Purifying water from flat but it's unmetered- problem?

[slippy]

I am planning on making my water by running a hose pipe from kitchen sink. I have just moved into the flat (own it) today and looking at the previous person's utility bill for water it says Wessex Water and that the water is billed using unmetered charges based on the rateable value of the property. Is this good or bad? I only use a couple of hundred litres a week at moment, but this might go up. Would the water company hike up the prices for everyone in the block if they notice my flat is using an unusually high amount of water?

I need to call the water company and register my name for the bills- should I change to metered charges?

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Doubt it - I am un-metered and I use 2000 liters a week, my water bill has gone up 3% in 4 years!

 

[Eddie dragon]

Just started but use 200_400l day. Un-metered will pay more if they notice and ask. I'm sure not telling them.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Without a water meter they have no way of knowing how much water you use, however if you have hoes etc trailing to the van all day someone may notice.

Can you put a shed outside the kitchen? Put a IBC in there and then just transfer when required.

 

[slippy]

Without a water meter they have no way of knowing how much water you use, however if you have hoes etc trailing to the van all day someone may notice.
Can you put a shed outside the kitchen? Put a IBC in there and then just transfer when required.

Nah. Outside my flat is common land (everyone uses it), I can't put a shed there. I live in a block of flats with five flats in the block and then there are another four separate blocks of flats (on the compound/area if you like) and each of these has five individual flats in them. Initially I will have an RO (4040 maybe)and DI (both portable) or just twin DIs and will run hose pipe from kitchen window to the outside carpark and fill my barrels next to my car. I reckon it wont take an hour to get 200 litres. Everyone will see me doing this and this is what I am worried about! I don't think the water company will care/notice if I use 300-400 litres of water per week, but would the other residents care? Should I go metered then I am paying for exactly what I'm using and then the other residents can't complain about me?

 

[Iron Giant]

The rateable value of your home relates to council tax band each band has a set annual fee for water rates that is how water companies do it .

My local water board has no chance of putting me on a meter because when they have no idea were the pipe is they tried to find it once dug down 3ft were they expected it to be no luck /emoticons/smile.png , They believe it feeds into the first house in our development then is T'ed off to each house internally 5 cottages no chance of metering in their eyes .

NO NO NO don't ask for a meter they will never know who is using all the water and i assume you're DI only anyway .

 

[slippy]

The rateable value of your home relates to council tax band each band has a set annual fee for water rates that is how water companies do it .
My local water board has no chance of putting me on a meter because when they have no idea were the pipe is they tried to find it once dug down 3ft were they expected it to be no luck /emoticons/smile.png , They believe it feeds into the first house in our development then is T'ed off to each house internally 5 cottages no chance of metering in their eyes .

NO NO NO don't ask for a meter they will never know who is using all the water and i assume you're DI only anyway .

OK, so being unmetered could be good!! But if I my neighbours see my hose coming out of window (and they will) and see me filling up barrels for an hour a week and then then if the water bill goes up (in my block of five flats) will anyone make any trouble with me? How about if I get a van and fill it up every other day?

 

[heyoh]

Just to put your 3-400L/week into context: one shower takes about 80-100L, so projecting that to your 5flat block is like nothing, less than having a new tenant. They won't even notice.

So are you thinking of keeping your RO in the kitchen and just running the pure to your van?

 

[boarcity]

View attachment 6615 you know therell be aggro so think ahead. might be an idea to lug your water down in a suitcase ,dont scoff at the idea

 

[slippy]

Just to put your 3-400L/week into context: one shower takes about 80-100L, so projecting that to your 5flat block is like nothing, less than having a new tenant. They won't even notice.So are you thinking of keeping your RO in the kitchen and just running the pure to your van?

Nah- I am gonna get a 4040 RO for speed (my local TDS is 240), (using twin DI at moment, but eventually gonna get 40/40) I will mount the RO on a board which I keep in my garage next to flat drive the board to car park outside my flat, plug in hose to kitchen sink then other end of hose into RO then outlet of RO to DI then into barrel. EVERYONE is gonna see me at some point if this is done weekly or twice a week. Eventually probably will get a van.

Am I going to have problems with other tenants when they see the hose and me sitting in car with barrels filling up next to the car for an hour a week? Or is it a case of just be nice and go for it?

 

[heyoh]

Sorry I didn't get the RO bit before, so it's going to be possibly twice the amount you want purified, if your 4040 can do 1:1 pure to waste. But that depends on mains pressure, have you checked that yet? How long will that hose have to be running to the RO? That can cause pressure drop also, producing pure on low pressure takes ages

Regarding your neighbours, do you have a rapport with them, that helps surely

What's your tap tds?

 

[slippy]

Just bought flat yesterday, but the people in block all seem ok. Young Polish renters below wont care, middle aged lady next door seems nice and janitor in late forties below seems nice. There's just one guy about 50 across the hall who I haven't met. I normally get on well with people.

There are five other blocks of flats in the compound with five flats in each of them so there are 25 flats in total.

TDS 240

The Hose will be between 12 and 20 metres between kitchen sink and RO next to car

I don't know water pressure yet as haven't measure it, but will do. If I use a booster pump I guess the noise might cause more annoyance than anything else.

 

[Jimroot]

Didn't you have a girlfriend living elsewhere? Could you pay her or someone else to use their space and make the water there, I can't see this flat setup working out long term for you. the connectors can break or work loose and you'd flood the building. I had my set up in the kitchen, and it flooded when a connector shot off the DI vessel, it's now in an insulated storage unit.outside, I'd rather risk frost than floods. It's like most things, if it can happen it probably will happen, at some point, complaints, water company issues, floods etc. Best to minimise risk from the outset

 

[heyoh]

I would have have to agree, sounds like too much hassle, if it was di only and it literally took you 30 mins to fill up, then yes it would be a viable option.

Is there any places close to you that sell pure water? Or another window cleaner who has a static sytem? Or as @Jimroot suggested any relatives, friends living close-by? You could do their windows for free once a month.

I have a customer I do for free, where I can collect rainwater, so that works out well for both of us

 

[slippy]

Didn't you have a girlfriend living elsewhere? Could you pay her or someone else to use their space and make the water there, I can't see this flat setup working out long term for you. the connectors can break or work loose and you'd flood the building. I had my set up in the kitchen, and it flooded when a connector shot off the DI vessel, it's now in an insulated storage unit.outside, I'd rather risk frost than floods. It's like most things, if it can happen it probably will happen, at some point, complaints, water company issues, floods etc. Best to minimise risk from the outset

I will have an outside tap plumbed in above my kitchen sink alongside kitchen tap. The lock on hose adapter to the tap should be much stronger with this (outside taps are threaded) but if it does come off the water will continue flowing into the sink with the hose looping above sink (to take any drips)- I talked to a plumber and he said it could work and the hose then going out the window right behind the sink. The RO and DI will be outside. This should safeguard any flooding, shouldn't it?

 

[slippy]

View attachment 6618 This is the sink. The outside tap will be plumbed in and hang over the sink with the hose looping back and going out of the window.

 

[Jimroot]

Sounds ok in terms of flooding, so you'll connect hose, drop it out the window, connect up, go back in, turn on, monitor, then reverse the process?

Won't the hose hang over the lower neighbours window?

 

[slippy]

Yeah it might hang over the window below on its way to the ground, but there a young Polish renting couple, so I don't think they will care. I could maybe tie it to the side (so they don't see it) then it will curl around the flat on the ground. Just been to flat and the guy opposite had an electric extension cord running through his letterbox down the hall then up the road to his garage (about 40 metres up the hill). If he can get away with that maybe I can get away with a hose twice a week. If I get on well with neighbours they shouldn't have an issue with me using the water should they? All this isn't essential at the moment, but could well be vital to my business in the future! I may have to rely on my flat to make water increasingly more.

One last worry with all this could be if hose gets caught in car driving past and it then gets dragged along and pulls on the tap in the kitchen and floods the place. Can u fit a connector which will just pull apart if pulled hard enough? Or am I overthinking too much!

Regarding the 4040 RO, it was just that twin DIs are expensive when my tap water's TDS is 240, it's convenient and how I am making the water at the moment but thought with a 4040 ROs speed I could sit in my car for 40 mins listen to the radio and fill the 200 litres of water in the barrels!

 

[Jimroot]

I'd probably connect a hose up 'semi permanent' with nails and ties out the window, down and around the flat and terminate with a tap end hidden in a bush or behind a wall or even just loose. Paint the hose black to make it look more like a thick electrical type cable or could even terminate the tap in a plastic electrical box and lock it, mark it with a warning label 'electrical junction box'

 

[Trev81]

But if I my neighbours see my hose coming out of window

Never a good idea sticking your hose out of the window when the neighbours are around, you could get locked up :rofl::rofl:

 

[slippy]

I'd probably connect a hose up 'semi permanent' with nails and ties out the window, down and around the flat and terminate with a tap end hidden in a bush or behind a wall or even just loose. Paint the hose black to make it look more like a thick electrical type cable or could even terminate the tap in a plastic electrical box and lock it, mark it with a warning label 'electrical junction box'

Might try that, but not allowed to alter the outside of flat. The bit of the hose running up the wall to my window would be the tricky bit to get away with!