to get rid of the smell and taste, so I have bottled water.

I suppose being disabled I may be using more, but they know how much you use whether you have a meter or not.

Does your water company estimate water by the council tax band?. Mine does.

How long did it take them to get a water meter?

We pay about £90 a month rateable value, three adults and a large garden. Dd is about to move out so I think a meter should be cheaper but dh is worried because of forever watering the veg plot. 🤷‍♀️

We have a meter, no choice. We’re above average users so our bill is huge.