water rates

[Craig Johnson]

does any one know how the water companies work out what we pay?  the bill says 'charge per £ of RV'  next door is 4 bands higher in rateable value, much bigger house pays £40 less or have i got the wrong end of the stick as the more i look the less sense it makes 

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

On my list of bills to examine with a much finer toothed comb too.  

 

Been meaning to check it out for ages.  

 

Maybe not directly relevant to yourself (unless septic tank is involved in your situation too) I think, there is a reduced rate if you don't discharge to mains sewer - hopefully someone like the eggmeister might know something about that...

 

So I don't 'know' that the water company have me listed as not discharging to mains - I need to check that.

 

 

[eggsarascal]

1 hour ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

On my list of bills to examine with a much finer toothed comb too.  

 

Been meaning to check it out for ages.  

 

Maybe not directly relevant to yourself (unless septic tank is involved in your situation too) I think, there is a reduced rate if you don't discharge to mains sewer - hopefully someone like the eggmeister might know something about that...

 

So I don't 'know' that the water company have me listed as not discharging to mains - I need to check that.

 

 

Remember I've been away from the water authority for a good time.

 

If you are on a septic tank you loose the grey and foul water discharge off your bill, if your surface water goes to soak away you loose that, or a percentage of it off your bill.

 

It was said, get a meter if there are more bedrooms than people occupying a property. We went on a meter when we had the bungalow and saved about 20%.

 

I've no idea how a house 4 bands higher can have cheaper bills than a smaller house.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Would anyone be willing to say what sort of money they are paying per year for water rates?  Trying to get a feel for what it might be.

 

I'm £282 for period 1 Apr 21 - 31 Mar 22 (that's with some sort of magical added government rebate of £50 - not sure how that shit works?  Government tax me then give me my money back as a rebate in the water bill?  And also something called South West water Water Share - if SWW 'outperform' their business prediction - I get £20 off my bill - so again, SWW take MY money for their business then if they take more than they needed they give me some scraps back.)

 

The bill appears to tell me that I am charged according to the rateable value set by the LA and that since 1990 it has not been possible to seek to change a rateable value.  It doesn't tell me what my rateable value is though - like, where am I on the scale and what additions deletions might have been applied when the rateable value was set.

 

I've just set up an online account with South West Water to try and find answer to my questions (do I have a rebate / reduction for no foul mains) but it's about as much use a tits on a flat fish.  I'll probably have to phone Mumbai for a couple of hours tomorrow...

 

Detached, 4 bed, with septic tank (old style soak away) and no mains sewer connection.  Rainwater goes to soak-away or to ground.  

 

What are people paying if on a meter?  

 

[eggsarascal]

38 minutes ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

Would anyone be willing to say what sort of money they are paying per year for water rates?  Trying to get a feel for what it might be.

 

I'm £282 for period 1 Apr 21 - 31 Mar 22 (that's with some sort of magical added government rebate of £50 - not sure how that shit works?  Government tax me then give me my money back as a rebate in the water bill?  And also something called South West water Water Share - if SWW 'outperform' their business prediction - I get £20 off my bill - so again, SWW take MY money for their business then if they take more than they needed they give me some scraps back.)

 

The bill appears to tell me that I am charged according to the rateable value set by the LA and that since 1990 it has not been possible to seek to change a rateable value.  It doesn't tell me what my rateable value is though - like, where am I on the scale and what additions deletions might have been applied when the rateable value was set.

 

I've just set up an online account with South West Water to try and find answer to my questions (do I have a rebate / reduction for no foul mains) but it's about as much use a tits on a flat fish.  I'll probably have to phone Mumbai for a couple of hours tomorrow...

 

Detached, 4 bed, with septic tank (old style soak away) and no mains sewer connection.  Rainwater goes to soak-away or to ground.  

 

What are people paying if on a meter?  

 

Post a picture of your last statement/bill, let's have a look at it.

[Peasgood]

1 hour ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

Detached, 4 bed, with septic tank (old style soak away) and no mains sewer connection.  Rainwater goes to soak-away or to ground.  

 

What are people paying if on a meter?  

I paid just under half your bill for same property description but mine is a farm and I'd expect to use a lot more water than purely domestic.

My meter did stop working for a while though, unfortunately it started again. £57 for one quarter was my max.

Just looked and I haven't paid my last bill never mind the latest one, also it is estimated so could be miles out.

[Craig Johnson]

two bed bungalow water only, septic tank and soak away discounts £420 

[openspaceman]

14 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

Would anyone be willing to say what sort of money they are paying per year for water rates?

Actually thanks to @Craig Johnson I checked my direct debits today; it looks like I pay £43/month for 10 months of the year. Now that means it costs me more than my electricity of gas. As I heat with wood and produce my own electricity  it looks like it makes sense to use my own water.

 

It's a small house, no water meter, discharge surface water to soakaway but on mains drainage.

 

The interesting thing is if I have a meter fitted and use well water for toilet flushing my drainage charge will go down too.

 

I'm not sure whether it would be worth filtering the well water and using it for domestic hot water and showers.

[Dan Maynard]

In a previous job my boss decided to build his own factory unit, went for triple thick insulation, heat pump, individual room temperature sensors, rainwater harvesting for flushing toilets, biodigester and pond.

 

Trouble was, algae built up in the cisterns so the toilets always smelt a bit pondy and water in the bowl was greeny brown colour before using it. Went back to mains water for flushing rather than start using our own chemicals.

[Peasgood]

14 hours ago, Peasgood said:

I paid just under half your bill for same property description but mine is a farm and I'd expect to use a lot more water than purely domestic.

My meter did stop working for a while though, unfortunately it started again. £57 for one quarter was my max.

Just looked and I haven't paid my last bill never mind the latest one, also it is estimated so could be miles out.

Just checked my meter and I have been overcharged as the actual reading is below their estimate for the last two bills.

Having said that the meter is obviously wonky as it says I only used 7 cube since May, I know for a fact I have filled my 1200litre sprayer 28 times since then never mind any of the other stuff.