Water meters... is there really a problem?

[Moz]

ellal
the old North West water Board ..
now United Utilites sent out a letter in our water rates last month ,explaining that it would be like the Gas Board ,
pay as you use

an it mentioned that disconnections may rise if people dont pay ..OMFG

we could forfeit the gas in the old days but not water ..lol

 

[markie]

We do pay for water but it's normaly every month not by a meter

 

[mlb3c]

ellal
the old North West water Board ..
now United Utilites sent out a letter in our water rates last month ,explaining that it would be like the Gas Board ,
pay as you use

an it mentioned that disconnections may rise if people dont pay ..OMFG

we could forfeit the gas in the old days but not water ..lol

it's called....."having you by the balls" what choice do you have?

 

[Steve]

some homes have water meters, some dont. Most new houses have them (last 5-10 years) but most older houses dont. Though you can opt in and have one fitted if you please (low-usage households)

If you dont have a water meter, you just get charged a standard rate per year, plus some for sewage disposal (same company). So we do pay for it, its just terribly inaccurate.

If you have a water meter, does it have to be accessible? A shop i used to work at had the water meter in a little corner behind some shelves. to access it, you would have to move a bay of shelving! I dont know what donut designed that.

 

[ellal]

ellal
the old North West water Board ..
now United Utilites sent out a letter in our water rates last month ,explaining that it would be like the Gas Board ,
pay as you use

an it mentioned that disconnections may rise if people dont pay ..OMFG

we could forfeit the gas in the old days but not water ..lol

probably the last utilty to join the others and put many people into a new kind of poverty...!

And I bet the new inflated charges won't appear in the official inflation figures...

 

[AdamW]

2) If water companies have a variable charging system, the incentive for them to become more efficient diminishes.

I agree partially with this, but with 2, they can only charge for the water that actually gets to the consumer. So, provided the government or an independent body steps in, there is still an incentive for them to stop wasting water during transport.

One of my friends is a chemical engineer with one of the big water companies. Apparently the water coming out of a modern British sewage plant is so clean they could put it back in the pipes and it would still exceed all the EU regulations for purity. But instead it gets chucked in the river, pumped out downstream an treated again before being pumped to our homes.

OK, so water probably isn't lost in the process, but it's a bit wasteful and must drive costs up.

 

[kevplumb]

i had one fitted and 1/2 ed my bill

 

[Moz]

kevplumb
yes but the water meter rates dont go up ..YET