We have had an enormous bill from the water board

[Guest]

What do you pay for an average 3 bedroom house and how many instalments a year please?

[Fiona]

3 bed semi £43 per month, no meter.

[Becky]

On a meter 3 bed 4 persons. With south west water. We pay £50 a month and we are low users apparently.

[Michaela]

Like with gas and electric, water usage can't be "judged on what others usage is" everyone uses water differently. For example; some people cook their veg in a steamer, so 1 pan of water will cook 3-4 different veg. Other people will cook each veg in its own separate pan. Obviously this is only an example of one way of using water, but, toilet flushing, showers, baths, washing machines, dishwasher etc are all used differently, therefore a comparison can't me made.

[Ken]

I think that if water companies were allowed to compete with each other like gas, electric, and phone companies do we would soon see prices come down. At the moment they are protected little monopolies and have no incentive to reduce prices.

[Anne-marie]

£35 a month 3 bed house standard price in my area x united utilities water company payment every month… disabled people.

Can het a reduced rate also… I haven’t applied for that as we well use over £35 a month in water x

[Tracey]

On a meter. Was nearly £60 a month went down to £9 then my son moved in and grandson occasionally and son bathed him nearly every night so went up to over £30 and hoping it will drop again soon xx

[Kathy]

It's very difficult to compare, cos some people only pay one company for water & sewerage, whereas in Bournemouth we pay B'th water for water, & Wessex water for waste water. Martin Lewis says if you have more bedrooms than people, a water meter should be cheaper (but until very recently he omitted to say, if you have an older property, & a high council tax band, it will probably be worth having a water meter anyway) Best wishes.

[Zoe]

3 bed 2 adults, 2 kids, £18 a month on a meter. upto 12 showers per week, 1 bath a week, sink for washing pots, kettle, washer goes on about 4 times a week, and in summer 10ft pool (holds about 1000gallons) normally refilled every 4days. Was paying £24 a month year last.

[Louisa]

I can’t help as I have a 2 bed but is anyone else get sick to death with Thames water. They do not change the direct debit like the gas and electric and then they just sit there and watch you get further and further behind. Then bam put your direct debit up in April to nearly twice what you were paying before they have done this to us twice now.

[Susan]

I am a in a 2 bed just myself and my daughter mine is £52 a month April to November, my parents are in a 3 bed they had a water meter fitted last August but before that theres was always £10 a month more than mine so theres would of been over £60 a month without the meter.

[Donna]

There’s something called water sure tariff with ours which is Yorkshire water so if someone’s on certain benefits or you have 3 or more children or even if someone has a medical priority where they use more water such as eczema or Crohn’s disease then you get a huge discount in your bills they won’t tell you about it all you have to do is download the forms online and fill them in send a prescription form and a proof of what you claim or earn and they will write to you about it it’s worth it as it cuts ours by half x

[Jackie]

We pay £26 month on a water meter and are in credit. 2 adults/3 bed house/big garden but we are very careful with water. We have less showers. Use dishwasher every other day. I water plants mostly with a watering can and also the washing up water but sometimes use a hose in summer. I've even used the bath water in toilet.

[Alano]

You can often cap it if you are on a low household income. In Yorkshire you can apply for "Watersupport" and then it's a maximum of £350 per year, which would be under £30 per month (if 12 payments).