Water meters
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What experience have members had with water meters?
As I understand it, if there are fewer people than bedrooms in your house you would probably be better off having a meter fitted. I'm hesitant about this. At least the current, unmetered, bill is the same every month. I would worry that if we had visitors for a week we might suddenly get landed with a big bill.
Responses (4)
That's an interesting one Feline, I think that it really depends on your usage habits as well.
If everyone in your house has a bath each morning, rather than a shower etc, you might want to avoid one - however at least with a meter you are only paying for what you use, plus you might subconsciously use less as you're on a meter.
I also think that the water board must be making money from most customers on an unmetered bill otherwise they'd make everyone get a meter.
Hi Feline123!
We have had water meters in our road for some years now and for me at least, living on my own, I should score despite the amount of time I spend in the bathroom and the number of brews I have daily. I use a hose occasionally to clean the car and clean the drive down and I guess my usage is kept to a minimum. And of course you have to trust that damn meter even though it is inconvenient to view at any time ( I don't often get down on all fours in the street .... ). If I remember, we didn;t have a choice, the team just turned up and did every house in turn.
And apart from plopping a brick in my loo cistern and only yanking my chain once a day, what more can I do to save water? But to be honest, I think that 'visitors for a week' should only be a small blip in the bill. I'd be more worried about the cost of feeding the bu**ers!
Well, Snoops, I tried the 'brick in the cistern' trick and all that happened was that the flush wasn't powerful enough to deal with anything of a solid nature. We finished up having to flush twice which wasn't very economical.
Our guest bathroom has an overhead flush which is brilliant - just pull the chain and the water pressure from above could get rid of a small continent!
I rather hope that guests will entertain us to dinner at the pub at least once in a week's stay, so minimising the water anguish and the cost of feeding them.
I wonder if this thread will run and run, like your public lavatory one did. Oh, bummer, I didn't quite mean to say that!
Yes Feline we have been on a water meter for the past fifteen years and yes having visitors can literally be a drain on the resources.
It's tempting to yell up the stairs 'turn the taps off' or 'do you mind only having a quick shower' or using only 1/2" of bath water'.
As for flushing well I've tried the brick and the inflatable airbag to no avail, if I stayed in there all day I would still have to flush at regular intervals to clear it.
It's a complete pain in the proverbial !!!
My father and his wife have a water meter. She must be the Chief Inspector of the water police. It's a nightmare. Me and o/h were painting the outside walls of their house in the summer, we were so hot and knackered and crawled in for a glass of water. My goodness, our request was not met well. We ended up dragging ourselves to the local shop and buying the bottled stuff!!! And yet her beloved pot plants get drowned twice a day and don't even get me started about her tomatoes! I can think of several places to put that brick you mentioned .............and it'd take more than a plunger to remove it!!!
Thank you, Lillie and wendiew.
Yur comments have convinced me that I should put the water meter project back to the bottom of the priority list. I wouldn't want to live in fear of a guest putting a brick in an inconvenient place. We don't even have a plunger to remove it!
Well ladies, now we are back on the toilet trail ... what does toilet paper and the Starship Enterprise have in common? Apparently they fly around Uranus looking for Klingons. And on the question of 12" guest poops, do they do them as a rule? Or are they nothing more than a foot stool?
Titter ye not ladies, titter ye not ..... chain yanking over!
Snoopy, that was a crap (!) joke even for you! :-)
Still made me snigger though!
Agreed Feline123+2 .... I feel this should taper off now. How on earth did we go from the economics of water meters to the Starship Enterprise? Deadpan from now on!
Right, getting this thread back on track after we've been down the lavatory jokes road again :-)
Just been to have my shower - being a person who no longer has to do the 'W' word, I tend to have it towards the end of the day after I've done all the mucky stuff like cleaning the cat litter, unless I'm going out, in which case I'll have it in the morning.
I have to say that I conclude I don't really want a water meter - I like it hot and powerful, with no thought of the consequences. Any thoughts?
What can I say?
Hot and powerful aah those were the days.
Now I tend to have it lukewarm and tepid!
BTW what is the W word my head is spinning?
WORK, Lillie! Go and get a gin! :-)
Hic! what another one?
Yes of course 'work', what was I thinking!!
I don't know, Lillie - what were you thinking? Trying to think of words beginning with 'W' now - I'm sure Snoops will be able to help!
So long as they don't invent 'gin meters', eh, girls?! Cheers! ;-)
Just let them try!
I'm debating this one too, Feline, and asked around my neighbours who all either live alone or in couples, no families as our flats are all large but only two bedroomed. Most say they're better off with their meters, but I'm still not totally convinced, and also worried about the guest thing.
I heard on Radio 4 yesterday though, that water meters are going to be put in everyone's home fairly soon anyway...
...anyone else hear this?
Hi Feline there is an excel spread sheet on this web site that will allow you to estimate how much it will cost if you have a water meter installed. There are different sheets for each area in the UK.
Thanks, Donk, I've just calculated mine and it says I would save a lot on a meter!
I will have to check with some of my neighbours how we get round our billing on a meter though, as we pay our water to one company and our sewerage to a different one, although we get charged on one bill.
Thank you mister donk that is useful
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Good point, Pete, thanks for that.
There are normally just the two of us and we have showers rather than baths 99% of the time, and also do all the recommended things like not leaving the tap running while cleaning teeth, etc., so would probably save money.
I just fear that, if I saw we were saving a lot of money, I might turn into the 'water police' when we had visitors and go around spying on them through the bathroom keyhole and shouting at them to turn the taps off! I suppose it might encourage me to start going to the gym again so I could have my shower there!
I think I'll contact the water company and see if they offer any helpful advice.