water meter

[chris French]

In message , Mary Fisher writes

Me too.

All going well a nice big old Victorian house in a large village nearish to Huntingdon.

[Ed Sirett]

Yes I believe that the offwat or government target to go for metering is essentially environmental... but the suppliers have a diffeent agenda.

In the short term the costs of installing metering are being carried by the water Cos. They are offering free or highly subsidized meter installs. [1] The Cos are doing this (I presume) because

a) They otherwise they won't meet their targets and will suffer some consequence/fine/knuckle rapping/ in the future. b) They know with increasing population (and per capita water usage?) they won't be able to meet demand (without increasing the unit charge for water) so they are looking for a long term method to put the brakes on consumption.

Currently the pricing structure is such that almost everyone (even quite large families) will benefit being on a meter, unless they are into lawn sprinklers and garden hoses. This (I presume) is not an act of charity on the part of the supplier but a necessity. It is possible to put forward a special case of a say a large family who are almost over-crowed a modest older property (which has a low rateable value) who could be losers under metering.

IIRC the chancellor had to put a differential of several pence/litre on Unleaded Petrol (and IIRC had to increase it further) to get the public putting the new fangled stuff into their cars. I think the situation is similar there is a large degree of caution about going to a meter.

IMHO if the suppliers offered people an option to return to the old flat tariff there would be less resistance to metering.

It seems that water consumption is more or less £50/year/per person the reason for this lack of variation is that the WC is the biggest use and that overwhelms cooking/bathing/washing variations.

Finally does it make any real difference because you choose not to water your lawn in a drought (due to cost), or a prosecuted for watering it during the inevitable hosepipe ban?

[1] I think 3Valleys are charging £40 for something which costs them £200 (when the installation labour is accounted for. Others are even installing them free.

[Mary Fisher]

No - but you don't know you'd have died. There's a trend towards mother heat being used again for fragile babies.

I would have died, absolutely certainly, without the power tools which opened my head to remove a tumour.

Or would I? Trepanning was used in very early times.

Of course all our lives have been enriched by electricity but the fact that Mankind developed and lived until electricity was developed proves that it isn't essential to life.

Just some individual lives ...

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

That says more about you than about anything else.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Thanks, Ed, that's a reasoned and, I thnk, fair assessment of the position.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Ah, fairly close to where one of our sons lives and where we'll be staying next week.

But he's moving to his house in Chippenham in April. I'm sorry, I like his Cambs house and not his Wilts one, his wife hates living 'in the sticks' and is looking forward to going back to a house with no drive and no parking for either of their cars except where you can get it - sometimes a good walk away.

It takes all sorts.

But at least in Wilts when we stay we shan't have to use the children's bunk beds, which is getting harder as we age!

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Very hard water there...

Mary

[Jamie]

I suppose, in perfect theory, they could also know exactly how much water is lost in leaks, by comparing consumed water and supplied water.

They are quite handy for showing post-meter leaks that customers may not know about - until damp starts to appear (for meters outside properties).

I read them for a few months a few years back. It's alarming to notice that someone's meter is whizzing like mad and reading a thousand tonnes of water higher than it should be. I saw a few cases like this.

As far as saving water for environmental reasons, then replacing leaking pipes would make a much bigger difference than individual conscientious usage. I can't recall the figure for water lost in leaks but it was something horrendous, like one third.

[Mary Fisher]

I believe that's being done, by Yorkshire Water at least.

Mary

[chris French]

In message , Mary Fisher writes

Indeed it is, but I'm used to that, I've lived in hard water areas before.

They already have one of those plumbed in water filters in the kitchen IIRC. Might look into getting a water softener once we moved. Do people find them useful?

[James]

I entirely agree a water meter significantly cuts costs. But in my case the standing charges (water supply/wastewater/surface water drainage/ highway drainage) alone amount to £65. (this is Southern Water)

James

[Anna Kettle]

I see you won't escape the DIY with this move then :)

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[chris French]

In message , Anna Kettle writes

No.....

We did have a plan this time, with Helen's job, and the new baby to mvoe to house that didn't really need too much doing, other than bit of redeccing etc.

Of course once you start looking.......

Actually it's ok, much better than this house when we bought it. Electrics are ok, a little bit dated, but can be updated as we see fit. CH fine, decor mostly good/ok if not our taste.

But it's got lovely Victorian conservatory, which is of course wood and will require a fair bit of maintenance, and it has great big window in the hall/landing - lots of painting.... And we want to turn bathroom back into bedroom, and put a en-suite in the ludicrously large dressing room.

And....... :-)

Just wanting to get moved now.

[dave]

as the OP I would like to now add that I have fitted a water meter and time will only tell if I will be able to save money. Oh, my water bill arrived based on RV, it is for £276.58. standing charges alone are £144.75. now to wait and see.

Dave

[Mary Fisher]

Let us know.

Mary