Compulsory water metering

What I don't understand is why this is a news story at all in 2006. My water company, Thames Water, installed a water meter at my house about 8 years ago. I had no choice in this, which in my view means that compulsory water metering is not exactly new.

Strangely enough, on the very same day I got the letter from them telling me I had to have my water metered whether I liked it or not, their Chief Executive was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 about water metering and gave a categorical assurance that no-one would have to have water metering if they didn't want it. I phoned the Chief Executive's office to ask about this apparent inconsistency, and was told that "I was using a very restrictive definition of the word 'no-one'".

Perhaps this is the first time the policy has been tested in court, but it's certainly not the first time water metering has been compulsory.

Adam

PS Apologies if this post appears twice. I think my first attempt to post it vanished into the aether, but I guess it may have just been delayed.

Reply to
Adam
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And it's worked all that time? Flow meters are not exactly the most reliable of items.

Tiddy Ogg.

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Reply to
Tiddy Ogg

Water meters have been compulsory for new builds for a long time.

Reply to
Stickems.

Is that right? The four smallest wheels of my water meter go round OK when someone has a shower, but the ones that measure whole cubic metres don't go round any more. So my usage is zero every time the water company reads it. They don't seem to have noticed. I expect someone will come around and have a look one day. What is going to really confuse them is that the house next door has been removed and has correctly had a zero reading for a year. Now building has started, and I have allowed the builders to use an old outhouse toilet and handbasin on my property, using a water pipe over the fence from their metered supply. The water company are going to assume wrongly that the builder's pipe supplies my whole house, and that's why my reading is zero. I may be able to get away with no water bills for another year (apart from a low supply charge)!

Reply to
Nick

"The four smallest wheels of my water meter go round OK when someone has a shower, but the ones that measure whole cubic metres don't go round any more. So my usage is zero every time the water company reads it. They don't seem to have noticed. I expect someone will come around and have a look one day. "

I wonder what your legal position will be when they realise and then present you with a large backdated estimated bill (or the equivalent unmetered bill). Since you knowlingly allowed the situation to continue you might end up worse off than if you get it fixed

Robert

Reply to
Robert

They probably already have him sussed,its not down to the meter reader to tell him this, as his job is just to read off the digits. :-)

Reply to
The3rd Earl Of Derby

Since when, I wonder ? Since 1996 in my case.

Daytona

Reply to
Daytona

About 8 years ago I was asked if I wanted a water meter by Thames Water, I declined and heard no more about it.

There was no compultion!

Reply to
Alan Holmes

I wonder if any of the water compaies have thought of installing meters at the outlets from the water conditioners before it reaches properties, this would help them to calculate the amount of water leaking from pipes as they could work out how much people are using against the amount being pumped into the distribution system.

Alan

Reply to
Alan Holmes

Assuming everybody had a meter and all the meters were read on the same day, it would be possible.

Reply to
Stickems.

Yes, I was considering telling them. But it's not really my problem. The water company installed the meter which is now faulty. Any sensible computer system should flag zero or negative readings for attention. The water bills are paid automatically from my bank account, so I simply glance at the bill and file it and do nothing else. I am prepared to pay an amount based on my usage for the last year. I'm just interested to see how long it will take for them to notice.

If a utilities company has made a mistake, they tend to be difficult to deal with, so it's best to avoid that. The meter reader for my power company made a very large mistake that implied my usage had doubled. Their computer system didn't flag that either. When I phoned them, they wanted me to supply a password for ID (when they had never given me one) then they would not accept my reading and sent someone around to re-read the meter.

Reply to
Nick

Nick wrote

Uh - was that Powergen by any chance?

The first gas meter reading taken at my g/friend's house after Powergen contracted out their meter reading to Meter Reading Services Ltd resulted in a bill which was about 3 times what it should have been.

The idiots had submitted the reading as from an Imperial meter, whereas it is a metric one, but it took me five months of phone calls and letters before they were convinced, and eventually when I started talking about compensation they gave her 5 months of free gas.

Reply to
Gordon

In this area, if you have a meter fitted, you cannot go back to quarterly billing, and when the house is sold it remains metered. This could be an adverse situation if a large family were interested in the purchase, but as I live alone I would certainly save money by having one installed.

I have heard though, that a more sophisticated and reliable meter will be available in the not too distant future, so I am uncertain whether to bother at this time.

Reply to
Gordon

No, I'm in New Zealand, the land of d-i-y and No. 8 fencing wire to fix anything. I'm in uk.d-i-y because you guys seem to discuss lots of problems that I have, or that I have already solved.

In recent years, power and gas utilities in NZ have been privatised and nobody knows which company caters for who.

A digger cut through a gasline next door and I phoned 5 gas companies to stop the leak, but they all denied responsibility.

Reply to
Nick

Posting in a coherent manner has been recommended for many years, yet you still don't have a clue.

Reply to
Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics)

It's possible for you to post properly, but you don't.

Reply to
Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics)

You have six months to change you mind here with Southern Water.

Daytona

Reply to
Daytona

I think that the above would be my big concern.

How accurate, when new, is a water meter and will it stay in calibration indefinitely?

Dave

Reply to
Dave

Do you worry about that with your gas and electricity meters?

Or your petrol gauge?

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

The message from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

Yes, and they get replaced from time to time for exactly that reason.

Petrol gauge is a red herring - it doesn't affect the amount you pay.

Reply to
Guy King

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