[chris turner]

Hi guys, I know there's loads of old posts about water meters and I have read through most of them but just looking for any extra money saving options.
Had a letter today basically saying I'm having a meter installed on the 11th may and there's nowt I can do about it.
Currently I pay around £370 a year total for water so expecting this to rise dramatically, all this meter malarkey is all new to me though.
I'm in the south east with south East water and not 100% sure about what to expect in terms of bills so am preparing for the worst.

So I plan on fitting a sub meter to reduce my sewerage bill but is there anything else that can be done?
I'm currently producing around 400 litres a day through the ezpure ro. My waste goes down the drain so il have the sub meter fitted after the pure outlet.
Is there any other way of reducing waste?
Was thinking of running the waste pipe straight back through the RO or into a second membrane, does anybody do anything similar?
Any tips or advice appreciated!

[Matt.]

Am on a water meter, and my bill is about £60-70 per month, this is not even filling the tank, just me the wife and 2 daughters, I will not never ever fill up at home, last resort would be street hydrant, out side my house.
You can buy a tap & key from eBay or somewhere. If you honest john you can even get a license to use hydrants. ( not 100% but I think £240 not sure if that's quarterly or yearly ).
I just use customers taps even if am just doing traditional work there.

[CasaDeCabra]

I just use customers taps even if am just doing traditional work there.

What if your customer is on a meter?

[chris turner]

Am on a water meter, and my bill is about £60-70 per month, this is not even filling the tank, just me the wife and 2 daughters, I will not never ever fill up at home, last resort would be street hydrant, out side my house.
You can buy a tap & key from eBay or somewhere. If you honest john you can even get a license to use hydrants. ( not 100% but I think £240 not sure if that's quarterly or yearly ).
I just use customers taps even if am just doing traditional work there.

This is something I am considering, although I won't fill my entire tank at customers houses, just maybe 'top up' here and there so hopefully get home often with half a tank.
Main problem with this is I would need to find outdoor taps with relatively high water pressure for the RO to work properly.

[telfordwindowclnr]

In my opinion, you will slow down your productivity by more £p/m filling up at customers houses as you go, rather than just taking the hit on your bill.  If you know your usage prior to having the meter fitted, it will be a simple calculation to work out the volume you will use and times it by the cost per m3 that your utility company charges.  The cost can be reclaimed as a taxable expense.

As a guide, I have always paid £70p/m to Severn Trent and have been on a meter for years.  It has worked out only to be a few quid out either way.  Hope that helps.

[Matt.]

I just use customers taps even if am just doing traditional work there.

Well mate, that's not really my problem now is it.
What if your customer is on a meter?

[Matt.]

Am on a water meter, and my bill is about £60-70 per month, this is not even filling the tank, just me the wife and 2 daughters, I will not never ever fill up at home, last resort would be street hydrant, out side my house.
You can buy a tap & key from eBay or somewhere. If you honest john you can even get a license to use hydrants. ( not 100% but I think £240 not sure if that's quarterly or yearly ).
I just use customers taps even if am just doing traditional work there.

This is something I am considering, although I won't fill my entire tank at customers houses, just maybe 'top up' here and there so hopefully get home often with half a tank.
Main problem with this is I would need to find outdoor taps with relatively high water pressure for the RO to work properly.

Pretty much mate, ok so I was guna let u think I done domestics,  , I just do commercial. Hence the fact I can just fill up we're I want. Your tds out of RO will be completely different from every tap you use, would It be possible to fill up at a friends or family, maybe buy a holding tank to back fill with any spare RO  water and you will away have some spare, what is your tds at home.

[PoleKing]

Put the waste water on your lawn or gravel or whatever.
Not on a hard surface as that will find its way into a drain of some sort.
My pure goes in the van and waste goes on the lawn in summer and on the gravel in winter.
All the water that gets used in my garage is on the sub-meter.
Been doing it for 4 years (4 annual bills) without issue.

[chris turner]

Crunching the numbers this morning, if I make sure no waste is returned to sewer then it shouldn't be to big of a hit.
South East water unit price per m3 is 1.1325, I will use roughly 4000 litres a week to make 2000 litres of pure so 4 times 1.1325 is £4.56 a week plus household use, which shouldn't be as much as pure production.
If it works at around £60-70 a month then it's not so bad. I was imagining metered bills being more like £150-200 a month.

[Dave Willis]

£120 per month for me. Wessex.

[chris turner]

£120 per month for me. Wessex.

Has yours gone up dave?
Reading through the old posts you were only paying £25 a week not so long ago.
£120 is alot, especially for a sole trader with all the other expenses we have.

[martinw]

South East Water £80 per month plus  balance repayment annually, Thames Water sewage provider absolute pain to deal with. Need full year of figures before being even considered and they will make it as awkward as possible.

[Matt.]

I think £120 a month is about right, remember am about £70 and I don't fill up at home. So add about £50 for the ro and it won't be far off.
Look at how much a hydrant license is as pressure is great flow is great and tds after merlin for me is between 7 - 16 tds.

[chris turner]

South East Water £80 per month plus  balance repayment annually, Thames Water sewage provider absolute pain to deal with. Need full year of figures before being even considered and they will make it as awkward as possible.

Martin how much water do you go through daily?
And by balance repayment do you mean getting money back for non return to sewer?

[martinw]

cant tell daily, but last month was 34m3 for business purposes but usually its between 16000-22000 of pure a month depending on workload and what we do - 2 vans. I dont get dispensation as thames water have misplaced the application  after they sent me wrong paperwork once before. need to follow it up yet again. i meant outstanding balance payment on the bill as its usually not enough.

[chris turner]

cant tell daily, but last month was 34m3 for business purposes but usually its between 16000-22000 of pure a month depending on workload and what we do - 2 vans. I dont get dispensation as thames water have misplaced the application  after they sent me wrong paperwork once before. need to follow it up yet again. i meant outstanding balance payment on the bill as its usually not enough.

That's alot more water then I use, probably twice as much. Are you on a business tariff or standard tariff and is that £80 a month your total bill including house or just business.
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get my head around this

[martinw]

standard, house included hence  extra payment needed. if you new to meter and have kids budget £300-450 for household. in all honesty dont worry too much. they will probably put you on around £30-£35 direct debit to start with. get the meter of ebay and install it in garage where you filter your water. you will need full years usage to before applying for sewage  dispensation as well as date stamped photos just in case.

[Dave Willis]

I think £120 a month is about right, remember am about £70 and I don't fill up at home. So add about £50 for the ro and it won't be far off.
Look at how much a hydrant license is as pressure is great flow is great and tds after merlin for me is between 7 - 16 tds.

Yes, they fitted a new meter in the road and strangely claimed I'd suddenly used a massive increase in water. Personally I think they ripped me off but can't prove it. So ever since my direct debit is now £120. That includes sewage and household usage.