Are water meters a good thing?

If you live alone or as a couple and use little water then yes. If you have a couple of kids who bath everyday and put the washing machine on a few times a week then you may well increase what you pay for water.

I agree. We had a water meter fitted once the children had left home and found the saving worthwhile. Our neighbours found the same thing. However, would agree that if you have children at home what with the extra washing, any children who spend hours in the shower etc it may not be worth it.

Water meters are a great way to discipline yourself to spend the most important commodity of all most wisely and only be charged for what you use. My family has had them fitted for a few years now and the savings are genuine.I speak from experience.

Yes it is worth it - even with children. We have had a water meter for over 10 years now and i feel we do benefit from having it. Plus we know where we are each month, and that it wont suddenly jump up alot unlike with the gas/electricity.

Hi, I definitely agree. I live with my school age son, and we did not have a water meeter until 18 months ago.

For the property we live in, we paid £30 per month as un-metered users.

After the meeter was fitted, we are now paying £14 a month (this was reviewed just a couple of months ago and it is reflecting the actual water used.

I am probably a little bit more careful with the water after the meeter was fitted, but both me and my son loves long showers, hot baths etc etc and we do use the washing machine at least 3 times a week.

I don't water my garden with tap water as we've got water buts collecting rain water. But I do use tap water for washing my car.

All in all, I do belive water meeters do save you money...

Hope this helps :o)

As mentioned in reply to a similar question, a general rule of thumb is that if there are fewer occupants in the house than there are bedrooms, it is worthwhile getting a water meter. The water company sites normally have a link to an easy checker to see if it is worthwhile. When I had my first one you had to pay for them to be installed. I was told it would take two years to make the saving and it paid for itself within the year. I am currently paying less than half the water rates of the houses around me. I don't economise on anything although to be fair I prefer a shower to a bath and I have never believed in using a hosepipe on the garden unless you have a newly laid lawn.

If you are on your own, or a couple I would definately say go for it. As a family of 4 we dont save anything. We have a water butt now for watering the garden as when we used the hosepipe, it cost us a fortune. We wouldnt have normally bothered, but we had new grass and has to water it!

It really depends on your situation. I live in a student house at Uni and we don't have one, purely because it's a lot simpler to sort out payments with fixed monthly installments. However my parents switched to a water meter and made huge savings, because in a house of 4/5 people they overestimated how much water was used. So, whether savings are made is dependent upon how many people in your house etc.

If you're economical with water (e.g. not leaving water running when brushing your teeth etc!), then you probably could make genuine savings from having a water meter fitted as the water company would probably overestimate usage.