Water bills

There are three of us in our family, and we also use United Utilities for water and sewerage.
Last year's bill was for £942. Our home isn't a high band rating, but it seems unlikely that there would be much saving having a water meter installed. Although, when the bill hits that mat, I usually consider it.

Southern water sent me an information bill telling me that my bill was going up from £22 per month to £60+
I called and disputed it as according to them I’m using less this year than last?
Sent a meter reading
Had to balance my account with £21 immediate payment
Now back to the original amount!!
Don’t accept what the utility companies tell you to pay
Always negotiate
👍

If anyone is struggling with paying the bill and is on

Universal Credit
Pension Credit
Housing Benefit
Income Support / Jobseeker’s Allowance / Employment Support Allowance

then check with your water company as your bill could be capped at a lower amount. This applies in Wales and England and oth parts of the UK have voluntary systems.

A few years ago water meters were fitted in my road to ‘monitor usage’.
I used to pay unmetered for 8 months of the year. Just before Christmas I had a letter to say I didn’t use much water and could be due a refund. Early in the new year said refund dropped into my bank account and they have put me onto metered and given me a much lower monthly bill to pay.

Graphite

I see your point, Molly, but am guessing you live in a house which is in one of the higher council tax bands so had a higher rateable value than many.

No. Not even near the higher council tax bands.
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If you decide to opt for a meter, check if this is a reversible decision. In most cases, you have a trial period (often up to two years) to switch back to unmetered billing if the meter proves more expensive.
That’s a good point and we were quite anxious about a meter being more expensive. Fortunately that turned out to be not necessary.

Allira
Don't forget the top bosses and shareholders need their share Mollygo!
Oops! You’re so right. I’d forgotten that.
Our next door neighbour was one of the few people who couldn’t have a meter fitted. They successfully argued their costs based on our metered cost.

The list, presumably, is the average price per household in the different utility areas.

I'm surprised at the difference between the lowest and highest but some bills are for water only, not waste.
Waste seems to be a higher cost than water which begs the question, what are they doing with all that money for waste? Certainly there is a lot of pollution.

As we can't have a meter fitted, we are apparently on the average for two people but it must be based on rateable value.

Don't forget the top bosses and shareholders need their share Mollygo! Although Dwr Cymru is not-for-profit but still one of the most expensive.

I am with United Utilities and my yearly metered bill is over £1000 but we do use a lot of water.
5 person household in the week and 6 at the weekend.
Lots of showers and lots of laundry.
I still don’t look forward to even higher bills though.

Oh my goodness, I hate to imagine what our bill will be. Our two teenager DGC live with us and have entered the stage where they shower at least daily for about twenty minutes. DGS has OCD and is continually washing his hands, DH and my frequent visits to the loo, two washing loads a day and two dishwasher loads.

Bridie22

I dont have a water meter so my usage isnt monitored.

That means they can charge what they like because there is no record of how much you use. They'll get you either way because the cost has to go up for everyone.

Anglian Water covers the area around Bedford where they are building a massive Universal Studios. Apparently this will have millions of visitors and is equivalent to the size of a new town. Not only will this be using huge quantities of water but will be producing millions of gallons of sewage. They have to build a new sewage works or double the size of the current one, and very quickly.

'What happens when eight million visitors need the loo?'

It seems all our water treatment centres are at capacity which is why they are dumping raw sewage into the rivers. I can't see this situation improving with all the new houses being built. And Universal Studios as well. Water bills can only continue to rise.

I dont have a water meter so my usage isnt monitored.

Yorkshire water is very expensive. The metor was already installed when we moved here and it’s now £73 per month for the two of us 🥴

That's the average bill just as the Energy Price Cap is an average.

Some households will use more water (or energy) and some will use less.

Im with northumbrian water paying £645 per year, so i dont understand how the new yearly payment quote says its rising to £535 per year ?!

I received my water bill recently and the information it included made me realise it would make no sense whatever to have a water meter.

This was Yorkshire Water.

I see your point, Molly, but am guessing you live in a house which is in one of the higher council tax bands so had a higher rateable value than many..

For people living in lower-banded homes, especially those where there are several people in the household, it wouldn’t necesarily be cheaper to be metered. People need to do their sums on this.

There are more homes in Band A than any other band.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-stock-of-properties-2024/council-tax-stock-of-properties-statistical-commentary

Moneysavingexpert “rule of thumb” is if a household has more bedrooms than people then it is usually advantageous to be metered. Use this calculator:

www.ccw.org.uk/save-money-and-water/water-meter-calculator/

If you decide to opt for a meter, check if this is a reversible decision. In most cases, you have a trial period (often up to two years) to switch back to unmetered billing if the meter proves more expensive.

My late DH and I opted for metering in the 1990s which saved us money as we were out in the daytime working and showered at the gym.

I am now widowed, retired and live alone. I currently pay just over £1 a day for metered water and sewage. I think that is very good value. I am careful about water use (just as I am with energy). My annual costs are around half the average shown for my supplier.

Im with Anglian and IWNL one for water one for waste and already pay £684 so it will be well over £700 😭