Water today, water tomorrow

www.ofwat.gov.uk

Information for household customers

Water meters –

your questions

answered

Water meters – your questions answered

Our role is to make sure that your water company provides you with a good

supplies continue to be secure in future. This includes tackling leakage,

promoting water efficiency and installing meters.

This leaflet provides information for household customers about metering.

2

Contents

About water meters 3

Deciding whether to have a meter 13

If your company cannot install a meter 15

If your company wants to install a meter at your property 19

Help with your bill 22

used. If you do not have a meter, you will be charged a fixed amount each year

(‘unmetered’ charges). These charges usually relate to the rateable value of your

property. You should check your bill to see how you pay for your water.

Some people regard meters as the fairest way to charge for

water and sewerage services. This is because you pay

for how much water you use. Research that the

Consumer Council for Water and Ofwat carried

out found that most customers think

metering is the fairest way to charge.

At the moment, about 40% of

Water today, water tomorrow

3

Water meters – your questions answered

4

Your water company will usually read your meter twice a year. If it cannot read

your meter, it will estimate how much water you have used so that it can send you

a bill. You can also provide a meter reading to your company yourself at any time.

If you disagree with your estimated bill and want one based on your own meter

reading, the company will send you a further bill based on that reading.

It is a good idea to read your meter regularly and give the company a reading so

your bills are more accurate. It will also help you to track how much water you are

using and make it easier to spot leaks.

Your bill is usually made up of a:

• standing charge for water, which is fixed and covers the costs to the company

• charge for collecting and treating your dirty water, measured in cubic metres.

If you receive your water service and your sewerage service from different

suppliers, you may receive two bills – one from each company.

If surface rainwater from your property drains to the public sewer, your sewerage

company will also charge you to take the water away. This is called the surface

water drainage charge and it covers the cost of collecting and treating the

rainwater.

If the surface water from your property does not drain to the public sewer and you

are being charged for surface water drainage, you should contact your company.

You may be entitled to a rebate on your bill. The charge for surface water drainage

Water today, water tomorrow

5

Many people find that they can save money by having a meter

installed. Your bill will be higher or lower depending on:

• how much you pay now;

• the number of people in your home;

• how much water each of you uses; and

• how much you are able to reduce your water use.

You should contact your company to find out if you

might benefit from having a meter. You can also find

a water meter calculator on the Consumer Council for

You only have to make small changes to start saving water. Many companies offer

free water-saving devices. Contact your company for more information about

water-saving measures you can introduce in your home.

Water meters – your questions answered

6

Serial number: This is a unique

number. It should match the serial

number on your bill. If not, you could be

paying someone else’s bill.

Black and white or digital numbers:

• in a small wall-mounted box on the side of your property; or

• inside your property (normally where the water supply pipe enters your home,

If you cannot find your meter, contact your water company. It should tell you where

the meter is located.

Water today, water tomorrow

this to use.

6. Check the overflow on your toilet

cistern to make sure it is not using

more water than necessary.

7

Water meters – your questions answered

8

Water today, water tomorrow

9

three months of your request.

• If it does not do this, the company should offer to

adjust your bill to reflect the charges you would

have paid if you had been on a meter.

• The company can refuse your request to install a

meter if it would be impractical or too expensive to

do so (see page 15).

Deciding where the

meter should go

• The company will choose where to put the meter.

• the number of bedrooms in your property;

• the type of property you live in;

• the number of people who live in the property; or

• a fixed charge based on the average metered bill in your company’s area.

Each company decides how it will work out the assessed charge and applies this

We have encouraged the companies we regulate to offer a common billing

arrangement for customers in blocks of flats where shared water supplies mean

that it is not possible for occupants to have individual meters.

In such cases, the company will install a single meter to measure all water

supplied to the block of flats. This arrangement would involve the landlord and all

tenants agreeing that the company can raise a single bill for the supply to the

block. They would also agree that a single person or organisation (for example, a

landlord or management company) would take responsibility and recover charges

The purpose of the charge is to make

sure that customers are not

unreasonably disadvantaged

because they cannot have a meter.

The charge is not available to

customers if the company can fit

a meter at their property.

17

If you buy water or sewerage services from another person or company instead of

directly from your company, you will be protected by rules set out in the ‘Water

Resale Order’. You can find out more about this from our website.

Companies are installing meters as part of their plans to make sure there is

enough water for customers now and in the future. Meters provide them with

important information that helps them reduce leakage and manage supplies more

effectively. Customers with a meter use an average of 10% less water. By being

careful not to waste water, you can help to:

• save money;

• protect the environment;

• safeguard water and sewerage services for the future; and

• keep bills lower, for example by reducing the need to build expensive

• automatically fill a swimming pool;

• have a power shower or extra large bath;

• use a reverse osmosis water softening unit;

• are the new occupier of a property (provided it has not already sent you an

• live in a water stressed area where the Government has allowed compulsory

you, your company is allowed to install a meter and charge you according to how

If you are worried about having a meter, your company can offer help and advice

about how to reduce your bill. It will also explain the many different ways in which

you can use water more efficiently. See page 22 for more information about what

to do if you are having difficulty paying your bill.

Your company should write to give you advance notice of its intention to charge

provides the best value for customers and the environment.

Your company can only carry out compulsory metering if it proves that this is the

most efficient way to secure water supplies now and in the future.

It must also show that it has looked at other approaches to meeting demand,

such as tackling leakage and building more reservoirs. Adopting such approaches,

however, is expensive. It can increase everyone’s bills and has other impacts. For

example, digging up roads to mend pipes causes disruption, and building

reservoirs has a significant environmental impact.

That is why we need to encourage the companies to use the most efficient

combination of ways to manage the demand for water. This includes metering.

22

water more efficiently (see page 7). Your company is obliged to provide

information to help you do this.

If your company has a compulsory metering programme, it should provide you

with information on the help it can offer you as you move to metered charges.

It is important to ask for help early to stop bills mounting up and making the

problem worse.

Your bill may not necessarily go up. But if it does, your company can offer a range

of options to help you pay your bill. These include:

Every company offers the ‘WaterSure’ tariff. This caps the bills for certain metered

household customers at the average household bill for their area. WaterSure is

the name given to the vulnerable groups tariff, which was introduced in England

by Government regulations in April 2000. The companies operating in Wales offer

similar tariffs on a voluntary basis.

It applies to metered customers who receive specified benefits and:

• have three or more dependant children living with them; or

• suffer from (or have someone living with them who suffers from) a medical

If you think you may be eligible, contact your company for more information on

because of age, illness or disability, require special help in the way services

For example, your company will:

• provide information you require, including on metering, in a form that you can

• offer you a password scheme to prevent bogus callers;

• be able to check how much water you are using at reasonable intervals; and