[wolveryeti]

Hi - my allotment association gets an unmetered water bill from Castle Water. We have contemplated getting a meter put in but don't want to get stung by a big bill increase.

Does anyone have any advice? And is it possible like with household metering to change your mind once a meter is in and revert to unmetered bills?

[cc]

You would have to ask castle water about cancelling the meter.
I would advise against getting a meter there will always be someone who will abuse it. IE leave the water running unnecessarily.
Is your bill that high that's it's actually worth considering

[mumofstig]

Is your bill that high that's it's actually worth considering

I'm sure it would cost more if it was metered tbh.
Have you asked the water company what usage the unmetered bill is based on?

[Hampshire Hog]

Based on having a water meter forced on me at home I would say avoid if possible.
All depends on how much you are currently paying and likely future costs. Pretty hard to get definite numbers for future use I would think especially if we have more global warming/heatwaves Good luck!

[AnneB]

To answer that question you need to know how much you actually use and how that compares with the unmetered charge.  The water company should be able to tell you.
When we took over running our allotment from the Council we discovered that the Council had been making a profit on the water charge they asked tenants to pay, compared with what the water company charged.

[Yorkie]

Bear in mind that the water meter will not charge at a domestic rate, I think - far more likely to be a commercial or similar rate.

[cc]

Based on having a water meter forced on me at home I would say avoid if possible.
All depends on how much you are currently paying and likely future costs. Pretty hard to get definite numbers for future use I would think especially if we have more global warming/heatwaves Good luck!

I thought they couldn't force a water meter on you? My water bill is £6 a month. So I ain't complaining!
PS ceptic tank.

[Hampshire Hog]

Sorry CC they certainly can mandate it here I’m afraid. Probably due to the vast number of houses being built locally. Your bill sounds good!!

[wolveryeti]

So we are paying c.£800/y for about 30 plots of c.75m squared. What was interesting about the bill is we got a charge based on estimated consumption despite not having a meter (seems odd they just get to make these figures up indefinitely). Anyone got any comparable figures for water charges?

[AnneB]

So we are paying c.£800/y for about 30 plots of c.75m squared. What was interesting about the bill is we got a charge based on estimated consumption despite not having a meter (seems odd they just get to make these figures up indefinitely). Anyone got any comparable figures for water charges?

We have 41 plots of quite varying sizes plus a shared orchard and wildlife patch. I think most are smaller than yours.  Our metered water supply from Business Stream for the last financial year was £400.54. 

[Glosterboy]

You may wish to check out the attached?

https://www.gov.uk/water-and-sewerage-rates-for-businesses

Fresh and Waste water charges for an unmetered domestic property is based on a government rateable valve (RV) for that property. Based on location and size.

You may wish to contact Castle Water, an independent water provider for businesses, for an explanation of what parameters they have used to calculate your annual bill of £800.00. Your charges should also be explained within your bill.

Hope this helps.

[wolveryeti]

You may wish to check out the attached?

https://www.gov.uk/water-and-sewerage-rates-for-businesses

Fresh and Waste water charges for an unmetered domestic property is based on a government rateable valve (RV) for that property. Based on location and size.

You may wish to contact Castle Water, an independent water provider for businesses, for an explanation of what parameters they have used to calculate your annual bill of £800.00. Your charges should also be explained within your bill.

Hope this helps.

Thanks- was aware of that page so a bit confused about the bill - which is definitely estimated based on usage not Rateable Value. Would like to explore if we can get the bill lower, but a bit concerned any contact wirh Castle may simply result in them deciding they want to put a meter in. We have had a few cases of numpties forgetting  to turn the taps to our bowsers off - which could be financially quite painful with a usage-based tariff!