third Feb 2025
Studying Time: 7 minutes
Up to date third February 2025
Water payments are on the rise, quickly to price an additional £123 for folks in England and Wales (and £44 in Scotland) in April this yr.
Wish to save a number of hundred kilos a yr and assist preserve a scare useful resource? Wish to give much less of your cash to an enormous firm and maintain extra your self? Easy! Simply take into consideration water. And particularly, take into consideration getting a water meter.
Rising Water Charges
Throughout the price of dwelling disaster, water payments are rising alongside different family payments. When you can’t select the provider of your water, there could also be a number of issues you are able to do to cut back your water invoice and get monetary savings.
When you’re on a low earnings (often below £19,000 family whole earnings, however test together with your provider), you may qualify for one thing known as a social tariff. These aren’t broadly marketed however each water provider should provide one and it’s a decreased charge for low earnings households. Different schemes are known as cap schemes, which restrict the whole quantity you could be charged on your water.
How a Water Meter Might Assist
A water meter may also help smaller or low utilization households save a big sum of money on their water invoice. One in every of our MoneyMagpie staff managed to take their quarterly invoice down from over £200 to simply £45 – that’s a whopping annual saving of round £600, and that’s not an uncommon case research!
Water meters measure the precise quantity of water your family makes use of as a substitute of estimating it primarily based on elements like the scale of your private home. You may, for instance, nonetheless reside in your four-bed household house however now alone or as a pair as the kids have grown up. Your water utilization will likely be considerably decreased, however the water payments keep the identical on an unmetered charge.
Anybody can request a water meter, however a common rule of thumb to know whether it is a good suggestion on your family is the occupant ratio. When you have fewer folks than bedrooms in your house, a meter is kind of more likely to prevent cash.
Your provider will organize for somebody to go to your property to verify a meter could be fitted, which is the case besides in extremely distinctive circumstances. In the event that they refuse, as a result of it’s too troublesome or costly to suit a meter at your property, they MUST give you an assessed cost charge as a substitute.
Renters can have meters put in, too. It’s well mannered to ask your landlord first however they don’t seem to be allowed to refuse.
A family can change again to an unmetered charge inside the first 12 months, however then the property stays on a meter after that interval.
Further Assist for Disabled or Giant Households
If somebody in your family makes use of quite a lot of further water on account of a incapacity, you could qualify for further monetary assist in the direction of your water invoice. Equally, if there are three or extra kids dwelling full-time on the property, you possibly can apply for a cap to your invoice which suggests you received’t pay over the typical value of a invoice on your property dimension even in the event you use extra water.
WaterSure is the scheme you must look out for in your provider’s web site to search out out extra.
Save on Water Payments with Water Saving Ideas
1. Solely run a cycle in the event you’ve received a full load
On common, one washer cycle makes use of 19 gallons of water. The typical family runs between 5 and 6 masses per week, which provides as much as 5,605 gallons of water per yr.
So, in the event you wash your garments solely when vital it can save you water and scale back your electrical energy payments. When you have been to drop down to simply 4 masses per week, you’d use over 1500 much less gallons of water a yr.
Half masses are very inefficient so in the event you’re a small family, wait till you’ve sufficient for a full load. After all, in the event you’ve received kids you’ll most likely don’t have any drawback filling up the washer!
You may need to take into account washing your garments at 30 levels as a substitute of 60 levels too. Larger temperatures use extra power, so it’ll price you within the long-run. Pre-soaking in a single day may also help to loosen quite a lot of filth and stains and make the wash cycle extra environment friendly too.
2. Use the dishwasher
This may sound unusual, however it actually does work! Most trendy dishwashers solely use 12 litres of water, whereas hand washing makes use of between 60 and 70 litres.
Nonetheless, this solely works in the event you scrape your plates relatively than rinse them. Like with a washer, you should solely run the cycle when it’s full. When you’re a smaller family, it’ll could also be value investing in a smaller dishwasher.
Keep in mind! While you’re shopping for new home equipment, take into account people who provide cycle and load-size changes, as they’re extra water and power environment friendly.
If you wish to minimize down in your payments additional, try our article on low cost, inexperienced cleansing merchandise that you could make your self, right here.
3. Take showers as a substitute of baths
In line with Waterwise, a brief bathe with an environment friendly bathe head makes use of much less water than a shower. However that is solely the case in the event you take lower than 10 minutes in there and don’t have an influence bathe. We suggest saving your singing voice for after your bathe!
Strive adapting your every day routine to slot in a bathe relatively than a shower. When you actually can’t do with out your bathtub, why not pour it an inch decrease each time because it’ll prevent round 5 litres. You possibly can even use your bathtub water to water family vegetation, however be sure that to maintain your baths to as soon as per week.
4. Flip the faucet off
A staggering 80% of British adults are losing water usually.
Brits waste water whereas brushing their tooth and whereas they’re filling up the kettle. Leaving the faucet on for a minute wastes 6 litres of water, so in the event you’re leaving it on when you brush you’re losing 24 litres a day!
Fortunately, these dangerous habits could be remedied, so it can save you on water and money.
When you have any persistently dripping faucets, ensure you get them mounted. This is usually a big waste of water over time, costing you cash you probably have a water meter.
5. Re-use water for vegetation and greens
Wash your vegetables and fruit in a bowl of water as a substitute of working water from the faucet. You received’t discover the distinction in any respect while you’re cooking. Nonetheless, you’ll be capable to re-use to water for home vegetation.
While you boil an egg, save the cooled water on your houseplants. The vitamins launched from the shell will likely be good for them. Not solely will you save water, however you’ll make your vegetation more healthy too.
Equally, you probably have a fish tank, the soiled water is wealthy is phosphorus and nitrogen, that are nice on your vegetation!
6. Hold water within the fridge
When you’re a stickler for chilly consuming water, this one’s for you! Moderately than working the faucet for a minute or so, retailer bottled water within the fridge. Refill your water bottles within the morning and retailer them within the fridge for a superbly chilled beverage. This fashion you received’t need to run the faucet for ages if you wish to have a chilly drink and also you’ll be serving to the surroundings too.
7. Hippo water saver
The Hippo water saver is a pack that goes inside your rest room cistern that will help you save water.
Each time you flush, the Hippo can save as much as three litres of water. This may prevent roughly £20 a yr. They price £2 in order that they’re a terrific funding!
8. Eco bathe head

In line with the Vitality Saving Belief, by merely switching to an eco bathe head you may scale back your water utilization by a median of 74% and minimize your sizzling water payments by as a lot as 40%.
You will get a PulseEco bathe head for round £33 and it’s straightforward to suit onto your bathe hose too. All you must do is unscrew the bathe head you do have and substitute it with this new one
9. Get a water butt
When you love your backyard, get a water butt to make use of rainwater in your vegetation. When you don’t have numerous house for one, a rain chain and bucket is an effective different. You possibly can qualify for a decreased price water butt by Save Water, Save Cash.
10. Get free water saving gadgets
Save Cash, Save Water has a nifty questionnaire that will help you present how a lot water you’re utilizing – and the way a lot you may save. Even higher, you possibly can select from a spread of free water saving gadgets, from bathe timers to faucet aerators and even strips to place in your rest room to ensure you don’t have a sneaky flush leak.