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Default water meter - saving water

I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk
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On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:35:53 +0000, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?

I had a water meter installed a few years ago. At first you are
tempted do things like not flushing the loo every time you have a wee,
using a car wash rather than your hose and brush (!) , topping up the
pond only when it's virtually dry, measuring the quantity of water you
put in the kettle and so on, but just sit back and relax; unless you
have loads of kids who leave taps turned on, your bills should
seriously reduce. I currently pay around 180 pounds a year for water
supply and disposal.

I still use a sprinkler on both front and back lawns, although
hydration hasn't been _too_ much of a problem for a year or two!

--
Frank Erskine
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"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?


don't worry about it too much, unless you take 2 hour showers every morning
that is, just live as normal and keep an eye on the meter readings to see
how you do.

I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.


Get a few more rain barrels, make sure all the down pipes feed them, i.e.
put one or 2 on the garage downpipe, one round the front of the house if
allowed etc.

Top the pond up with water from the barrels, but dont fret if you have to
add some from the tap, as long as your not doing it every day it wont matter
much.

I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler if
possible.


fit the hose pipe to the rain butts, add a pump if needed and sprinkle the
lawn like that, wash the car from them too, hell if you wanted bath in them,

actually if you have a large lawn that needs a good sprinkeling, see about
diverting the bath/shower water into a few barrels, grass dont care about a
few skin flakes and a bit of head and shoulders in the middle of summer
(assuming we get one this year, we've over due one)

Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?


pee in the cisterns, use that to flush turds??

i always found that if you faff about reducing the water in a cistern, you
just end up flushing the damn thing twice to make it work properly,
if you have a 1970's 2 gallon flush bog, then maybe get a modern one that
uses half the water to flush, but it's the pan that makes the differance,
fitting a smaller cistern to an old pan results in a poor flushing action,
because the outlet holes and the rim is designed for a certian force of
water to work,

wish we had the direct flush bogs like you used to get in germany, you only
need to push the 'nose' for long enough to flush the contents away, bit like
the toilet in my motorhome, i hold the flush switch in for as long as it
takes to clear the bowl, waste tank holds 17 litres in total, and it takes a
week to fill with 2 people using it (we never use campsite bogs)

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Default water meter - saving water

Janet Tweedy wrote:
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year.


They increase costs for the average user

What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?


yes.

Tap aerators too.

In Japan basins that empty straight into the big cistern are common.


NT
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wrote in message
...
Janet Tweedy wrote:
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year.


They increase costs for the average user

What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?


yes.

Tap aerators too.

In Japan basins that empty straight into the big cistern are common.


Why would you want an aerator?




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"gazz" wrote in message
...

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?


don't worry about it too much, unless you take 2 hour showers every
morning that is, just live as normal and keep an eye on the meter readings
to see how you do.

I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.


Get a few more rain barrels, make sure all the down pipes feed them, i.e.
put one or 2 on the garage downpipe, one round the front of the house if
allowed etc.

Top the pond up with water from the barrels, but dont fret if you have to
add some from the tap, as long as your not doing it every day it wont
matter much.

I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler if
possible.


fit the hose pipe to the rain butts, add a pump if needed and sprinkle the
lawn like that, wash the car from them too, hell if you wanted bath in
them,


If you enjoy sharing your bath with various wter borne organisms.


actually if you have a large lawn that needs a good sprinkeling, see about
diverting the bath/shower water into a few barrels, grass dont care about
a few skin flakes and a bit of head and shoulders in the middle of summer
(assuming we get one this year, we've over due one)



Long term use of grey water from baths will produce problems. Grass (As in a
cultuvated lawn) does not like alkaline. Soap residue will start to destroy
it. Use water from a bath and washbasin for pre-wash on the car and rinse
wth barrel water.


Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?


Most water authorities will supply a free "Saver" of some type. Some provide
a "Hippo Bag" others more solid devices.



pee in the cisterns, use that to flush turds??


Apart from health issues here the smell will become a problem in warmer
bathrooms.



i always found that if you faff about reducing the water in a cistern, you
just end up flushing the damn thing twice to make it work properly,
if you have a 1970's 2 gallon flush bog, then maybe get a modern one that
uses half the water to flush, but it's the pan that makes the differance,
fitting a smaller cistern to an old pan results in a poor flushing action,
because the outlet holes and the rim is designed for a certian force of
water to work,


Complete crap about the outlet hole. I have just fitted a concealed flush
panel which has an air button operated dual flush. 1 for light use after
peeing etc. and the 2nd for more awkward to flush stuff. If you use both it
releases the full 5 litres. Al through the original feed pipe to the loo.


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Janet Tweedy wrote:
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?

Janet

Oh dear.

Look. Wash, don't bath. Or shower.


**** in the garden

sell the dishwasher.
Sell the washing machine.

Once you have to wash by hand, you will naturally find ways to just
rinse the coffee cups, and discover that washing clothes isn't something
you need to do EVERY day.

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R wrote:
wrote in message
...
Janet Tweedy wrote:
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year.


They increase costs for the average user

What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?


yes.

Tap aerators too.

In Japan basins that empty straight into the big cistern are common.


Why would you want an aerator?


same spread for hand washing with less water use


NT
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In message , Janet Tweedy
writes
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year.


We had a water meter fitted when we lived in Leeds, it certainly saved
us money over paying the standard bill, even without any special effort
to cut down water use.
What sort of things can I do to cut costs as much as possible?


first, I'd say, not too worry too much. We have a decent sized garden
and grow fruit and veg, we have a greenhouse and a pond Our consumption
doesn't seem to vary much between summer and winter, which tells me that
most consumption is related to the household needs. Even things like
forgetting to turn the hose pipe off and it running all night..... And
we live in one of the drier areas of the country

I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.


You can always use a barrel to fill it as well. what I do is run a hose
from a barrel into the pond when it rains and leave the barrel tap open.
Occasionally we have to use the tap, but not too often, so I don't
really worry about the cost that much (topping up a 10 sq m pond 6
inches is about 1.5 cubic metres , which would cost us about GBP 3 -
3.50). you can always get more barrels, they can be located away from
the down pipes and connected to other barrels via a fixed pip or syphon
arrangement. Though it takes a little while to get the money back in
water saved.

I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.


Sprinklers can be costly in water use if you use them a lot. Lawns don't
need watering, they will go brown in longer periods of dry weather but
recover quickly once it rains. it's wasteful to water beds with a
sprinkler as you get a lot of evaporative loses, and water where you
don't need it. watering by hand, or using an irrigation system makes
better use of the water.

Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?


If you have an old cistern yes it can be, with a more modern lower
consumption cistern no. But check how it affects the performance of the
flush. Our water co. will supply a free Hippo bag type thing.

If you have lots of baths, then having a shower instead uses a fair
amount less, obviously things like not leaving taps running and fixing
leaking taps all add together to make a bit of a difference.
--
Chris French

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On 16 Feb, 23:35, Janet Tweedy wrote:
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, *although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraphhttp://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk


I've noticed garden/lawn sprinklers being used in my neighbourhood
after a couple of dry warm days.
I've been gardening for decades, and have a garden, allotment and some
hand in a community garden. Garden at home hasn't needed or had a hose/
sprinkler used on it in 26 years; only young seedling get sprayed with
a watering can, as do things in tubs if they seem to be drying out.
Allotment needs hose maybe 4 or 5 times a season if there has been hot
sun and no rain for a couple of weeks; otherwise seed beds/seedlings
are done with watering can. Community garden has no accessible water
source and even in a three month spring/summer drought several years
back there was little damage to grass or plants.

In short, plants are great survivors - water only if really necessary
in long dry periods, not as a matter of course.
Water young seedlings and individual plants that need it with a
watering can.

Toom


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On Feb 16, 11:35*pm, Janet Tweedy wrote:
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, *although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?



My advice: don't use a hosepipe on the garden unless you are holding
it.

Robert

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On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:39:07 -0000, gazz wrote:

i always found that if you faff about reducing the water in a cistern, you
just end up flushing the damn thing twice to make it work properly,
if you have a 1970's 2 gallon flush bog, then maybe get a modern one that
uses half the water to flush, but it's the pan that makes the differance,
fitting a smaller cistern to an old pan results in a poor flushing action,
because the outlet holes and the rim is designed for a certian force of
water to work,


Very true: I had a 1950s pan, designed for a high-level, 2-gallon flush and
had a low-level flush on it.
About twice a week it would need 3 - 5 flushes (no, I'm not boasting!) as
the flushing rate and pattern didn't suit the pan.
I fitted a Vitra with l-l flush and it's never been blocked in 2 years and
also cut ~100li/week from the useage.
--
Peter.
You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion?
It's not rocket science, you know.
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On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:22:28 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Janet Tweedy wrote:
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler
if possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?

Janet

Oh dear.

Look. Wash, don't bath. Or shower.


With the correct shower head for the use, I'm running the shower at 4.75kW
even with the low incoming temperature; in the 'Summer' it'll be on 3.75kW
- if I'm fast I can have the shower on for ~3.5 min.

**** in the garden

sell the dishwasher.
Sell the washing machine.

Once you have to wash by hand, you will naturally find ways to just
rinse the coffee cups, and discover that washing clothes isn't something
you need to do EVERY day.


I wash up by hand every 3 - 4 days.
As I need to rinse clothes quite well, I've found that a load of laundry
that uses 50li in the machine uses more than that by hand - and takes far
longer to do.
--
Peter.
You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion?
It's not rocket science, you know.
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"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler if
possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?

Janet


The bills drop. If you want really low bills install a rainwater harvesting
and waste water reclaim system - a tank under the garden. Your water
charges drops as well as less water goes down the sewer. It is one of the
few retrofit measures that have a quickish payback. The other is the
GasSaver used on some condensing boilers - 3 to 5 years.


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In article ,
Alang writes:

If you get an underground leak and don't spot it you can end up with a
bill for thousands


Some household insurance will cover you for this, but
by no means all.

I had a ballvalve break in the toilet cistern overnight,
resulting in filling at full bore speed (and amazingly
the overflow coped, just). I don't know how long it was
running for (8 hours max), but that trebled my water
usage that 6 month period. Water company provides a
graph of usage over past 3 years on the bills, and there
was a large spike.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
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"Doctor Drivel" wrote in message
...

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
I've just had a water meter installed. Hopefully it will save on the
normal bill of about 580 pounds a year. What sort of things can I do to
cut costs as much as possible?
I have four rain barrels, although I'm a bit worried about the need to
top up the a small pond we have, in the summer.
I do have a sprinkler and a hose so will try and not use the sprinkler if
possible.
Is it worth putting something in the cisterns of the toilets?

Janet


The bills drop. If you want really low bills install a rainwater
harvesting and waste water reclaim system - a tank under the garden. Your
water charges drops as well as less water goes down the sewer. It is one
of the few retrofit measures that have a quickish payback. The other is
the GasSaver used on some condensing boilers - 3 to 5 years.


You can justify the costs of rainwater collection quite easily as the whole
kit is cheap using a lot of used orange juice containers.

You could use a basic septic tank (around £500) and a submersible pump
(around £50). Since you are only using collected rainwater for lavatory
flushing there's no requirement to filter it, but if you did want to use it
for washing etc. then you should
be able to find a fairly simple filter system for under £100. Installation
adds on a bit. The downpipes from the roof have to feed into the tank which
overflows into the sewer.

The off-the-shelf 'de-luxe' packages starting at a couple of grand would
have a longer payback period.

Water charges are reduced as less rainwater is going down the sewers. Your
water charges are joint water and sewer. The water eventually goes down it.
Using rainwater to flush toilets (which is 40%, or more, of total water use)
reduces sewer use.

The water bills should drop by 2/3 using rainwater collection.

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Doctor Drivel wrote:

You can justify the costs of rainwater collection quite easily as the whole
kit is cheap using a lot of used orange juice containers.


Makes my day


NT
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In article ,
PeterC writes:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:31:37 +0000, chris French wrote:

Both my current water supply co. (Cambridge water) and my previous one
(Yorkshire water) have a procedure whereby if a leak in the supply pipe
is discovered then they will only charge you for the estimated actual
consumption - not the leakage. We had a leak, discovered when the meter
reading was high and they did indeed refund us.

They will also repair free of charge leaks in the supply pipe. Even on
your property where it is your responsibility


Anglia Water once said the same - does any one know if it still applies?


They all said it for a while when the government put pressure
on them about mains leaks. AFAIK, they pretty well all stopped
offering such a service. (I'm surprised Cambridge water still do.)
Anglia Water sell insurance protection, with dire warnings about
how much it would cost you if you don't take it out and you do
get a leak.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
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In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
PeterC writes:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:31:37 +0000, chris French wrote:

Both my current water supply co. (Cambridge water) and my previous one
(Yorkshire water) have a procedure whereby if a leak in the supply pipe
is discovered then they will only charge you for the estimated actual
consumption - not the leakage. We had a leak, discovered when the meter
reading was high and they did indeed refund us.

They will also repair free of charge leaks in the supply pipe. Even on
your property where it is your responsibility


Anglia Water once said the same - does any one know if it still applies?


They all said it for a while when the government put pressure
on them about mains leaks. AFAIK, they pretty well all stopped
offering such a service. (I'm surprised Cambridge water still do.)
Anglia Water sell insurance protection, with dire warnings about
how much it would cost you if you don't take it out and you do
get a leak.


Anglia still seem to offer a free, one off, repair/pipe replacement
service

http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/index....ionid=106&part
entid=14
--
Chris French

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In message , Alang
writes
On 18 Feb 2009 11:09:40 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
PeterC writes:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:31:37 +0000, chris French wrote:

Both my current water supply co. (Cambridge water) and my previous one
(Yorkshire water) have a procedure whereby if a leak in the supply pipe
is discovered then they will only charge you for the estimated actual
consumption - not the leakage. We had a leak, discovered when the meter
reading was high and they did indeed refund us.

They will also repair free of charge leaks in the supply pipe. Even on
your property where it is your responsibility

Anglia Water once said the same - does any one know if it still applies?


They all said it for a while when the government put pressure
on them about mains leaks. AFAIK, they pretty well all stopped
offering such a service. (I'm surprised Cambridge water still do.)
Anglia Water sell insurance protection, with dire warnings about
how much it would cost you if you don't take it out and you do
get a leak.


Same with Northumbrian water. Letters every year pointing out it will
cost thousands to fix a leak on your property



Who also offer a free repair service.

This is of course for the supply pipe outside, it doesn't cover leaks to
the supply once it gets to your house.

We used to get the letters selling 'leaks' insurance as well, but they
don't anymore since i asked them to stop.
--
Chris French



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On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:06:07 +0000, chris French wrote:

In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
PeterC writes:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:31:37 +0000, chris French wrote:

Both my current water supply co. (Cambridge water) and my previous one
(Yorkshire water) have a procedure whereby if a leak in the supply pipe
is discovered then they will only charge you for the estimated actual
consumption - not the leakage. We had a leak, discovered when the meter
reading was high and they did indeed refund us.

They will also repair free of charge leaks in the supply pipe. Even on
your property where it is your responsibility

Anglia Water once said the same - does any one know if it still applies?


They all said it for a while when the government put pressure
on them about mains leaks. AFAIK, they pretty well all stopped
offering such a service. (I'm surprised Cambridge water still do.)
Anglia Water sell insurance protection, with dire warnings about
how much it would cost you if you don't take it out and you do
get a leak.


Anglia still seem to offer a free, one off, repair/pipe replacement
service

http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/index....ionid=106&part
entid=14


Thanks for that - PDF duly filed away until I forget it!
--
Peter.
You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion?
It's not rocket science, you know.
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On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:48:30 +0000, chris French
wrote:

In message , Alang
writes
On 18 Feb 2009 11:09:40 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
PeterC writes:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:31:37 +0000, chris French wrote:

Both my current water supply co. (Cambridge water) and my previous one
(Yorkshire water) have a procedure whereby if a leak in the supply pipe
is discovered then they will only charge you for the estimated actual
consumption - not the leakage. We had a leak, discovered when the meter
reading was high and they did indeed refund us.

They will also repair free of charge leaks in the supply pipe. Even on
your property where it is your responsibility

Anglia Water once said the same - does any one know if it still applies?

They all said it for a while when the government put pressure
on them about mains leaks. AFAIK, they pretty well all stopped
offering such a service. (I'm surprised Cambridge water still do.)
Anglia Water sell insurance protection, with dire warnings about
how much it would cost you if you don't take it out and you do
get a leak.


Same with Northumbrian water. Letters every year pointing out it will
cost thousands to fix a leak on your property



Who also offer a free repair service.


Not that I'm aware of. The supply from the stop tap at the boundary is
my responsibility according to the letters they send me. I confess I
don't bother reading them anymore though.

This is of course for the supply pipe outside, it doesn't cover leaks to
the supply once it gets to your house.

We used to get the letters selling 'leaks' insurance as well, but they
don't anymore since i asked them to stop.


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In article , Andrew Gabriel
writes

I had a ballvalve break in the toilet cistern overnight,
resulting in filling at full bore speed (and amazingly
the overflow coped, just). I don't know how long it was
running for (8 hours max), but that trebled my water
usage that 6 month period. Water company provides a
graph of usage over past 3 years on the bills, and there
was a large spike.

But it says in the literature that you are allowed 1 major loss of
water and they will adjust your bill accordingly for that. At least it
says so on the leaflet from 3 valleys.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk
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In article , chris French
writes
lots of good tips.

Thanks Chris and to everyone else, I guess it will be true that you are
paranoid for about three months and thereafter just learn to use it as
best you can.

Most estimates for the future usage don't come anywhere as high as the
current bills based on the rateable value.

Janet

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk
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Janet Tweedy wrote:
In article , chris French
writes
lots of good tips.

Thanks Chris and to everyone else, I guess it will be true that you are
paranoid for about three months and thereafter just learn to use it as
best you can.

Most estimates for the future usage don't come anywhere as high as the
current bills based on the rateable value.

Janet

I just have a nasty feeling about these experiences. Looks as if the
charges are set such that most people would benefit by changing to
metered supply. But, when most people are on metered supplies, the
companies will have to raise the costs in order to maintain their
incomes. So it looks as if the current rates are being used as an
inducement and likely cannot be sustained long term.

Cynical? Moi?

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org


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On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:48:26 +0000, Rod wrote:

Janet Tweedy wrote:
In article , chris French
writes
lots of good tips.

Thanks Chris and to everyone else, I guess it will be true that you are
paranoid for about three months and thereafter just learn to use it as
best you can.

Most estimates for the future usage don't come anywhere as high as the
current bills based on the rateable value.

Janet

I just have a nasty feeling about these experiences. Looks as if the
charges are set such that most people would benefit by changing to
metered supply. But, when most people are on metered supplies, the
companies will have to raise the costs in order to maintain their
incomes. So it looks as if the current rates are being used as an
inducement and likely cannot be sustained long term.

Cynical? Moi?


That was my feeling, so I went on as soon as I could. By the time the great
washed masses join us I'll have saved thousands :-)
--
Peter.
You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion?
It's not rocket science, you know.
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In message , Alang
writes
On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:48:30 +0000, chris French
wrote:

In message , Alang
writes
On 18 Feb 2009 11:09:40 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
PeterC writes:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:31:37 +0000, chris French wrote:

Both my current water supply co. (Cambridge water) and my previous one
(Yorkshire water) have a procedure whereby if a leak in the supply pipe
is discovered then they will only charge you for the estimated actual
consumption - not the leakage. We had a leak, discovered when the meter
reading was high and they did indeed refund us.

They will also repair free of charge leaks in the supply pipe. Even on
your property where it is your responsibility

Anglia Water once said the same - does any one know if it still applies?

They all said it for a while when the government put pressure
on them about mains leaks. AFAIK, they pretty well all stopped
offering such a service. (I'm surprised Cambridge water still do.)
Anglia Water sell insurance protection, with dire warnings about
how much it would cost you if you don't take it out and you do
get a leak.

Same with Northumbrian water. Letters every year pointing out it will
cost thousands to fix a leak on your property



Who also offer a free repair service.


Not that I'm aware of.


http://www.nwl.co.uk/leakage_NW_4_Aug_06(2).pdf


The supply from the stop tap at the boundary is
my responsibility according to the letters they send me.


That is correct. They are just offering a free service (with a few
conditions) to reapir the leak rather than you having to pay someone.

I confess I
don't bother reading them anymore though.


shrug Sometimes it's beneficial to differentiate between junk and
useful information.
--
Chris French

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On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:48:26 +0000 Rod wrote :
I just have a nasty feeling about these experiences. Looks as if the
charges are set such that most people would benefit by changing to
metered supply. But, when most people are on metered supplies, the
companies will have to raise the costs in order to maintain their
incomes. So it looks as if the current rates are being used as an
inducement and likely cannot be sustained long term.


Save that if metering reduces or reverses the growth in water usage,
the water companies can save big money on new infrastructure.

--
Tony Bryer, 'Software to build on' from Greentram
www.superbeam.co.uk www.superbeam.com www.greentram.com

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Tony Bryer wrote:
On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:48:26 +0000 Rod wrote :
I just have a nasty feeling about these experiences. Looks as if the
charges are set such that most people would benefit by changing to
metered supply. But, when most people are on metered supplies, the
companies will have to raise the costs in order to maintain their
incomes. So it looks as if the current rates are being used as an
inducement and likely cannot be sustained long term.


Save that if metering reduces or reverses the growth in water usage,
the water companies can save big money on new infrastructure.

Accepted as an argument. But from some responses (and what I have read
elsewhere in the past) it appears that the savings in cost *without*
reducing consumption markedly have reduced the incentive to save.

(On the other hand, I know someone who has the most disgusting WCs
because they are scared of the cost of a flush. Quite possibly because
they have never worked out the actual costs involved.)

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org
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On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:17:38 +0000, chris French
wrote:

In message , Alang
writes
On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:48:30 +0000, chris French
wrote:

In message , Alang
writes
On 18 Feb 2009 11:09:40 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
PeterC writes:
On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:31:37 +0000, chris French wrote:

Both my current water supply co. (Cambridge water) and my previous one
(Yorkshire water) have a procedure whereby if a leak in the supply pipe
is discovered then they will only charge you for the estimated actual
consumption - not the leakage. We had a leak, discovered when the meter
reading was high and they did indeed refund us.

They will also repair free of charge leaks in the supply pipe. Even on
your property where it is your responsibility

Anglia Water once said the same - does any one know if it still applies?

They all said it for a while when the government put pressure
on them about mains leaks. AFAIK, they pretty well all stopped
offering such a service. (I'm surprised Cambridge water still do.)
Anglia Water sell insurance protection, with dire warnings about
how much it would cost you if you don't take it out and you do
get a leak.

Same with Northumbrian water. Letters every year pointing out it will
cost thousands to fix a leak on your property


Who also offer a free repair service.


Not that I'm aware of.


http://www.nwl.co.uk/leakage_NW_4_Aug_06(2).pdf


Interesting. They have certainly changed from the original contract of
supply we got.

The supply from the stop tap at the boundary is
my responsibility according to the letters they send me.


That is correct. They are just offering a free service (with a few
conditions) to reapir the leak rather than you having to pay someone.


Then the scare letters we get every year can still be ignored but with
more reason


I confess I
don't bother reading them anymore though.


shrug Sometimes it's beneficial to differentiate between junk and
useful information.


Difficult when so much junk comes in
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