Water bill

Hi everyone, hope you are as well as can be…

We have just received our water bill and as usual it’s quite shocking, I wondered if there are any allowances out there to help due to disability, we aren’t on any means tested benefits but my husband does not work very long hours as he is my carer, so we are hardly well off, i suppose we will have to pay it.

Thank you for any advice you can give.

Wendy

x

have you thought about having a meter fitted, you can have one for a yr and if it dosent work out cheeper the you can go back to the billing system.

Barbara.xx

Hi Wendy, another thing to worry about, eh?

We don`t have a water meter, but pay around £320 a year, in 10 instalments.

We have looked at paying like you do, but reckon we are better off this way, as we do use the shower twice a day, the washer is on

1-3 times a day and we flush the loo a lot!

As our condition warrants a heavy use of water, I do feel we should get a discount, but I don`t know of any.

you can enquire for nowt, eh?

luv POllx

Me again, didn`t think to ask…do you have a meter?

luv Pollx

lf you google ‘Help with utility bills’ the nhs have a site giving information for people of low-income/disabled/and carers.

Usually, water meters are more economical - water rates are based on property value/council tax rather then the amount you use.

F.

Thanks I’ll look into that, we are having a meter fitted shortly so I guess it will be cheaper next year, can’t help remembering when we moved in to this tiny property 34 years ago this December, we were paying around £30 a year, we are now paying around £450.

Wendy

x

Yes Barbara we are having one fitted, it should be a lot cheaper next year, at first any way.

Wendy

x

Wendy,

Modern toilet cisterns have a short economical flush - for pee - and a longer flush when needed. lf you haven’ t got this facility on your cistern - you can put a brick into the cistern - this means it will take less water to fill.

Also, there are ways of storing all rainwater to divert into your ‘flushing’ and washing machines. [Something l watched on tele - DIY SOS - l think - trying to make the house cheaper to run].

Saving water is something we should all look into.

l know all the surface water from our driveway is piped down to the bottom of the garden to the ‘duck pond’.

F.

Found out something new about drainage charges, that can be refunded back if the water does not drain into the public sewer and into the ground or elsewhere near ur property.

Its worth checking on the water companys website, or calling them up to find out more about this.

We had a water meter fitted and my bills went from £350.00 pa, to just over £100 pa! We have learnt to be economical, water butts using rainwater for washing car, put a brick in cystern in loo, creating half flush and dont have a bath, just shower.

I couldnt believe how much money we have saved.

Dont think there is any help other than metering your property and paying monthly like I do.

Best wishes,

bren

x

ps: If you do opt for meter please dont go on disabled tarrif unless of course you use an old fashioned bath etc. The water company worked out our consumption and such tarrif would have been a lot dearer - hence normal tarrif for amount of people in house.

Hi everyone

Here in Kent we are very short of water and we are being asked to take an egg timer into the shower and only shower for 4 minutes. Our bill for the year is nearly £500, just for a small 2 bedroomed house.

We are having meters installed there’s no choice, I expect we’ll save money for a while but expect once everyone’s gone onto them the prices will rise! I don’t really waste water don’t wash car and don’t water flowers we only have a shower and no bath but I do need to use quite a bit of water, personally I feel it’s a human right, especially living in this country where we are lucky not to have serious droughts. I would probably feel happier if I didn’t know that someone somewhere is making money out of it all.

Wendy

x

Living in Cornwall, we certainly know about high water charges, thanks to the, SAS (surfers against sewage) or as I call them (state assisted surfers). We have had to bear the costs of South West Water, building multiple filtration/treatment plants, and the SAS are still not satisfied. In my younger days, I spent most of my time in the sea, that I almost grew a finned tail, but never got sick from swallowing large amounts of sea water.

Rant over.

The best advice as others have said, is having a water meter fitted, plus a two stage WC flush.

Some of the old flush cisterns, use up to eight litres per flush, with the new two stage ones only using approx two litres on a mini flush, and four on a full flush.

Take care.

Chris R.

I. El. (Eng). (Rtd).

hello we had are bill threw and it was high and we couldnt afford to pay it so i no this sounds bad but we just ignored all the reminders then we got a final warning and i rang them up and they agreed to take like £5.00 a week out are benifit money. so it paid of ignoring them lol

carly xx

Hi Wendy Contact the company who you at the bill too, explain your icumstances and they should give a reduction of about £100+. This can all be done with gas nd electric. Most utilities do it, is is part of their “corporate responsibility” Hope it helps Mike

Sorry Mike they aren’t interested.

Wendy

x

Hi Wendy :slight_smile:

I also live in Kent and pay for my water weekly, I’m still trying to get used to paying 2 diff companies one for water in and 1 for waste water out grrr as I only paid for the water I used while living in London, I pay £17 per week which adds up to a whopping £816 per year :frowning:

I almost wish I hadn’t read this thread and worked out just how much I’m paying !!

Ness x

I can’t get any discounts but I do have a water meter. There are 5 in our house, the washer and dishwasher are on 2 a day and the shower doesn’t work so we all have baths and its a big bath. We pay £27 a month which is a lot less than my friends.

Hi,contact your water company because i think some do have ‘special’ rates.

If you don’t pay it NOTHING happens .They cannot turn it off for Public Health reasons,unless the rules have changed about Cholera,Typhus etc.

Not paying the water bill is the first thing the ‘Nouveau Impoverished’ classes do as they drown in a sea of personal debt

Wb