Post by FrankExcellent rate and that would just pay for sewer where I live. Hard to
compare utility prices between US and UK as I suspect most of yours are
highly subsidized. Hard to believe they allow you unlimited water. I've
heard of people here that had a water hose left on and ended up with over
$1,000 monthly bill.
Water companies are encouraging people to change over from flat-rate to
metered supply, but there are some houses which can't have a meter. Our
house is one of a terrace of three. There is a single T from the water main
in the road, with a single stop tap, and this then divides into one pipe per
house. For some reason, the water company cannot fit meters in each of the
separate pipes, so we must always remain on a flat-rate tariff.
At my previous house which had a meter, the copper pipe going to the outside
tap pulled out of the compression fitting and a lot of water was lost - it
may have been running for several days because I'd been away for that
weekend. I kept a record of my meter readings every few weeks and I can see
that between 2 June and 1 July that year I used an average of 1600
litres/day
instead of typically about 50 - 100 litres/day. Ouch! Luckily my next bill
was
not much higher, so I imagine that the standing charges are a significant
part of the quarterly bill, and the extra water usage was not too
significant. I have heard of people being able to claim back the amount from
their household or buildings insurance in extreme cases so they don't lose
out.