Andrew submitted this idea :
To some extent, yes - they calculate based on past bills how much your likely consumption will be and spread it through the year in equal chunks. It works fine and I don't need to concern myself with failing to pay, it is all done automagically. The same with the gas and council tax too.
Likewise here, but I pay them monthly based on past consumption.
I don't need to do anything at all, all taken care of without me doing anything.
Ah... that might explain why my daughters account details have disappeared from my Barclays current account list of payees.
++1A year is daft, many things are "annual" +/- 6 months. Two years might be acceptable but really never expire and a means of deleting them would be best.
Really?
no
mostly they are in a hole in the ground with a cover on and a remote reader on the top.
The water company come around with a device that uses the remote reader so the cover is never taken off the hole
if, as a customer, you do take the cover off the hole to try to read the numbers on the meter, you will often find that it has filled up with crud and you can't.
and that's before addressing the point of the cover having fused into the close position and you not being able to open it at all
BTDOGTTS
YMMV
tim
I could read mine, but it would involve lying in the road (speed limit:
60mph) on a blind curve.
Don't people maintain access to the main stop c*ck down the same hole? And have a key to be able to reach it and turn it on or off?
At least most people will find the cover easily in the pavement near their boundary. If it wasn't for the concrete post with WATER cast into against the drystone wall some distance down the road that's hidden by the vegitation most of the year I'd never have found ours. Recently checked it after 5 years or so, handful of mud in the bottom, cover over grown by under 4" of soil/grass roots.
So put a plastic bag over it, which can be removed easily to leave clear dials.
keen diy-ers do
the rest, not so much
tim
Might keep the Snails off but the meters here suffer from internal condensation which forms drips on the underside of the display window. Hence the screwdriver tapping.
Around my way they seem fit the meter and stop c*ck combination within the property boundary.
My meter inspection chamber/cover is all plastic with a removable frost protection foam bung. No remote reading.
Variable direct debit set up. The meter seems to be read every 6 to 9 months and the water/sewage companies adjust the monthly payments to suit. Any adjustment in payment, up or down, is notified in advance.
Since having a meter the consumption each year is fairly similar so any adjustments in payment are minor. I don't recall being in credit/debit by more than around £20 at the end of a six month period.
Has anyone worked out how to do a remote read?
AIUI "drive by" meters are common. Thames Water at least have been testing "smart" meters with remote reading but I don't know if they are live yet. (I'd be all for it if it allowed them to deal better with those who waste water as they know they'll never pay the bill, but I don't see how it can help with that.)
I was wondering how the 'drive by' ones work, and if anyone has cracked that. I'd rather read the meter by standing next to it than by getting on my knees and peering down at some tiny digits.
Ahem, yes, well, I suppose it's no turnip surprise for me tonight.
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