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| Posted | Water meters installed in your area!!!!! |
| 03-03-2006 09:22 by drummerduck |
I was listening to the radio yesterday morning. The topic of conversation was water meters. The story continued with the presented telling the story of the Dover and folkstone water board that ask for the govenments permission to install water meters in the houses of all thier customers... compulsory!!!
They where granted this action by the govenment. The next question that was asked was... how long will it be now before ALL water companys are fitting water meters in our houses compulsory?? I know that this might be an advantage to some who maybe single in a small flat. But for myself with a 400lt marine (which compared to some peoples is small) and with a 1200 gallon Koi pond in the pipe line this is a worry....? How many people would have to give up this hobby due to the cost of the water? the hobby is very expensive for some already..... whould this mean you would have to lose tanks, de-size or give up? I am a family of 4. I'm not sure whether i could affort to run a household or baths, cooking, drinking, water fights for the kids in the garden and the constant water changes in my tank. Are any of you effected by the water meter installation in dover and folkstone? Am i blowing this out of proportion or is this a money making scam that the boss of dover and folkstone water company on a £800,000 a year salary is inforcing on his customers? like to hear your views..... |
| 03-03-2006 09:56 by telboy |
DD i heard the same thing mate,there's talk of it happening in my area [Barnet!]it wont be long before its compulsory nationwide!to start with it wont mean we have to get rid of all fish tanks/ponds it just means that we'll have to pay extra for the privelage of having em"!but mark my word it wont be too long before ya need a license or summat to keep bigger than average tank/s because of the amount of water used in the upkeep of said items.i can see why people are panicking cos of the half empty resevoirs nationwide they're already putting hosepipe bans in certain areas[and the suns not even shining yet]weve had the driest winter for god knows how long but wait till summer itll p**s down non stop! the seasons seem to be reversing dry winters/wet summers they put it down to the ozone! but i reckon its down to the axis tilt of the earth which happens on a regular basis ie the various ice ages the planets suffered over millenia anyway thats my two pennys worth!!! |
| 03-03-2006 10:09 by Alan |
Government error again they have spent years investing in new houses and the like in the South East hence the South East being like a giant housing estate but they have failed to put in new reservoirs and desalination plants to cope.
Again it is the consumer that suffers due to poor government planning. |
| 03-03-2006 10:10 by Danny Boy |
my view id that everyone should pay for the water they use. it may even stop people using it wastefully. its silly to have an open water supply. im on a meter and i do 200 gallons a week on water changes my water bill isnt a lot.. |
| 03-03-2006 10:20 by drummerduck |
Good points telboy and very valid. Do you all think though that COMPULSORY meters is a fair way to go. On the radio they asked the question "why dover and folkstone? if you drive south of these towns you'll be hitting what.....? yes loads of water!!" is the sea not a means of supply 9 thats a question not a sarcastic answer  )
There have been other hose pipe bands over the years that i rememeber. Meters where not introduced or mentioned then. The other argument of course is the amount of water that is lost due to un repaired leaks!!! this totals thousands of gallons a day nationwide. Maybe repairs would be means to save water without the cost being laid out to the consumer. I understand the point about not giving up the hobby it just means we have to pay extra.... but remember some people haven't got that extra 
i have bought equipment off people who have dismantled because they have another child on the way and the cost is too much, its either one or the other. 
The north i shall add is not shrt of water and the resevoirs are full for the expected time of the year. i wonder if the rain fell and water wasn't the issue whether they would STILL inforce the fitting of water meters? |
| 03-03-2006 10:24 by drummerduck |
This is the other argument Dannyboy.... i'm wondering how many people don't realise that it MAY be cheaper to be on a water meter. I think the general view is that is takes the Piss!!
For most it would mean higher bills hence the companys getting more money? i'm to sceptical to believe that these companys want water meters for us to conserve water because of a shortage that actually has not started yet.... all they are worried about are their bonuses and profits. |
| 03-03-2006 10:28 by Alan |
I intend to hold out against having a meter installed as long as I can a small comfort is that they do not think meters will be fitted to the target level of something like 90% until 2015 by then we will have run out of water anyway equally I will flatly refuse to pay for the meter if they try and get households to pay for them I will claim hardship and say with taxcation and the cost of living so high how the *** can they expect the average person to pay for such a thing. |
| 03-03-2006 10:29 by drummerduck |
i'm guessing LFS are all on meters already. |
| 03-03-2006 10:31 by drummerduck |
I will refuse to have a meter installed, although i think this maybe done at street distance, hence you cannot stop them as its not on your property!! 
|
| 03-03-2006 10:41 by Alan |
You may be interested to know that one of the options the EA is looking into is a national grid of water mains so in theory water if needs be could be moved from Scotland to the South East.
As far as saying there is not a shortage of water in the South East I can suggest looking at a couple of big reservoirs Weir wood being one and Ardingly being another both are less than half full in the summer Weirwood was down to I believe 30% full which is very low foot paths reappeared that haven't been seen since the reservoir was created. It in my mind would only be fair if either everyone had meters or no one had them the risk is those with meters may be subsidising those with out equally is it right to tax the use of something that is vital to life after all we would be drinking from water ways if it wasn't for the fact of pollution wouldn't we, we wouldn't need all these water treatment plants if it wasn't for pollution again we are being taxed for the short sightedness of the human race as a whole is that reasonable. I look forward to a global disaster where the planet may retaliate against the human race I think the world would be a better place, I'm sure many will disagree with such a statement though but I would argue what other species fails to live in harmony with its environment and tries to control it, I would say its just the human race and eventually the balance will be redressed and the human race obliterated what a nice thought. |
| 03-03-2006 10:44 by Ray |
I think Alan has raised a very good point about the density of population in the South,nearly every big house in Brighton and Hove has been converted to flats with no extra water supply provided for all the extra people and every patch of brown field land is built on.Also I belive that the water companies are using scare tactics to force through a money making piece of legislation,not once has the waste of millions of gallons of water due to leaks in the system been mentioned.Perhaps if meters are installed people will be politicised enough to demand better resource managment by the water companies.
From a non fishkeepers point of view a freind of mine said yesterday,`why should people who dont keep fancy fish subsidise you lot'.She can remember when I kept Discus and vented loads of water via my RO units,and has no sympathy at all.As resources dwindle and become more expensive I feel that minority users will come under more scrutiny from local authorities and service providers and I am sure we will receive the same amount of public sympathy as a rich person with a swimming pool in the garden.We surely must be rated as heavy users by the sevice companies and the general public. |
| 03-03-2006 12:18 by yanton |
Ray, you saying that we, the population in the south is a bit 'dense' |
| 03-03-2006 12:20 by Danny Boy |
its true ray we are a leach on the water systems. lets pay our way.
we could be like africa instead and walk 10 miles to get water from a dirty well in the ground.. it might make us sick and take all day to get there and back but at least it'll be free plus it wont cost us a pound a day....... some of us dont realise how good we have it |
| 03-03-2006 12:47 by Ray |
Yanton,I would not dare to say such a thing
Danny I agree with you,clean water is a basic human right,but how much of our money is going to overpaid MD's and greedy shareholders? Africa is a whole debate on it's own. |
| 03-03-2006 15:15 by Alan |
We already subsidise the Scottish in the South East I say give'em independnce!
That'll annoy a few people. Africa's problems are caused by a phenomena called global dimming which masks the effects of climate change which we are seeing now courtesy of reductions in particulate emissions which cause global dimming. This phenomena also reduces the rate of evaporation of the sea which has led to the lack of rain over Africa and the ongoing drought. Again Africa's problems are caused by heavy industry it is not their fault but the wests and now China and India for perpetuating the problem. By the way I'm not an Environmental nut this is the way it is plus it is my job to be aware of it. Those that dispute global dimming should look at the evidence after 911 all aircraft were grounded for several days. The average temperature rose over those few days by over 3 degres celsius I'm not talking max or min I'm talking average a leap like this is huge environmentally speaking. There has also been a study in to rates of evaporation over the last 20 years or so I think in Russia this also supports the theory of global dimming significantly reducing evaporation of the saea and therefore rainfall. It is this phenomena that has masked climate change for so long and is used as the basis of nut jobs like bush denying the existence of climate change as a phenomena. Numpty! |
| 03-03-2006 16:14 by JOHANSWAN |
I lived in south-africa where all homes have watermeters and believe me it is the watercompany that get reach.I measured 100 liters off water and the meterreading was 112 liters and tehy will replace it and aftyerwards came back and said they calibrated it and it was accurate so you must carry the cost off the replacement.so my dear friends i also use r/o water and once we have meters we will be at the mercy off the provider whether the meter is accurate or not. |
| 03-03-2006 16:43 by drummerduck |
Well eveyone has there views and they are all valid. Everyone has their opinion and to be honest if a meter was fitted in my house i would more than likely give up my marine tank. I don't think i could afford it. People have gone into world politics and Environmental yarn which is cool but thats a whole other argument.
interesting though.....  |
| 03-03-2006 17:39 by Linda Chenapa |
We have a water meter, I come under Thames Water. They charge 88.85p per m3, so from 15th April - 19th October 2005(188days) we used 118 m3 = £104.84. They they add £11.33 fixed charge, total £116.17. We are then charged the same volume for waste water @ 46.30p per m3 = £54.63, THEN they add £21.12 fixed charge, a total of £75.75, with a grand total of £191.92.
We have a large 4 bedroomed house, a 3,500g pond, just short of 1,300g in tanks. 2 adults and 2 children (mind you, they don't wash that often!), 3 dogs, 2 cats. The washing machine is on at least once a day, we have a dish washer, a car that needs washing and a garden that needs watering! Our house insurance covers any lost water OUR side of the meter. I don't mind paying for the water I use BUT if you think about it, they charge you twice for clean water. They charge you for it comming into the house and then again as waste water, yes they have to clean the waste water but I thought that was what I was paying for as fresh water??!! |
| 03-03-2006 17:51 by drummerduck |
Thats actually good to know Linda, maybe the overall cost might not be that different. I guess after starting this thread and reading through peoples opinions there may be a need for water meters. We pay for electricity we use, we pay for gas we use, we pay for telephone calls we make. Maybe the pay for water you use is a good and fair way to go for everyone. |
| 03-03-2006 18:29 by tony mcculloch |
Hello all, I made the mistake of having a meter installed, worst thing i could have done, especialy now. I have just bought myself 4 tanks.
72"x24"x24" 43"x26"x26" 43"x24"x24" 24"x18"x15" how much will it cost to fill these? the cost of cigarettes has never stopped me smoking and neither will the cost of water stop me keeping fish. cheers all |
| 03-03-2006 18:43 by drummerduck |
This is a good point Tony!! |
| 03-03-2006 20:48 by tony |
they dont have to enter the house to fit the meter its done out side the house so they can read it any time i think it a good idea and i have found it cheaper than where we lived with out one but there is only 2 of us |
| 04-03-2006 11:11 by drummerduck |
This is where the argument is going to be for people and you can't blame the group of us that have larger families that is going to affect more. Its aesy to say yes fit meters everywhere!!! when there is only maybe 1 person or 2 in a small flat..... |
| 04-03-2006 15:53 by goeshere |
if it was on your property okay you could refuse them to come onto your property... but they could then just cut your water off! |
| 04-03-2006 21:48 by telboy |
good thread DRUMMERDUCK got people thinking my friend! |
| 06-03-2006 08:37 by Alan |
They can't just cut your water off its not like gas lecky or the phone water is a life essential they are legally blocked from cutting off water supplies. They will take you to court instead. |
| 07-03-2006 23:08 by goeshere |
Are you sure they have to legally supply you with water? Im sure in the contract it says somewhere if you dont pay they can cut you off. |
| 08-03-2006 09:06 by Alan |
I don't think they can cut you off where would people get drinking water from if they were skint?
Thewre will be legislation blocking them from doing this. |
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