Discontent #10 food, energy, transport, cost of living, society etc
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You get a grace period up to 2 years where they will remove it if you don't want it.thanks we'd save but Mum doesnt want a meter so think we'll just have to pay more
I changed my brother's and he said he saved an eye watering amount.
Got a water meter and pay £80 a month. Yet the bill says we are a low consumption household???
Water does vary a lot by region. Scotland it's just something added to council tax, mine was 150 odd a year a few years ago. Similar sized place in London that I moved to next was 300% more.
Whereas in the south west they were banned from everyday disposing waste into the sea and had to spend a fortune on treatment plants and other stuff, so water is expensive there.
Water scarcity is going to be such an issue in the future, they really should have made provisions for grey water when building new developments. Silly to flush drinking water.
It's very daily mail comment section to say "fix the leaks" but there's so many pipes. That'll take decades of investment, that no one will commit to until the problem is really out of hand. Apparently they're testing robots to go through the pipes to find significant leaks to fix without digging up everywhere. Seems sensible, but that's still a long way off actually being used.
Whereas in the south west they were banned from everyday disposing waste into the sea and had to spend a fortune on treatment plants and other stuff, so water is expensive there.
Water scarcity is going to be such an issue in the future, they really should have made provisions for grey water when building new developments. Silly to flush drinking water.
It's very daily mail comment section to say "fix the leaks" but there's so many pipes. That'll take decades of investment, that no one will commit to until the problem is really out of hand. Apparently they're testing robots to go through the pipes to find significant leaks to fix without digging up everywhere. Seems sensible, but that's still a long way off actually being used.
Sww can dump into the sea, they are one of the worst for sewage discharge. They were fined the other year and I read they hadn't met water quality targets for 10 years.I don't think any water company is meant to discharge sewage when it's dry though.
Sww say the reason for being the most expensive is population density
Sww say the reason for being the most expensive is population density
It was to summarise a complicated situation, they've been banned from their routine dumping and had more rigorous standards applied that forced investment into the infrastructure. That caused bills to soar ages ago to the highest in the country, and they haven't really come down much (I guess they'd say they're still paying off the debt). But yes, they all have get out clauses or do a cost benefit analysis to work out if it's cheaper to break the rules and get a fine rather than improve.
A bit OT but I was trying (and failing) to look for threads related to last year's heatwave. Our house is south facing (?) which leaves our bedroom and back garden in the sun most of the day. I'm considering getting heat resistant blinds or shutters to help keep some of the heat out as it just felt unbearable at times last year. Does anyone have any experience of doing this or companies they'd recommend?
Last year I ended up hanging towels up in front of windows to help absorb the heat but would like something a bit more stable than that.
Last year I ended up hanging towels up in front of windows to help absorb the heat but would like something a bit more stable than that.
There isn’t much you can do that will make a huge difference. Our houses are built to retain heat, hanging a blind won’t change that
Honestly there isn't much you can do to stop the heat. We have blinds all over the South of the house and in Summer we still hit 29°C inside when they are closed.
My mother used to close the blinds from 9am until 6pm and it still wouldn't make a difference. As the years go by and global warming gets worse the temperatures just keep rising.
My mother used to close the blinds from 9am until 6pm and it still wouldn't make a difference. As the years go by and global warming gets worse the temperatures just keep rising.
I feel your pain, the back of our house, including bedroom, is south facing and it was terrible last year in the summer. We tried various things (blackout / heat resistant blinds, keeping the blinds and curtains shut during the day so the sun couldn't get in) and honestly, I don't think any of it works.
We ended up buying a portable air con machine - it's about the same size of a dehumidifier. We put that on in our bedroom about an hour before going to bed and found it was great, well worth the money. slightly annoying that we had to have a pipe sticking out the window, but I wasn't really that bothered if it meant I could have a nice cool bedroom!
Normal blinds won't make any difference. But external shutters or modern shutters inside the middle of double glazing will reduce the heat. Not dramatically but a few degrees.
I'd plan to decamp to a cooler back room for the couple of days a year there's a heatwave in the UK.
I'd plan to decamp to a cooler back room for the couple of days a year there's a heatwave in the UK.
I just washed my voiles and the south facing ones have come out shredded like a Halloween curtain 
@Yel Now there's a thought. We did have a spare bedroom but it's very much used as a dumping ground at the moment. Much smaller than our bedroom but might be the better option when (if) we experience a hot summer.
We have large patio doors that are great for letting in light but do lead to very hot days in the winter. That area last summer was sometimes hotter than outside.
We have large patio doors that are great for letting in light but do lead to very hot days in the winter. That area last summer was sometimes hotter than outside.
My conservatory is 40 degrees in summer.
I have been told that they are expecting water shortages in France and Italy this summer due to lack of rain and there is a question mark over the UK so they said to put things in your tubs in the ground now unless it's bulbs. Last year I nearly lost the plants in my tubs so I'm going to listen this time.
In the part of the Midlands where I am it feels like it hasn’t rained for weeks, it doesn’t feel very winter like apart from the cold. It’s been bright, dry skys, some frost, but no rain (unless there’s been some at night and it has become frost).
I have bitten the bullet and ordered a waterbutt for the garden. It is crazy to spend money on seeds, bulbs and compost only to lose my fruit and veggies because there is no rain.
Just hoping there will be enough rain to fill it when it arrives.
Many years ago when my son was little I used to have a hose up to the bath window after his bathwater had cooled I used to use it to water. Tempted to do that again as well.
Just hoping there will be enough rain to fill it when it arrives.
Many years ago when my son was little I used to have a hose up to the bath window after his bathwater had cooled I used to use it to water. Tempted to do that again as well.
France has huge problems with water shortages, like the UK they dont use greywater much but they're suffering from much worse droughts. Italy and Spain are far better at water management.
France even had to turn off some nuclear reactors as river levels got so low and you weren't allowed to wash your car (even with a bucket!) Although people are more concerned that Krispy cream is opening up there
On the topic of food prices I bought a 150g CarreFour own brand bar of chocolate tonight without looking at the price, it was €6.75
! Wasn't even organic or anything.
France even had to turn off some nuclear reactors as river levels got so low and you weren't allowed to wash your car (even with a bucket!) Although people are more concerned that Krispy cream is opening up there
On the topic of food prices I bought a 150g CarreFour own brand bar of chocolate tonight without looking at the price, it was €6.75
! Wasn't even organic or anything.
That's over twice what we pay!
I only pay £12!
Dorset was pretty mild
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