Time to hang the water regulators

[Sam Nelson]

This strategy is now being reused by large financial institutions who are busy exporting their problems back to the state.

[Huge]

I agree that it is unacceptable that such institutions privatise the profits and socialise the losses, but that does not invalidate my point in any way. And the only way to solve the former problem is to allow banks to go out of business, which has been deemed politically unacceptable. Essentially I think we're betweem a rock and hard place.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Exactly.

"Should we increase taxes to fund the water boards?"

" er..no. People dont like taxes".

"Oh well., privatise them and they can pay more water rates instead!"

"Done deal".

[The Natural Philosopher]

water rates are half what you suck, and half what you dump.

I THINK if you use a borehole and your own sewage treatment you dont pay rates at all.

[mert1639]

Do you have to pay sewerage rates if you have a septic tank?

[Tony Bryer]

Not necessarily: if only I'd got mine metered (single person household) I'd have paid less, but I never got round to it.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No. Or at leasst there is a reduction.

[Huge]

No.

You used to. *And* pay to have the tank emptied. But that stopped some years ago.

[Amethyst Deceiver]

I had a meter put in when I moved to my house 10 years ago. Since then I've gone from single person household to two people, to two adults plus baby in cotton nappies, to two adults and a child - and in all that time our water bill's been cheaper than rates would have been. It's well worth doing, imho.

[Marcus Houlden]

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:58:10 +0100, Amethyst Deceiver wrote the following to uk.misc:

Watch out for shared supplies though. It isn't always practical to fit the meter inside the house and a fair number of older terraced houses (including mine) have water supplies that separate *after* the main stopcock. At my last place the meter was shared with the family of 4 living next door. They were paying rates and I was paying for a meter. Got a bit expensive (nearly £90/month at one point) until I wrote to Yorkshire Water and asked them to investigate just before I moved out.

mh.

[Steve Firth]

Small correction necessary.

^Northern

[Steve Firth]

One does however have to pay an extraction licence if one takes water from a borehole. Otherwise I'd be doing it since we have a good chalk acquifer available.

[Alang]

The Sunderland and Shields water company was set up after the cholera epedemics in the 19thC. They were owned by the local authorities in the area as limited companies. So private except they were owned by the local ratepayers. Ted Heath nationalised them in the 70s when they were incorporated into the northumbrian water authority then Thatcher completed the theft by selling them to private buyers.

[Broadback]

The stupidity is that when the water companies break the law they are fined. This then generates higher water rates, so the consumer who is being "protected" pays. What utter nonsense. The directors and managers should be fined, after all it was they who committed the offence, as part of the punishment their salaries/re numerations should be frozen for five years. Oh dear, that's not right we would get no decent management to join these companies!

[Bazzer Smith]

Tight b*stard.

[Gaz]

The water companies were essential to the implementation of the anti polution (sic) laws, and the vast improvements we have seen to our environment.

Gaz

[Gaz]

To counter balance that however, the water companies got massive infrastructure and capital assets for a fraction of the real costs.

Gaz

[Gaz]

Yes, its called 'PFI', ironically, of course, designed to do the opposite.

Gaz

[Bazzer Smith]

That is complete bollocks. They they had nothing to do with the laws, it was government anti polution laws which made the difference and the water companies benefietef frmo the clearner water so their costs should have dropped *dramatically*.

[Gaz]

It's like banging my head against a brick wall.

Gaz