How to Lower the Cost of Your Water Bills ~ Fresh Design Blog

Water bills are one of the major expenses in any house. It has been estimated that the water bill for the average UK household is around £385, so it’s easy to see why so many homeowners are scrambling for ideas to reduce it.

You may be under the impression that you’re already doing everything you can, or that any difference would be insignificant, but you’d be sorely mistaken. There are tons of things that you can do to keep your costs under control; you just have to pay attention to where there could be a waste and make the proper correction. Here are a few ways that you could lower the cost of your water bills.

Have Your Plumbing Checked Out

Contemporary bathroom with a copper and white colour scheme — Photo by House Method on Unsplash

Having your plumbing checked out could be one of the most efficient ways to cut down on your costs. Who knows, maybe you have a silent leak somewhere in your system that you weren’t aware of that is adding to your monthly bill without you even realising it.

This is where companies such as Pinpoint come in useful, as they have over 55 years of expertise detecting and repairing leaks. Detecting a water leak with Pinpoint’s advice will allow you to identify the actual source of the problem without causing unnecessary damage to it. Their discovery methods are completely non-invasive and they will come to your house in 24 hours or less. They will also be able to repair the leak for you for a reasonable fee with no hidden costs.

Consider Switching to a Metered Scheme

When it comes to water bills, you can decide to get charged a flat fee based on your property or pay by the meter. Paying by the meter could be a possible option if you feel like your water consumption is lower than what you’re paying with your flat fee. But, to see if it would be worth it, you have to get at least an estimate of how much water you use.

The Consumer Council for Water has a calculator that you can use to do just that. It will ask you a couple of questions about your household and your water habits, such as how many people live in the house and how many times per day you flush the toilet among other things. This will allow you to get a rough idea of whether it would be wise to switch to a meter or not.

Also, know that water companies are obligated to provide a water meter free of charge if you ask for it. If they can’t, they have to give you an alternative in the form of an assessed charge instead. This will be calculated by using the average fee that people with meters pay. There is no set formula for how companies calculate this charge, but some will consider other household factors like the number of occupants and bedrooms.

Don’t Completely Fill Your Bathtub

Contemporary bathroom design with large tub and shower — Photo by Sidekix Media on Unsplash

There’s no real need to fill your bathtub completely when taking baths. Just filling your bathtub halfway will use around 200 litres, so filling it up to one third could end up making a huge difference at the end of the year without affecting the quality of baths too much.

Or, you could stop taking baths and switching to showers. Taking a shower will use about 9.5 litres of water per minute, and this can be reduced further by using low flow showerheads. That doesn’t mean you have to swear off baths altogether; you could make them a weekly treat instead. However, you still have to make sure that you watch how long you stay in the shower. You’re not going to make any savings if you spend 15 to 20 minutes in the shower every time.

Don’t Leave the Tap Running

Save water by not leaving the tap running unnecessarily — Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

This is a common bad habit people have that could make a big difference in water consumption if corrected – make sure to never leave the tap open for no reason.

So, when you’re doing things like brushing your teeth or cleaning the dishes, for instance, only use what you need rather than leave it continually running. We often do it out of convenience, but you could be wasting a lot more water than you imagine by leaving the tap open while you’re brushing – especially if you multiply this by the total number of people in your household.

If you’re going to clean the dishes, it’s better to scrub the dishes with a little bit of soap and water than open the tap once you’re ready to rinse. Also, make sure that you watch your children and teach them the importance of saving water as they’re often less sensitive to these kinds of things.

These are all simple tips that you can use in your everyday routine to significantly cut your monthly water bills. These could all be implemented starting today, so make sure you do and get your whole family involved.