Water rates, water waste
It is true to say we have all been affected, to a greater or lesser degree, by the financial crisis of 2008. While wages have remained largely stagnant utility costs have continued to rise, with water rates no exception.
While there has been fierce debate around the rising cost of gas and electricity, as well as a perceived stranglehold by the “big six” energy suppliers on the UK domestic market, for many the hardest thing to swallow (no pun intended) are the rising costs of water.
With year on year increases UK customers now pay, on average, around £393 per year, with the South West hit particularly hard. On the Cornish peninsula, for example, families can find themselves paying up £499 per year.
The lowest prices tend to be in Yorkshire and Northumbria, where costs currently hover around a £368 and £359 respectively. While admittedly lower than other parts of the country, this still represents a large outgoing for families struggling to make ends meet.
To its credit the population of Britain has managed to put one foot in front of the other and has carried on regardless. However, when it comes to water people find it particularly difficult to forgive spiralling costs, especially considering incidents like Lancashire’s recent cryptosporidium outbreak.
But even when things aren’t going wrong, we generally baulk at having to pay for such a necessary and natural resource? Water, after all, quite literally falls from the sky.
But whatever the rights and wrongs, there are lots of ways to save and this article aims to help you prevent at least some of your pounds and pennies from dripping away.
What do water rates actually pay for?
There is, generally speaking, a certain amount of confusion when it comes to water rates. Most people are aware that the amount we pay goes toward maintaining the complex infrastructure which brings water to our tap. But how does the amount we pay relate to the service we receive?
According to price comparison service, uSwitch, British water bills consist of two parts. One covers the cost of the water we expect to see when turning on a tap, while the other relates to “grey water” or sewerage, meaning the water we use and then send back into the system.
This includes waste water from toilets, bathtubs, showers and dish washing. Surprisingly it also includes rain water which runs off your home and into the sewer system. People are routinely shocked to discover that more than 50% of what we pay goes toward sewerage.
It is worth noting that you can apply for a discount if you can show that precipitation from your house doesn’t run off into a public sewer. So if you have something called a “soakaway,” you may apply for the discount.
There are, however, simpler ways to save – and not only on your water bills. We often forget that domestic water usage comes with an associated cost in terms of gas and electricity. These additional costs, more often than not, depend on how we manage water consumption in the home.
In Britain, sad to say, we do not manage well.
How do we compare to other countries?
In the United States there are strict regulations when it comes to saving water, especially in states like California where drought has become an increasingly urgent issue.
Since 1992 federal regulations have stipulated, for example, that US shower heads pass no more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute. In July of next year this will fall to 2.0 gallons and in 2018 California will see the flow rate drop to 1.8 gallons.
According to the state Energy Commission, reports the Los Angeles Times, this will result in savings of 38 billion gallons of water, 20.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 1,322 gigawatt hours of electricity each year.
Other measures coming into law will also limit the flow of water through bathroom taps. Currently limited to 2.2 gallons per minute, in July 2016 this will fall to 1.2 gallons; representing an estimated saving of 154 billion gallons of water over the next decade.
While these measures have been inspired more by necessity that an attempt at easing the financial burden on Americans, they not only represent ecologically sound thinking, but also financial savings at consumer level.
Here in the UK there are no such limitations and, with the average family using up 150 litres of water every day, there is cause for concern. Not for nothing do we use almost fifty percent more H20 than any other EU country.
Don’t despair, there are ways to save
When it comes to water usage it can seem that the Britain is seriously lagging behind the rest of the world, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of options open to domestic customers.
By installing a modern water saving shower head, for example, it is possible cut usage by up to two thirds per shower. While non regulated showers can use up to thirty litres of water per minute, a more eco-friendly head can lower this figure to 9 litres without a noticeable drop in pressure.
Best of all water saving shower heads are reasonably cheap and can be retrofitted to most units. This not only cuts your water rates but can also save your gas bill too.
Another way to save, especially where there are children present, is to install a four minute sand timer with a suction cup attachment within the shower area. If you have an electric shower, you may already be saving as you only heat the water as it is used.
This means that the longer you spend in the shower, the greater the eventual cost in terms of associated utilities. Those of us with children – especially teenagers – will know that a single shower can easily last thirty minutes; longer once they begin dating.
So a water saving shower head, fitted to an electric shower unit and used in conjunction with something as simple as a four minute timer can result in substantial savings.
Another way to save is by encouraging a culture of awareness within the family. The average bathroom tap uses 6 litres per minute. This is equivalent to twelve 500ml bottles of water.
It is suggested that that we should spend at least two minutes brushing teeth. With the tap running this represents twenty four wasted bottles of water per brush.
If we assume that most people brush twice a day for a total of four minutes, over the course of a year each person in the household is wasting around 1,460 litres of water simply by leaving the tap running.
In a family of four the figure jumps to 5,840 litres and that, by anybody’s reckoning, is an obscene amount of clean water to waste.
But every cloud has a silver lining and this is no exception. Just as there are now water saving shower heads there are water saving taps as well as regulators which can be quickly and cheaply added to existing fixtures.
Another thing we often fail to fully consider are drips. For many of us a dripping tap is something that happens in the background of our daily lives and which we vaguely plan to fix…at some point.
Bear in mind that just one tap, dripping at a rate of a single drop every second, can waste up to 15 litres of water daily. If it happens to be a hot tap there is also an associated impact on the household gas hill.
Public vs Private Sector Solutions
While successive UK governments have been slow to act when it comes to water waste, the private sector has been far more pro-active.
There are now many companies supplying water saving shower heads, along with kitchen and bathroom taps, which can help slash consumption.
BigBathroomShop itself is set break ground in 2016 by producing one of the UK’s the first designer range of water efficient taps and showers, all of which will operate without sacrificing water pressure.
This article covers just a few of ways it is possible to cut your household outgoings. There are more options and ideas to consider. Often it is worth visiting the website of your local supplier.
So with just a few simple additions to your bathroom apparatus, coupled with a small change of culture around the house, it’s not difficult to put an end to the practice of quite literally flushing money down the drain, day after day.
John has a background in sports journalism, and lists content writing amongst his primary passions. He provides expert bathroom trends commentary and analysis, as well as offering meticulously researched answers to the most frequently asked bathroom posers.
