F*** me my Water Bill has shot up.

F*** me my Water Bill has shot up.

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Discussion

croyde

Original Poster:

24,768 posts

245 months

Yesterday (09:48)
quotequote all
Double what it was. Looks like a 25 percent increase per unit cost and a doubling of the fixed charge.

Never ends, does it.

I walked out of my job not long ago due to no payrise in 6 years and now trying to make do on savings.

Just a moan, no point ringing a worker drone at the call centre, I've checked the meter and it's as the bill says, looks like they actually sent someone to get on their knees and get hands dirty to read it. That's a first, guess they can suddenly afford meter readers again.

Saying that, someone came round to read the gas and electric the other day. I think the last time I saw someone from the gas/electric company was around 2012 biggrin

Swervin_Mervin

4,742 posts

253 months

Yesterday (09:53)
quotequote all
We've just had ours through. I don't have anything to do with the utility bills, but my eyes were on stalks when I saw what it is for the next year. It's getting on for a 150% increase in 13 years we've been here.

Going to have to start rationing shower time and toilet flushes!

OutInTheShed

11,330 posts

41 months

Yesterday (10:09)
quotequote all
Water (and sewerage) has been stupidly cheap for too long.
Now people are whining about % increases.

Particularly in the South East, where water is scarce and people are wasteful.

Gov't needs to nationalise Thames water, jail a few people for polluting rivers and impose water meters on all homes.

EmailAddress

14,475 posts

233 months

Yesterday (10:15)
quotequote all
OutInTheShed said:
Water (and sewerage) has been stupidly cheap for too long.
Now people are whining about % increases.

Particularly in the South East, where water is scarce and people are wasteful.

Gov't needs to nationalise Thames water, jail a few people for polluting rivers and impose water meters on all homes.
Don't buy into that ste.

A: We don't need all water to homes to be fully processed. We absolutely need a second tier for non-drinking

B: Let's criticise water companies for leaking and insufficient infrastructure while pissing money on themselves

C: Government and Local Authority action, shoehorning business and homes into every last inch of areas that cannot support the people's needs

Once we've addressed top down, then maybe we can start to criticise Janet for having a 7 minute shower, or next door for washing their 40k mobile asset so it doesn't rot away into winter.

Simon_GH

717 posts

95 months

Yesterday (10:19)
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I’m pretty sure that when Tim Harford reported on this, metered water prices have reduced over the last few years but unmetered water has increased significantly. I guess unmetered access to a utility doesn’t help people see water as a valuable commodity to use economically. Water prices have been forecast to increase. We have plenty of rainfall in this country (not recently in most areas obviously) but I don’t think we’ve been building reservoirs for decades despite the increasing population.

dhutch

16,390 posts

212 months

Yesterday (10:20)
quotequote all
EmailAddress said:
We absolutely need a second tier for non-drinking
This would be local-scale not a national pipework network.

Aka, get your own rain water capture sorted, and plumb it into your loos and washing machine.

The Three D Mucketeer

6,522 posts

242 months

Yesterday (10:21)
quotequote all
They also blame the population increase for an increased need for water , but never mention they are having more customers paying getmecoat


Truth is they've been milking the Victorian infrastructure for years and not investing

Simon_GH

717 posts

95 months

Yesterday (10:23)
quotequote all
Houses should have rainwater capture systems for flushing the loos, a also think a diverted value for grey water would be useful for watering the garden, we’ve just got used to flat rate water on an island with plenty of rain,

Nezquick

1,624 posts

141 months

Yesterday (10:34)
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Surely this has all been caused by the water companies siphoning money off to pay their massive salaries and shareholders, whilst doing absolutely nothing to make the infrastructure any better at all, and now lumping all of the costs which need to be spent onto joe public because they basically go about their business unchecked.

bad company

20,490 posts

281 months

Yesterday (10:39)
quotequote all
Easy solution. Don’t bath or shower for a few weeks/months. laugh

EmailAddress

14,475 posts

233 months

Yesterday (10:41)
quotequote all
dhutch said:
EmailAddress said:
We absolutely need a second tier for non-drinking
This would be local-scale not a national pipework network.

Aka, get your own rain water capture sorted, and plumb it into your loos and washing machine.
That would last a few weekends in the South, for those with gardens.

It should have been a National initiative half a century ago.

There's approx. 10 countries in the World that do it the same way we do, and half of them will be in real trouble in the next few decades.

Our water companies should take a longterm view, invest billions and be set. But...

jezhumphrey75

312 posts

163 months

Yesterday (10:41)
quotequote all
same as in the water butt thread.....having a river behind my house, harvesting the rain aswell was a game changer for me...got it down to £45ish a month for 3 people doing washing clothes every other day, aswell as dishes, flush toilets etc

fun fact if you cancel and close your account,whilst they send you bills...... then 3/4 months later make a new fake named account, they tried to bill me for a quarter...i said that was the old owners bill and ive started again from a date of your choosing when you "bought the house"

boom deleted over a quarters worth of water bills just like that, funny its as if water is free ay!

or become a dinghy man and get free hot showers all day.

Edited by jezhumphrey75 on Thursday 10th July 10:46

EmailAddress

14,475 posts

233 months

Yesterday (10:42)
quotequote all
bad company said:
Easy solution. Don t bath or shower for a few weeks/months. laugh
Meanwhile, that petrol station car-washing crew. The one with thirty guys on the 'payroll'. Continue to piss jetwash it down the drain...

Simpo Two

88,999 posts

280 months

Yesterday (10:42)
quotequote all
Simon_GH said:
I m pretty sure that when Tim Harford reported on this, metered water prices have reduced over the last few years but unmetered water has increased significantly. I guess unmetered access to a utility doesn t help people see water as a valuable commodity to use economically.
One of my neighbours deliberately doesn't have a water meter because his family use a lot of water. You can hardly blame him for choosing the best option for him, but from what you say the metered customers are subsidising the unmetered ones.

PhilboSE

5,168 posts

241 months

Yesterday (10:46)
quotequote all
One of mine more than doubled but when I checked it turns out that I used to have separate accounts (providers) for water & sewerage, and now it's combined into one.

On the one hand, the quality of water we get is very good and it's very cheap by volume. On the other, the price increases are only because the shareholders have done the classic case of leveraging the business with debt and taking it all out in dividends. In the meantime they have minimised investment in the infrastructure and flushed sewerage straight into our rivers, because it's cheaper than processing it and the Government (through Ofwat) has let them do it unsanctioned for decades.

The state that successive Governments has let the water infrastructure get to in this country is an abomination. And the water companies have the cheek to send me letters telling me how precious water is, and how I can save 10l a day by changing my behaviour...at the same time they lose millions of litres every day through leaks.

BBC and others going on about the dry spring and summer...after one of the wettest Autumns and winters. Reservoirs should be brimming, and if they're not, why not? They've all been going on about climate change long enough, surely it's down to them to join up the dots?

EmailAddress

14,475 posts

233 months

Yesterday (10:46)
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
One of my neighbours deliberately doesn't have a water meter because his family use a lot of water. You can hardly blame him for choosing the best option for him, but from what you say the metered customers are subsidising the unmetered ones.
I Noah-guy who has a swimming pool. He's unmetered. Still moans.

dhutch

16,390 posts

212 months

Yesterday (10:47)
quotequote all
The Three D Mucketeer said:
Truth is they've been milking the Victorian infrastructure for years and not investing
Absolutely that!

It was that good going in it lasted 100 years without drama, and now its 150 years and the cracks are showing.

We have currently had our water pressure turned down to the legal minimum (1bar 9l/min) in an attempt to reduce leakage and bursts.
Ostensibly its short term during this spring/summers drought and will come back up soon, but I can see it becoming the new norm.


Sheepshanks

37,126 posts

134 months

Yesterday (10:49)
quotequote all
Simon_GH said:
I m pretty sure that when Tim Harford reported on this, metered water prices have reduced over the last few years....
I'm struggling to believe that - can you point to where that info comes from?

bad company

20,490 posts

281 months

Yesterday (10:51)
quotequote all
dhutch said:
The Three D Mucketeer said:
Truth is they've been milking the Victorian infrastructure for years and not investing
Absolutely that!

It was that good going in it lasted 100 years without drama, and now its 150 years and the cracks are showing.

We have currently had our water pressure turned down to the legal minimum (1bar 9l/min) in an attempt to reduce leakage and bursts.
Ostensibly its short term during this spring/summers drought and will come back up soon, but I can see it becoming the new norm.
I used to be a shareholder of water companies but sold because I thought the dividends would be cut or reduced for the reasons above. Surprisingly and wrongly imo the dividends are still being paid.

dhutch

16,390 posts

212 months

Yesterday (10:51)
quotequote all
EmailAddress said:
dhutch said:
EmailAddress said:
We absolutely need a second tier for non-drinking
This would be local-scale not a national pipework network.

Aka, get your own rain water capture sorted, and plumb it into your loos and washing machine. (and lawns!)
That would last a few weekends in the South, for those with gardens.

It should have been a National initiative half a century ago.

There's approx. 10 countries in the World that do it the same way we do, and half of them will be in real trouble in the next few decades.

Our water companies should take a longterm view, invest billions and be set. But...
Oh I mean, we have only just about got there with SUDS for new builds, but you are right that we should have been sorting this stuff decades ago.

We have a number water buts, around 850l total just for gardening, but I am thinking of putting in a bank of 2-3 IBCs for next summer.