Water Meter

[smurfchops]

Found a letter sent by Thames Water in April last year, asking if I want to have a water meter. They reckon my bills will be halved. Could this be true ? Is it worth it ? What uses the most water by the way ?

[237SJ]

Sorry Miss P but they are talking rubbish. When I had my leak which I was worried might be under my front lawn, I talked to a friend who had a massive water leak (with a £4000 bill). I asked her if the water company digs up the lawn because I had an image of a massive trench through my front garden. She said that they merely feed a pipe through the original water pipe. If you can imagine the old pipe being cracked/broken and a new one being fed through it. All they did (in my friend`s case) was dig a small hole on the pavement and another small hole near to the house and fed the new pipe through it. It`s not the massive upheaval that would would e

[237SJ]

sorry - meant to say it`s not the massive upheaval that you would expect.

[missprim]

Yes I can see that 237, I think if it was a big leak as your friend had then they would, but because they say if there is a leak it would only be a small one then I don't think they will bother.
I did have a Homesure policy that covered leaks but when I asked them if they could check, they said no, they only check if you tell them you have definitely got a leak so I cancelled the policy.

[237SJ]

I`m sorry but I don`t agree with that. You are on a meter right? You are being charged for water that you haven`t used because of a leak. Your water company has an obligation to find out where the leak is coming from and make amends as to fixing it or helping you to fix it (possibly at your expense -depending where the leak is coming from). Have a look at your water company`s website. There is usually a lot of info on there. Good luck

[missprim]

Thanks 237SJ I will look but as they have only said it's possible I MAY have a small leak and not that I definitely do then it's difficult.
It was a woman who came to check my meter and she said I pay me than her and her husband and I live on my own. I found that really frustrating.
My apologies to smurfchops as I seem to have taken over your thread but I hope all this info will be of help to you though as u will be having a new meter fitted,if you decide to go ahead, then you will probably be ok.

[Andyvon]

MissP -

It was a woman who came to read my neighbour's meter and she told me that my wife and I should pay much less than we do. She suggested I ring the company for an assessment but the man then told us we would be paying about triple what we do now with our current usage!

[missprim]

It's difficult knowing what to do isn't it Andy?
The Water Board have been quite good with me really and they did tell me that they would be replacing some of the meters as they slow down in old age (don't we all!) but it appears mine was replaced just before I came here so won't be replaced. I will wait to see if the ones with the new meters will be paying similar to me.

[bond]

it depends on your water owner/authority and size of property. I am Thames Water also and live in an extremely small one bed flat, no bath, just a shower cubicle used once a day, washing machine used 2 or 3 times a week, I am out most of the week at work, but my rate is over £300 a year, which I feel is expensive, I don't know if a meter would be cheaper, but I have not been offered the opportunity, maybe because it would be cheaper, and less money for Thames Water..