house has water meter - can you go back to not having it?

[CristinaTheAstonishing]

The house we want to buy has a water meter, which for a family of 5 plus another adult on a frequent basis is probably a bad idea.

Can we change it back to not metered?

that would probably depend what area you are in.
where i am they are putting meters into all houses, you have no choice.

i would ring the water board and ask

I don't think you can, otherwise all large families would want to revert back. I think the idea is you pay for what you use. There are lots of ways to reduce your water consumption though.

i moved into a house without a water meter about 6 years ago, when i notified the water co that i was moving in they said they automatically install them when there is a change of owner as they couldn't legally do it if someone was on an existing non-meter supply. things may have changed, but i would imagine the trend would be to install them and thereby charge more rather than to take them away.

I don't think you can, Cristina, as the intention is for the entire country to be metered eventually.

but no harm in asking!

btw, we are a family of 5 and I don't think we pay much more than we used to tbh

I believe not, we've got this. Hopefully yours is somewhere convenient, ours isn't and it's not easy to move.

Oh, bother! Thanks. I can't say I wish we'd asked before putting in the offer as I don't know if it would have changed our minds but it's something I thought we'd never sign up to.

I'll ring up to ask tomorrow but it looks like I need to be on water economising threads for a while (are there any?). Bit of a blow...

The family we're buying from have 2 young children, I can't imagine they've had it installed willingly (they moved in 2.5 years ago).

Ponders - is that true? Is that the water companies' aims (for profit) or is it more eco-driven?

Officially it's about conservation rather than profit, Cristina

Will join you on the water economy threads! So far we've got hippos in the loos, showers not baths (and a non power shower at that) water butts and watering cans not hosepipes.

if you google it there are a lot of queries about it & explanations about various different situations.

eg in some new developments all the meters are in the middle of the road, underneath a huge manhole cover, instead of outside each house

within 12 months of one being installed you have the option to revert to RV payments, but not after that, & not if you move into a house with one already installed (& also they're supposed to be fitted whenever a house changes hands)

Gosh, it will be like visiting my sister in Cyprus!

Actually now I remember - we visited another house on a street nearby and there was still a poo in the downstairs loo. So the whole area is probably on a meter and we need to learn to rush round the house flushing toilets when the front bell rings.

We are on a water meter in Cornwall (which is supposed to have high charges) and there are 6 of us (2 adults & 4 children 7, 4, 4 & 2) and we pay £31.00 a month. There is a fixed amount for a family with 3 school aged children and I think it is £45 a month but we currently don't use that much YET. When we do, £45 will be the most we pay. It is in small print on the back of the water 'bill'.

\link{http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352046/Coming-soon-Compulsory-water-meters----And-youll-pay-200-installation-price.html\meters compulsory from 2020}

& we'll have to pay for them. oh goody.

our current water rates are based on ancient RV & are £320pa - no idea how much more or less that would be if metered.

oooggs, ours is £32 a month but only for 10 months (we get a holiday in Feb/Mar) - is yours the same, or 12 months?

We'll revert to bath for the kids once a week, the rest on a need-to-bath basis.

I run a nursery from home

Washing machine on twice a day plus dishwasher plus at least 4 sinks full of washing up (plus rinsing water) 2 baths a day plus a shower, shed loads of cleaning & have you seen how many times 4 staff & 12 children can flush the toilet??

& I pay less than £40 a month

Interesting, oooggs, about the cap.

My American friend who recently moved to London told me there's a maximum amount for single people, a kind of single supplement in reverse.

When the whole country is metered water companies will find it a lot easier to find major leaks - without a metered system locating leaks is an expensive business and not very accurate - after 2020 they'll have no excuse.

KatyMac - that's so encouraging. I was trying to work out how many times we'd be flushing the toilet, I came up with 30+ per day for all of us. I guess I'll have to get over it and use the work facilities more :)

BettyBathroom - water leaking is another way of finding a water leak :o

ponders - it is every month, so £372 a year - trying to find out how much without a water meter but I can't find it. In do know it is much higher.

30 times a day??
are you all at home all of the day?
admittedly i don't go to the loo that often, but 6 times a day seems a lot

they had a really bad drought in California in the 80s (I think) & to discourage people from flushing the loo too often someone came up with

if it's yellow, let it mellow
if it's brown, flush it down

(nice)

thisisyesterday - I think I'll start trying to save water before we move but 30+ at the moment sounds about right when kids are at home.