Water Meters

[plantfit 7,582]

Just had a rebate from our water bill of £33.71p now the annual bill is £380,not bad, Anglian water though not Seven Trent

 

Rog

[MargieH 7,599]

Sorry your plans for a water meter didn't work out Lizzie.  Hope they will give you a reduction anyway

[Enigma. 1,533]

@LizzieM - every property has a internal stop tap but there has to be enough clearance for a meter to be fitted immediately after the stop tap

 

if theres no room on the pipework internally they will locate the external stop tap and check to see if you have your own independent one and not shared with your neighbours usually located in the footpath outside your property

 

new boundary stop taps are plastic and have large round black plastic covers and a meter can be fitted onto them - old style stop taps  are usually located under the cast iron square covers in deep narrow chambers and get filled up with soil 

 

either way hope you get sorted out 

[LizzieM 9,507]

Enigma, we definitely don’t have an internal stop tap. We’ve been here nearly 15 years and have never found one, also had a few different plumbers over that time and they couldn’t locate one either.  May be something to do with the previous owner having an extension built.   The cover plate outside our gate, on the pavement, is a cast iron square one and is unfortunately only a few feet from a very old big tree.  This STW chap wasn’t a ‘jobsworth’, he seemed really upset that he couldn’t do the job for us and spent a long time on the phone discussing it with someone.   Neighbours have meters but they haven’t got a tree so close.  

[Enigma. 1,533]

the internal stop might be underneath your kitchen cupboards behind the kick boards at the base of the sink unit or in the corner of your kitchen - if you have a cellar they are sometimes located down them too 

 

the external stop tap chamber would be bricked lined so i cant see how the tree would affect it - i carry a special spade issued by stw for digging out the soil in the external boundary boxes and if the tap has broken off ive got a tool for isolating the water too 

 

if i cant isolate the water - severn trent have sometimes fitted a new external stop tap at no cost to the customer 

[LizzieM 9,507]

The trees around Mapperley Park are over 100 years old Enigma, the roots will be all over.  We’ll wait and see if Severn Trent take pity on us and reduce our water bill as they are not able to fit a meter when we’ve requested one.  Thanks for your advice anyway 

[Brew 5,411]

The general rule when digging in the footpath is that any root about thumb thickness must not be cut. Excavation with 1mtr of a tree  is forbidden, special precautions taken up to 4 times the trees circumference and in all cases hand digging only. Trees are the utilities nightmare.

 

[Enigma. 1,533]

usual dig out for boundary boxes in the footpath - thats probably why it cant be done so close to the tree 

 

[LizzieM 9,507]

There’s a larger square/oblong cast iron plate quite near the STW plate which the guy hammered to try to loosen just to see what was in there.  I’ll take a photo tomorrow when it’s light.  

[DJ360 6,728]

My house was only built in the 1970s and what you are all calling a 'boundary box' was in fact a few bricks, which crumbled as they were strategically placed exactly where the wheels of my car went onto the drive.  Took me a couple of years to get NWW or whoever to come out and replace the bricks with a proper box.

Hope you get sorted Lizzie.

[plantfit 7,582]

Another picture of a water meter,this time in my front garden

 

 

Rog

 

[nonnaB 4,895]

You think you've got problems.

 

,

 

Plumber " Can you turn water off?" ok but which one.

This is just part of our water system.

[nonnaB 4,895]

This is the other bit.

 

 

[philmayfield 6,115]

In my experience of Italian engineers they all seem to have the flair of Michaelangelo.

[nonnaB 4,895]

When we were renovating the house in 2000, I asked the plumber why all the tubes and pipes etc.He told me that when one outlet needed to be turned off ,instead of closing the whole system we could choose which one needs to be turned off without it affecting the other outlets. The house was built C1850 and the extension in 1886 so presumably had few water outlets. When we came here we had outlets everywhere inside and outside.Its a nightmare when  a different plumber comes as they never understand the system. Plus when we divided the house when my son came to live here it was altered again, and was separated so we are independent. Also when my daughter took over the ex stable and hayloft we had to start once again in bring water into the new renovation. 

[nonnaB 4,895]

I agree but thinking about it, it makes sense. At least one can have a shower, someone can fill a watering can, the washer and dish washer can also be run together. But you do get used to the confusion. 

[philmayfield 6,115]

That’s what I like about the Italians. They can create confusion where non existed before!

[philmayfield 6,115]

Heaven is a place where:

The lovers are Italian

The cooks are French

The mechanics are German

The police are English

The Government is run by the Swiss

 

Hell is a place where:

The lovers are Swiss

The cooks are English

The mechanics are French

The police are German

The government is run by the Italians

[MargieH 7,599]

In our last house, which was built in 1851, we had  one stopcock on the pavement just outside the house, one in the drive, one on an alcove upstairs and one in the airing cupboard!  The plumbing had been extended in dribs and drabs apparently

[nonnaB 4,895]

5 hours ago, philmayfield said:

That’s what I like about the Italians. They can create confusion where non existed before!

 

You may know some then Phil, but they're inventive when it comes to sorting a problem out.

[nonnaB 4,895]

4 hours ago, philmayfield said:

Heaven is a place where:

The lovers are Italian

The cooks are French

The mechanics are German

The police are English

The Government is run by the Swiss

 

Hell is a place where:

The lovers are Swiss

The cooks are English

The mechanics are French

The police are German

The government is run by the Italians

 

Your government isn't doing too badly.  

[nonnaB 4,895]

4 hours ago, MargieH said:

In our last house, which was built in 1851, we had  one stopcock on the pavement just outside the house, one in the drive, one on an alcove upstairs and one in the airing cupboard!  The plumbing had been extended in dribs and drabs apparently

 

Not much different to ours Margie , we also have one in the yard next door which serves us and our neighbours.(4 Houses) Inconvenient when the mains need to be closed as we all have electric gates which means someone has to climb over the walls if we are all out.

[mary1947 2,079]

The good thing about water meters is if there are only 2 people living in the same house it doe's save you money. Imagen years ago how much the bills would have been if they were on water meters ,  family's were from (just a guess) 5----12--14-- children. Then freedom for the ladies as in the 50s/60s/ the pill was offered. So women had a say in how many children they wanted, no more lay back and think of England.

[katyjay 5,091]

Those were the days though that no one took daily baths (showers were unheard of except at the swimming baths) Just the weekly bath all in the same water.  The washing machine if you'd got one was only filled once a week and no dishwashers. I can't imagine water bills were very high even with large families.

[loppylugs 8,429]

Never saw a water meter until we moved to Calgary.  Always payed a flat rate when we lived in Nottingham.