Anglefire Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 I changed our water bill to an online account last year and it is due again in April. I've just checked the amount and is says : Quote Please select the account and enter the amount you wish to pay. Now, it is pre-populated with the full amount- given I want to pay nothing, do you think this will be an acceptable option Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 My grandfather, "Old" Tom got a tax demand on his savings from the revenue. He was outraged and refused to pay. It went on for months, but eventually the letters stopped coming. He was very pleased with himself and ever after said "You just have to be firm with them and tell them you're not paying!" What he didn't know was his daughters had paid the bill to save him from jail. I would contemplate the jail option before you pay nothing! I pay my water bill monthly, around £10. Well worth getting a water meter if you have low usage. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 we had a meter as a trial to give the Co local feed back on useage , they came a read the thing for some years, no idea what they did or gained but, one night a knock on the door its the water board, youve got a leak . Really its a new pipe laid before the drive was tarmaced by the pikeys, and later a brick laid replacement , none of them noitced a leak but there was a sinking near the garage, well up with a few bricks and dig down to a fountain squirting wildly, the new pipe had a fork peircing done by the pikeys and never spotted some years later when the bricks were laid not even with the dig out to the sub base , the meter had recorded about 500 swimming pools of water , they do give you a leakage allowance and we were not charged but why did they not get some clues from the reading they took to show something abnormal was ongoing, we will never know but a meter is for the two of us so much cheaper than an open bill based on rateable values or what ever they use we use abit more than Doug and its around £16 month dont forget you get a reduction if your rain water is soak away and not sewered, but you have to ask for it ,youre charged drainage by default Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglefire Posted February 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 There are 4 of us and including 2 daughters - so we are still on the fixed annual charge - but based on Pete's figures, assuming double that would still be half our bill. But it's a risk as it could be a lot higher I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 we were cheaper on a meter, again 2 daughters at home at the time. if you do a lot of car washing or worse, garden watering, it could make it worse, otherwise it is almost always cheaper on a meter. and once the girls left home, MUCH cheaper (the 2 of us, with one daughter spending several weeks a year at home during uni holidays, we still use the same as an average 2 person home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglefire Posted February 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 Car washing? What it this activity of which you speak? Garden watering - a little but try and avoid it TBH! Eldest is at uni - but still at home and when she is on placement is washing her uniform twice a week..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 With me and two daughters at home water meter bill was £18 a month. Bath house central! Now on my own, showers only, flush WC once a day, no longer making beer with tap water and I'm down to £10 a month. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 so Doug ,you now make beer with the bath water ????? look at the saving !!! read the back of your bill to see how to negate the rain water charges , its not a lot but worth a look. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 Our average use over the last 7 years is 61 M3 per year. We are 2, mostly showers, some garden watering (we do collect rain water for this as well), very little car washing. The consumption is about correct for 2 people here in France. Try using this as a base for calculating which option to go for, metered or not metered. 4 People won't use double - garden & car use would still be the same for example. Get out the abacus ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerguzzi Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 Hello All We have a well so no water bill! But I did have to buy a new water pump a few weeks ago £225 but it usually lasts about 5 to 6 years with maybe one new impeller £25 It is a 24 volt Jabsco and pumps to a header tank controlled by a float switch which is 40+ years old (mercury type) proper old school? Sewage is a septic tank that seems to eat all the wastse (not pumped out for 40 years just a bit of surface water now and then) a bit eggy smelling Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglefire Posted February 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 Well, Well, that would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 The woman across the road has a rain water collection barrel on each corner of her house. The water collected is used on her garden and green house .Additionally the toilet cisterns are filled and flushed once a day from the barrels. This is a bit naughty as the water bill has two parts, water-in and water-out. Water-in is measured by the water meter but water-out is judged as 95% of water in and disposal is half the bill. So by flushing with rainwater she's making use of the sewage system without paying for it! Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 The property we had in the rural part of the village here, before we moved into the village, had a well - over 7 metres down to the water - we could get about 3M3 per day from it. Not drinkable but fine for the garden. I found the well when we bought the property hidden under garden rubbish and covered by a sheet of corrugated steel with the consistency of a cream cracker. I walked over the hidden well and heard the sound of the metal dropping in the water, to say I came out in a cold sweat would be a big understatement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 23, 2018 Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 23 hours ago, dougbgt6 said: So by flushing with rainwater she's making use of the sewage system without paying for it! It's a wonder they don't charge us by the volume we put down the loo... that may come! I don't pay a water bill but I do pay quite substantial rates, and they came out last week and had a sneaky around my new garage when I wasn't there. This will apparently increase my rates by quite a bit. They also claimed that the upstairs part wasn't in the plans, which was incorrect, but when I told them that the stairs were only a pull-down ladder and not permanent they were able to tell me that this would reduce the final bill slightly. Whoopee-doo. I made sure that this wasn't going to affect the Mayor's chocolate biscuits, I'd gladly pay extra to make sure he doesn't have to downsize to Rich Tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 23, 2018 Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 2 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: It's a wonder they don't charge us by the volume we put down the loo... that may come! Colin, they do! Well around here, anyway. 23 hours ago, dougbgt6 said: water-out is judged as 95% of water in I suppose the missing 5% is to allow for perspiration. db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 23, 2018 Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 or missed the pot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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