So I got a letter from United utility. Stating they are working on the water supplies and putting us on meters. How ever with 2 kids, a dish washer and baths every night I reckon we will be worse off. Can you decline a meter?

I moved 4 years ago from a 3 bed semi to a 2 bed bungalow, both covered by the same water authority. The kids had already left at this point. The last house was not on a meter, the current house is. I am now paying abound £7 per month less than I was un metered 4 years ago! We have 2 showers a day, washing machine 3 to 4 times a week and I water the garden every night…..perhaps it might not be so bad! We do do things like turn off the tap to brush teeth and after 9pm do not flush the toilets until next morning.

From an article: Can I say no to a water meter? Yes and no. If your supplier is one of the following: Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, South East Water, Southern Water, Sutton and East Surrey Water and Thames Water, you can’t refuse as you’re in “an area of water stress”. This gives companies the green card to install one. That said, it’s not a legal requirement. The rule simply gives water companies the power to choose to use metering as a way of managing water resources in their area. However, if you refuse, it could put you on its “no access” higher charge which could be as high as £602 a year – so make sure you give it enough thought before rejecting it.

Yeah I saw that too prob be more than £6000 with our house 😂

Our situation is like dfk41. With meter, we are paying 45% less. 2-3 showers a day, 4 times of washing each lasting 20 mins-30 mins, dish washer every night, watering garden daily in the night. If our daughter comes home, which happens for a few days each month, each shower will last 20-25 mins! 😂

@Cuprajake Have they said your usage will be monitored after install but before charging starts? My parents were put on a metre, which was monitored for over 6 months (might have even been 12) before the new charging started. They saved money - no water saving measures as such and they are big on their garden. For what it’s worth, I’m in the same position as you - two young kids, washing machine on all the time, dishwasher etc. Our charge is £42 a month - how does that compare with your current set up?

So LMSC What’s your consumption in cubic meters monthly then?

Inspector I will have to check my old records, tbh. I doubt they will be massively different. My daughter was with us at that time until she moved out. She always had a very long shower each lasting 30 mins at least. Most of the time, she will have 2 showers a day. The size of the property - ie number of bedrooms tied to a postcode and the council tax band will determine the water rates for an unmetered property. I think this is a critical difference to how much we pay a month especially if we don’t live in a flat. If two people live in 2 beds house vs ⅘ beds, there will be a significant jump in water rates between these two properties even if just 2 people reside in those properties. For an example, when we lived in 3 beds property, we used to pay about £35-£40 a month; a bit more when we rented a 4 bed linked detached on the same post code with a similar council tax band. When we moved to a better post code having 5 beds, they asked for £85-£90 a month as the council tax band was very also high. So, we paid the unmetered rate for 2 years at £85-£90 a month and asked them to install a water meter. They did tell us that it will be significantly cheaper with water meter as we are just 2 mostly. I won’t know if the tariff is different if you live in a flat.

The house we are living in now already had a water meter. I complained loudly but got nowhere. As it goes we have saved money over the water rate with two kids growing up, lots of baths, washing machine and car washing/plant watering. Our bills are around £550 a year but would be more on water rate. What really pi**es me off is we pay Portsmouth water to deliver it just over a third of what we pay Southern water to take it away!… Needless to say, the water is far too hard for coffee machines..,

In our part of Surrey the stop cocks are in the pavement and the water company fitted meters to all the properties though we had a choice whether to go on to a metered rate or stick with the rateable value. When you sell your property the new owner is automatically put on to a metered tariff. I’ve made use of the meter stopcock on a number of times as it’s very effective and easy to use, much better than the one in the house. Sadly our water is also too hard for coffee machines at around 200 but it does taste good to drink. When they did the meters they also ran new pipe from the main, unfortunately they used the cheapest tap off fitting saving a few pennies and these are failing one by one resulting in huge expense of digging up the road and replacing with something that costs a few pennies more. Ours was the first to go in the road so the repair should see us out.

SurreyAlan Where I live in Byfleet and all the surrounding areas, when any property without a meter is sold, a meter is fitted and you have no choice. I do know if you are careful with water, it can save you money….of course if you want a green lawn all summer, you would have a bill of £800+ per annum. The savings can be using a dishwasher and get a low water use one (always use a dishwasher), Don’t always flush a toilet after a pee…sounds gross but it’s not really. Use a pressurewasher for car washing not a hose (much less water for rinsing). Check if your gutters drain into soakaways, or the sewer…most houses bult in the last 30 years drain rainwater in the soakaway, but if you don’t tell your water company, they will assume it drains in the sewers and you lose a water “abatement” discount on your bill. Most people don’t know about this reduction. Best thing of all, they won’t even come and check, they simply apply the discount!

Can you decline a water meter

Elcarajillo

I presume the metered rate is what you use ,presumably it will not reduce your waste water and surface water charge ? I do know ST charge you for anny water which runs off your property.

Although our surface water (down pipes ) go to soakaways on our property, they still charge for any that can / does run -off eg from drive / garden.

dfk41

No idea what I am looking at!

LMSC

dfk41 Your charges are competitive and what it should be.

The fresh water from the mains will be exactly offset by the waste water (ie sewage). The fixed charge is like a line rental.

Inspector Your waste water bill is on the higher side. It likely to be higher than fresh water. To me, it looks like the charge is for 127 cubic metre. Typically, all water in the property are fresh water and waste water is what goes to the sewage. Worth calling and asking. How many of you are in the property please? You may have already mentioned.

Your saving is going to come from water consumption.

I will check and post what our break down is !

LMSC

Inspector

Looking at my records, we paid about £750 a year without meter. We get billed billed mid Aug to mid Feb (winter cycle) and mid Feb to mid Aug (summer cycle). After switching to meter, we are paying on an average £245 during the summer cycle and £215 during the winter cycle. The difference watering in summer.

The recently dated bill ending Mid Feb 22 shows a total charge of £213.28; £115.52 for fresh water and £97.76 for waste. The water consumption is 72 cubic meter for 6 months.

Without meter, they don’t show what the water consumption were as they won’t know.

The water meter saves us a lot of money.

Inspector

I am confident that we are definitely not using 127 cubic meters of water each year. Just two of us and a toddler. Quick showers, not leaving water running etc. Apparently we are on a assessed volume charge and Welsh water waste standing charge is quite pricey. I will email them and ask what would be the m3 rates and standing charges if we were to get a water meter. They actually offer a 2 year trial with a water meter, if we pay more, we can revert it back. I just don’t like the idea of having water meter installed because of the works need to be done/hassle. Do they install it outside of the house generally? If yes they might need to dig front of house, break 100 years of old Victorian paving stones etc. Let’s see first if it saves us money and how much would that be.

LMSC

Inspector First, that 197 is not cubic metre. It is a rateable value, which was the assessed rentable value of the property when they did an assessment a long ago. This was the practice used until 1990 - before privatisation. The water companies still use this to charge a percentage of the RV.

Based on your input, I will be surprised if your bill does not go down. You can also ask what the standing charges are if you instal a water meter. I do not think they can tell you what your water consumption will be. You can ask your neighbours about the costs and their experience, if they have installed a water meter.

I do not think they will not have to dig anything to install a water meter. It is normally a simple job. They will open the mains box - normally just outside your property on your drive way or walk way to the rear garden. They will shut the water supply, install a meter and that’s it. You do not have to be around. This has been our experience. I would give them a call, if I were you, and ask all the questions.

Elcarajillo

I am unsure as to type of water meter fitted now. Some were direct connections at stop tap (external) With modern pipework there is provision to remove a plug and fit the meter into the vacated plug position.

Some meters are fitted internally (after internal S/T) and an external sensor for readings. (similar to smart meter ?)

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