Water meter.

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Water meter.

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Pete W.:
Hi there, Steve,

If you were in the UK, our Environment Agency would probably assert that your spring was under their control!

My late uncle used to run a smallholding. He positioned a spun concrete pipe (about 4 feet diameter) in the middle of his field and dug out the interior so that the pipe sank into the ground. When it was flush with ground level he put another on top and continued digging. I can't remember how many sections he eventually used but he had a copiously delivering well to supply all the needs of his livestock and irrigation. Then, one day, he had a visit from a couple of officials who required him to tell them how much water he extracted each day and told him he was going to have to pay for an extraction licence. He was NOT amused!

I can see the 'official' point of view to a certain extent - if you take water from a well, you're tapping a resource that extends under other people's property. If you take too much, their wells could run dry.

More recently, a friend uses spring water to supply his business premises. He's had to install a UV flocculator and an activated charcoal filter to ensure that the water is potable.

Further to the discussion further up this thread about the costs of metered water, we are currently using a fairly steady 1 cubic metre per week, that's for two adults, one mature German Shepherd and two cats.

For garden watering, the main workshop has two water butts and the tin shed will also soon have one or two butts. I have a further water butt and a rain water diverter kit which I plan to install on the house roof downpipe soon.

awemawson:
They have relaxed the extraction controls in the UK now Pete. You can legally extract 20 cu M per day. I was tempted to use a bore hole for my Launderettes when I had them - they were each using between 3 and 6 cu M per day. But the costs of boring and treating made it marginally worth it.

DavidA:
So generally the consensus seems to be in favor of meters. I'll have to to see just what Yorkshire Water offer.

I do expect that I will be adding more water storage from the roofs to use for flushing toilets etc. Should be able to cobble up a system without too much head scratching.

Thanks for the advice.
Dave

Arbalist:
It depends:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/5099137/Will-a-water-meter-save-you-money.html

Jo:
Dave,

I had a water meter imposed on me two months ago, as so many I was not impressed :palm:.

Two months later: As a single person I am averaging out at 0.5 cubic metres of water a week, so that is about 60p a week plus the standing charge of £10.50 a year.. So annual bill will be around £42 instead of the old charge of £195 :ddb:

I can't see the water company being too impressed :thumbup:

Jo

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