Forum Topic

Water meters

I have noticed signs being put up in Chiswick advising of works being done to install water meters. Are these compulsory? Does the homeowner have a say in where the ugly white box will be attached to their property? I have not had a letter about this and am concerned I will arrive home one day to find a box attached somewhere to my house.

Margot Crowther ● 1977d24 Comments

White boxes are for gas/electricity.Water meter is attached to the incoming supply pipe in the ground under a round lid on the pavement Outside the property.

Elizabeth Ross ● 1977d

They are already installing water meters in my road and they are being located where your Thames water supply stop cock is currently located.They fit the housing first then another crews follow fitting the meters.Apparently they with not switch them on for a year, giving time to show if it’s cheaper for the household to use a meter or not.

Bernard Allen ● 1976d

Here in Wiltshire, Wessex Water charge unmetered property calculated on the rateable value.  M in L’s 2 bed flat with garden unmetered, the demand in April came in at £900 for the year.  2 neighbouring flats who are metered are averaging £600 a year so Bernard’s post is worth following up as the saving could be significant.

Elizabeth Ross ● 1976d

Bernard, we had a water meter fitted some years ago. The Rateable cost of water was £62 per month x 10. After the meter fitted it dropped to £15 per month x 12, and occasionally down to £10 per month. Unless you spend days power hosing your driveway and paths having a meter is a winner. Mind you there are now only the two of us here now so careful with the stuff.

Chris Vessey ● 1976d

Thanks for all the responses. My fears are now allayed!

Margot Crowther ● 1976d

Generally anyone living in a property within one of the higher Council Tax bands and where the household is quite small in numbers should seriously consider switching to a water meter. The savings can be quite spectacular. Even with a large and thirsty garden you would find it difficult to spend all the money saved on watering. Thames Water used to allow new switchers to trial a meter with the option to switch back, though I don't know if that is still the case as there are now strong environmental pressures to conserve water, with metering seen as an eventual requirement for every property.

Bruce Hammal ● 1976d

They're only compulsory for new homes, unless that's changed. I've been metered for years and there's no 'white box'.

Susan Kelly ● 1976d

I believe a water meter is also mandatory when the property changes hands. There may soon be an element of compulsion for many people. From " This is Money":"When an area is deemed to be in serious water stress by the Secretary of State, the Water Industry Act 1991 gives permission for water companies to meter domestic properties on a compulsory basis.Serious water stress is when all available water sources are currently in use so demand starts to outstrip supply - which is why the legislation was introduced. "Hence this from the Thames Water website:"We're fitting compulsory water meters for all our customers, starting in London. When it’s your turn, you’ll get a letter from us telling you we are going to be fitting meters in your area. "Looks like soon there won't be a choice.Additionally Thames Water are rolling out a programme to install "smart meters".

Bruce Hammal ● 1976d

Have just had one fitted in Chiswick.The situation with Thames Water currently is that you ring them-up and request a 'survey' to be undertaken, which would likely take place about 4-6 weeks after you make the call, with a 'Morning' or 'Afternoon' booking slot.On the day, the guy rang me in advance to let me know what time he was getting there and on finding that our install was incredibly easy ("I wish they were all like this", he said...), mainly due to the fact that Thames Water had taken it upon themselves to upgrade our pipework from the road a while ago, installing one of those little round boxes into the pavement at the time, so he fitted a meter there and then.Literally, all the guy had to do was place the water meter into the box, make the necessary connections and set up the Mobile connectivity (yes, they can read these meters remotely - according to the guy, they cannot be switched off remotely, however) - the paperwork that he had to complete took way longer.One word of warning - they will tell you that you could be without your water supply for up 20 minutes, but they will test the flow both before and after fitting the meter to ensure that nothing has changed.In terms of payment, allegedly Thames Water will take readings from these meters four times a year and adjust your Direct Debit accordingly, but if you do your billing on-line, you can manually submit new readings yourself (just use a flat-bladed screwdriver or similar to lift the meter cover and take a new reading directly from the meter).It's very early days yet, but we have a large(ish) house with just the two of us living here at present, but with a fairly clever automated garden 'Drip-feed' watering system (NOT via  sprinklers, I might add) front and back and so far, my estimates show a saving of 20 - 25% on the previous bill, which was based upon the rateable value of our house alone.The good news is that Thames Water has told us that we do have the option to go back to a fixed price water bill (as before) at any point over the first year of operation of the water meter, so I will be keeping a close eye on our water usage over that period.Hope this helps.

David Noades ● 1976d

Our road was done a few weeks ago. Those properties which previously had a very small metal "manhole" covering the external stopcock now have a larger round plastic "manhole" in which the meter can be fitted. In our case they were all either on the pavement or in the road, so not actually on the homeowners property.

Richard Greenhough ● 1976d

I can't have a water meter because I share my water supply with next door so Thames Water gave me a discount.

Helen Whitman ● 1976d

I would like to have one and have applied twice, but was turned down on the grounds that I live in a block of flats and Thames Water say they cannot fit them in multiple occupancy buildings. This is despite the fact that I have my own plumbing and water supply to my flat. If I can have my own gas and electricity meters, why not a water meter?

Colin Jordan ● 1976d

I have had a water meter for many years. I seem to remember being told by Thames Water if I had an outside tap there was a requirement to have one. Penalty for non compliance.A few weeks ago a bloke came along to replace it. "It's an upgrade sir and it should save you money".Upgrades? Don't you just luv em.Anyway, paying for what you use seems a lot fairer to me than basing it on rateable value.Footnote. I think the charges,which includes sewerage remember, are very reasonable when you think what has to be done to provide the service.

Adrian Irving ● 1976d

David Noades, you make reading the meter simple. It's not if it's outside under the pavement; normally 3 to 4 feet down and very difficult to read. To read ours I attach a large magnifying glass to the end of a picking stick along with a torch, get down on my knees and fiddle about down the hole until a reading can be taken. That's OK if you're flexible but if you're very very old like one or two on this forum, there's no chance. Good Luck everyone.

Chris Vessey ● 1976d

Chris, I don't understand why you need to read your water meter - unless it's to check that Thames Water have the figures right. I have never looked at mine except to give a reading when we moved in; as far as I know they send round meter-readers. Of course as David noted the new meters can be read remotely - though I wish them luck with that; here in Grove Park we barely have a mobile signal!

Bruce Hammal ● 1976d

Had a new one fitted on Monday to an old one that's been here for years. All very quick as you said. The man read the pressure before he started and said it was very good. I told him that there is a covered reservoir less than a mile away which obviously helps. After fitting the pressure was a lot higher and left the kitchen sink with a drip as the old washer was now under more pressure

peter king ● 1976d

Bruce, I agree with you. However they gave me a very inflated bill in July last year, so I got on my hands and knees and eventually reached a correct reading. In the meantime an inflated bill normally means a major water leak so we called in a reputable plumber and paid £220 for his services. Regret his services were not required. Result not happy with Thames Water so read the meter myself. I shall probably phase this out in time. Their bad reading showed and extra 50000 cu meters had been used. Just to let everyone know Thames Water are not infallible, they DO make mistakes !

Chris Vessey ● 1976d

Bruce, incidentally should you have a query with Thames Water you are very likely to be connected to someone in South Africa, that is after a long wait. This person asked for my ID email address and I made one small error for which I was disconnected. A round in circles job.

Chris Vessey ● 1976d

Thanks Chris - I had never thought to check the water meter but maybe I should!I am endlessly pestered to have smart meters for gas and electricity but 1) I don't want some barely-trained installer crawling around in a small under-stair cupboard that also houses my router, security and central heating controls not to mention CCTV and CAT 6 wiring.2) I can't see the benefit as I'm quite happy to take the readings myself and send them using the company's app. That way I know they're right!I have a friend who recently had a water-meter installed. It does save him a lot of money, but unfortunately the installer managed to also damage his electricty and phone-broadband cables! It toook nearly 2 weeks to sort out the mess.

Bruce Hammal ● 1976d

Bruce, we are the same, do not want any smart meters thank you. For the same reasons too. Perfectly happy to do meter readings myself for Gas and Elec. Not so happy for Water though.

Chris Vessey ● 1976d

When it comes to water meters there is a general rule of thumb which says "if you have more bedrooms than people living in the property you are likely to save money using a water meter"Other Posters are correct in saying should you request a water meter you can have it installed and if you don't like it after one year you can revert to the old way of billing. They won't remove the water meter, just the way you're charged.

Jeffrey Cope ● 1976d

Nicholas. We have lawns front and rear of our premises which after all the May rain are very green and lush, and growing at  a considerable rate of knots. However for the last 40 years have never had a sprinkler throwing valuable water on to them. In my view sprinkling lawns is simply unnecessary and an utter waste. Grass always comes back after an extended dry period without fail. So the point I am making here to everyone is please do not waste water.

Chris Vessey ● 1975d

If you need to water your garden, fitting a water butt to the rainwater downpipe is a good way to do it.

Richard Greenhough ● 1975d

If you haven't looked at the different sorts of water butts available to buy recently then it is worth looking again.  There are all different sorts sizes shapes and colours. Pink rattan or large amphora anyone?  And you never know someone may want to give one away that they've never had fitted.

Philippa Bond ● 1975d