General Chat

We live in a large house with two adults and two children. We have a meter because that has been the policy - to fit a water meter for all new properties since about 1990 - in this area. We pay about £250-£300 per year for our metered water and we are not terribly economical.....I'm sure we pay a lot less then those around here who don't have a meter. BUT.....if everyone has one (eventually) then surely the water companies will increase the cost of water because they won't like receiving less money! It cost us over £2,000 to have our mains water connected in 1994, even though the water was already in the pipe in the street, 8 foot from our frontdoor. Now that IS daylight robbery!!! Merry

i had one fitted last august and am saving £14 a month .... xx

Maggie, I went through my bill a couple of years ago and saw that I was being charged for surface water drainage. I wrote to them asking for a discount as two other flats are directly beneath my roof. They refunded the whole £18.

We can put men on the moon etc. We live on an island, surrounded by rising water from all the ice caps which are melting. This raises a little query in my head. Happy days

I'm glad our new house has a water meter. The rates were just over £700 but Georgeous and I won't have to pay anywhere near that with a meter.

Brought the paper that this story is in ~ its a secret plan ~ oh well the whole country will get to know one way or another. Government officals are working on a nationwide metering scheme in an attempt to find a long- term solution to the scandel of the water shortage. The proposal emerged from No 10 yesterday and was savaged by the Government`s own watchdog for massive water wastage.A member of the Gov.is said too believe that ordering metering for all homes is part of the long- term solultion to annual drought orders and hosepipe bans...

Can't put too much faith in what members of the Govt think. After all, they think they know how to run the Country. And we can all see what a mess they are making.

Whole heartly agree with you, Grampa Jim. R.B.

Brian, Jim, Thanks for you replies to my moan :0) Some houses around here do get the rebate - but they're privately owned! Brian, I think you're right, the water company is trying to avoid payment - and the council is aiding and abetting them ( I could get the plans if I filled out the equivalent to 'War & Peace and paid them for the priviledge)!! Winchester City Council doesn't like it's own tenants. Like the time some of us found out we'd been overcharged council tax for 9years. The council immedately repaid the private houses, we plebs had to wait 2 years, then they did it in such a way (not paying us an outright cheque), but by a series of 'rebates' over a few years, so comlicated that they were unable (or unwilling) to say exactly how much the rebate was!! maggie

We have a water meter... we (my nusband and I) live in a one bedroomed bungalow. We have a shower (no bath), and a washing machine, which I use only when it is full. I pay £24 a month, and the water board has just tried to make me pay £33 per month. after a discussion (heated) on the phone, they said it would be alright for us to carry on paying £24 PM!! There are people in our street who use more water on their gardens than we do in the shower... and their bills are lower than ours. Be very *watchful* of your bills, and never take them at face value! Deanna X

I have had a water meter for 3 years now and pay only a quarter of what I paid under the old Water Rates System.(One person household). I dont stint, but I dont waste either. One thing which does bug me - my meter has never been read in the whole three years. I am able to read it myself, because I had it installed under the sink, so I can check whether my estimated bills are reasonable - they are. However, they recently wanted to put up my monthly payment from £15 to £30. I phoned and said I was cancelling my direct debit until such time as someone came to actually read the b****y thing. That was two months ago and no-one has been. I started my water metering with a massive credit balance which has hardly been dented in 3 years. This credit never shows up on the bills and when I phoned to find out why, a very embarrassed clerk told me that the computer programme they use for the bills cannot cope with both debits and credits!!!!LOL! Yes, eventually the price of metered water will rise, but in the meantime I am smugly saving money. OC