Water meters are one way to save money on your water bill – but only for certain households.
When it comes to your water bills you can’t shop around to find a cheaper supplier.
This is because, unlike gas and electricity, the water market isn’t open to competition. So you’re stuck with the supplier for your area.
Yet the average UK water bill is set to rise 4.6 per cent this year, to £356, according to industry regulator Ofwat.
However the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that average UK earnings have risen just 2.2 per cent on last year. So it’s easy to see why householders need to make cutbacks.
But the fact you can’t switch water supplier doesn’t mean you can’t save: opting for a water meter could be the way forward.
These devices record the water you use, allowing your supplier to work out how much to charge you.
But only around one third of homes in the UK have a water meter. So the vast majority receive an annual, unmetered water bill, based on the property’s ‘rateable value’ - the annual rental value of the property as assessed by the local authority.
But rateable values were last assessed in 1990 and are no longer carried out.
Unfair billing
The unfair thing about this is that if your house has the same rateable value as next door, yet the make-up of your household differs from theirs - you’re a single person and they’re a family-of-five - you’ll pay the same water bill, despite using different amounts.
But you can have a water meter installed free of charge. The general rule of thumb is that if you have more bedrooms in your house than people living there, you should consider having a water meter installed.
Industry watchdog the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) estimates that a person living alone paying an unmetered bill could save around £100 a year, and that for some the savings can be even higher.
Dame Yve Buckland, chair of the CCW says: “Customers should not pay any more than they need to for their water or sewerage services.
“By taking a few minutes to consider our money-saving tips and to check their bills, customers can avoid losing out, and in some cases could make real savings.”
Work out your savings
The CCW have put together a useful water meter calculator to see if having one installed could save you money.
A water company can refuse to fit a meter if it’s too expensive or impractical for them to do so but if this is the case, you should be offered the option of an “assessed charge” which reflects what the likely metered bill would have been.
If you do have a water meter fitted but are unhappy with it, you can switch back to unmetered billing anytime within the first 12 months: if you don’t you’re stuck with it.
Save on water and energy bills
If you already have a meter fitted, there are also ways to cut back on your usage which will mean not just lower water bills, but lower energy bills too.
Around 30 per cent of a household’s energy bill comes from heating hot water, according to the Energy Saving Trust, at a cost of around £200 a year.
So reducing the temperature on your washing machine from 40 to 30 degrees, and running washing machines and dishwashers on full, not half loads, will save you money on your water bill. This will knock pounds off your gas and electricity bills too, as you’ll be heating large amounts of water less often.
Replacing worn washers on leaky taps could knock more than £18 off your annual bill, says the CCW, spending a minute less on your daily shower could save you between £5 and £10 on your energy bills over the year.
Going one step further and installing a water-saving shower head, which can cut the amount of water used by about 30 per cent.
Help for struggling consumers
WaterSure is a scheme for vulnerable households. It caps a household’s charges at the average metered bill for their area so they can use the water they need without having to worry about a high bill.
