Water Charges / Tax / Demonstrations / Irish Water / Meter Installations etc etc

Trent Houseboat

At what stage should I start worrying that I haven't received a bill? It's been almost a month since they started sending them out.
I don't want to get hit with any penalties/lose out on the money from DSP (can't wait to see how that's going to work).

ezra_pound

Trent Houseboat wrote: »

At what stage should I start worrying that I haven't received a bill? It's been almost a month since they started sending them out.
I don't want to get hit with any penalties/lose out on the money from DSP (can't wait to see how that's going to work).

It will be June before all bills are sent out.

_Puma_

Got an email from my landlord about our lease during the week. €130 increase in Rent, €64.20 every 3 months for water(no meter) and a bump in the deposit of a half months rent...Never got a registration pack and and I'm not particularly inclined to go about signing myself up.

Any advice about the IW bill? Get landlord to forward on copy of Water Bill? Register in my own name(although it is very possible that we might look for somewhere else the way rent is going after this lease is up.) Tell landlord to inform IW that he is leasing the property out?

ezra_pound

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

I didn't realise the water bills were going to be so high going by what people have posted here. We got ours by email on Friday - €26.40 for the quarter, one child allowance. And the meter was read and we get both services water and waste. We're not exactly stingy with our water, we didn't change our pattern of consumption when the charges came in - we said we would carry on as normal and see what the first bill was like.

Excellent. So you're looking at paying 5.60 for the year net the 100 from social protection.

I haven't received my bill yet but expecting it to be well under the cap.

seanin4711

I wish the government were as efficent as Irish water.
meters were in less than a week and the bill in the letterbox.
Fantastically efficient!

Sunny Dayz

ezra_pound wrote: »

Excellent. So you're looking at paying 5.60 for the year net the 100 from social protection.

I haven't received my bill yet but expecting it to be well under the cap.

I know!! Ah I expect the next bill will be higher. We had workers at the house this month so they would have used the outside tap for mixing concrete and also the hubbie will probably be washing his car more often in the Summer.

Bob24

Trent Houseboat wrote: »

At what stage should I start worrying that I haven't received a bill? It's been almost a month since they started sending them out.
I don't want to get hit with any penalties/lose out on the money from DSP (can't wait to see how that's going to work).

Their billing cycle is 3 months. I would imagine they will spread out the bills evenly throughout that period (it would be standard practice for such a large company to avoid sending all your bills the same day - as it would most certainly be be an issue for their printing company and maybe even for An Post).

And I wouldn't worry about late payment fees even if the bill gets lost. If you registered and are responsive when they contact you about a late payment - you will still be an easy customer for them compared to "protesters" who are completely refusing to engage, it would not be very smart of them to hit you.

masterboy123

i have registered online with irish water. So i can view and pay bill online.

Bob24 wrote: »

And I wouldn't worry about late payment fees even if the bill gets lost. If you registered and are responsive when they contact you about a late payment - you will still be an easy customer for them compared to "protesters" who are completely refusing to engage, it would not be very smart of them to hit you.

Bob24

highgiant1985 wrote: »

It's broken down on the bill as Water supplied: 31.952m³ and Water removed: 31.952m³

FYI they don't and won't meter the water removed. So it will always be the same as the water supplied (they are assuming that what comes in also comes out - which not exactly correct as you are drinking some of it or possible watering plants, but these volumes are very low compared to showers/dishwashers/toilets/etc).

Bob24

_Puma_ wrote: »

Got an email from my landlord about our lease during the week. €130 increase in Rent, €64.20 every 3 months for water(no meter) and a bump in the deposit of a half months rent...Never got a registration pack and and I'm not particularly inclined to go about signing myself up.

Any advice about the IW bill? Get landlord to forward on copy of Water Bill? Register in my own name(although it is very possible that we might look for somewhere else the way rent is going after this lease is up.) Tell landlord to inform IW that he is leasing the property out?

If there are 2 or more occupiers in the property the amount quoted to you is correct and will be the same for every bill (if you are on your own the amount is too high).

But when you talk to your landlord, keep in mind that whomever is registered will be able to claim back 100 euros per year from the department of social protection. So the actual cost to them will be 40 euros every 3 months. If you accept his current proposal he will be pocketing an extra 100 euros from you per year (not a huge amount and you might decide it is worth the convenience of letting him handle it, but better to know it).

pawrick

Received my bill yesterday, 0 euro net charge. Seems I'm in an area with water unfit for consumption! First I knew of this so either I'm immune at this point or they got it wrong. I've no meter either although I'd prefer if i did rather then having a set charge where I cant see my actual usage and cut back on it if need be.

zagmund

spurious wrote: »

Usage stated as 21.338 cubic metres.
Would appreciate seeing other people's usage to compare.
Two adults, two showers a day. Fairly careful with water use (no running taps etc.).

We haven't got our bill yet, but the meter went in at the start of the month, so I have accurate readings. In the last 28 days we've used 6.099. Extrapolating this out to a quarter would make it 19.8. This is for a family of 2 adults, 2 teenagers. We have rainwater harvesting for the loos & garden, so this would reduce our consumption a fair bit. Assume 6 liters per flush (which I think might be a little high) and one flush per person (which is a little low), this works out at 2.1 per quarter.

I put in a meter on the hot feed off my tank and that equates to ~12.4 for the quarter. Using a fairly basic split, this means that about 60% of the water entering our building gets heated and used for showers & baths, while the other 40% gets used for cold water functions like dishwasher (efficient), washing machine (not efficient), drinking water, cooking, etc . . .

z

Michael D Not Higgins

_Puma_ wrote: »

Got an email from my landlord about our lease during the week. €130 increase in Rent, €64.20 every 3 months for water(no meter) and a bump in the deposit of a half months rent...Never got a registration pack and and I'm not particularly inclined to go about signing myself up.

Any advice about the IW bill? Get landlord to forward on copy of Water Bill? Register in my own name(although it is very possible that we might look for somewhere else the way rent is going after this lease is up.) Tell landlord to inform IW that he is leasing the property out?

You'd want to register yourself so you can get the water grant from the government.

Michael D Not Higgins

Bob24 wrote: »

If there are 2 or more occupiers in the property the amount quoted to you is correct and will be the same for every bill (if you are on your own the amount is too high).

But when you talk to your landlord, keep in mind that whomever is registered will be able to claim back 100 euros per year from the department of social protection. So the actual cost to them will be 40 euros every 3 months. If you accept his current proposal he will be pocketing an extra 100 euros from you per year (not a huge amount and you might decide it is worth the convenience of letting him handle it, but better to know it).

I don't think the landlord would be able to claim the €100. I think you can only claim for one residence. The only way they'll get the €100 is to register themselves.

Bob24

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

I don't think the landlord would be able to claim the €100. I think you can only claim for one residence. The only way they'll get the €100 is to register themselves.

Didn't know that thanks - though it was one grant per property no matter what. So to claim the grant you will have to show some type of proof that that property is your main residency? Or will they just limit it to one grant per taxpayer?

ezra_pound

zagmund wrote: »

We haven't got our bill yet, but the meter went in at the start of the month, so I have accurate readings. In the last 28 days we've used 6.099. Extrapolating this out to a quarter would make it 19.8. This is for a family of 2 adults, 2 teenagers. We have rainwater harvesting for the loos & garden, so this would reduce our consumption a fair bit. Assume 6 liters per flush (which I think might be a little high) and one flush per person (which is a little low), this works out at 2.1 per quarter.

I put in a meter on the hot feed off my tank and that equates to ~12.4 for the quarter. Using a fairly basic split, this means that about 60% of the water entering our building gets heated and used for showers & baths, while the other 40% gets used for cold water functions like dishwasher (efficient), washing machine (not efficient), drinking water, cooking, etc . . .

z

So you're looking at making about 80 e per annum profit from water charges net social protection payment? Well done.

Michael D Not Higgins

Bob24 wrote: »

Didn't know that thanks - though it was one grant per property no matter what. So to claim the grant you will have to show some type of proof that that property is your main residency? Or will they just limit it to one grant per taxpayer?

You have to register with Irish Water first then later in the year the DSP will process the grants. At this stage, if you've registered more than one property you will have to choose which is the one you're getting the grant for.

zagmund

ezra_pound wrote: »

So you're looking at making about 80 e per annum profit from water charges net social protection payment? Well done.

Nope, sorry, those amounts are m3, not €. I haven't done the sums recently, but it was looking at under €100 after the grant/bribe.

z

runawaybishop

pwurple wrote: »

This is the reason I WANT a meter. We are very water conscious, we collect rainwater, have done for decades. I'm confident our bill would be extremely low if we were metered. This average bill thing stinks. I'm going to be charged for Mr and Mrs Wasty McWasteful down the road instead.

Rebates

If your metered usage is lower than the capped charge level, your bill will be less than the capped rate. If you do not yet have a water meter, your bill will be fixed at the relevant capped rate, but after your meter has been installed, you will get a rebate if your metered usage over a 1-year period turns out to be lower than the capped level.

Toto Wolfcastle

We got ours today. It's €64.12 rather than €64.10. It's only 2c so it doesn't matter but does anyone have any idea why there's a difference? 2 adults, no kids. It says that our metered charge is €64.72.

spurious wrote: »

Usage stated as 21.338 cubic metres.
Would appreciate seeing other people's usage to compare.
Two adults, two showers a day. Fairly careful with water use (no running taps etc.).

Our usage was 17.491 cubic metres. 2 adults, 2 showers a day. I'm at home during the day, he isn't. We don't tend to waste water that much but we're certainly not as careful as we were before they decided to introduce the flat charge rather than a metered charge.

Oh and we don't drink our tap water. It tastes like crap so we use bottled.

Bob24

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

We got ours today. It's €64.12 rather than €64.10. It's only 2c so it doesn't matter but does anyone have any idea why there's a difference? 2 adults, no kids. It says that our metered charge is €64.72.

Just a guess, but maybe depending on the exact start and end date of your billing period their system is rounding slightly differently? (Possibly evened out ince a full year is completed)

Toto Wolfcastle

Bob24 wrote: »

Just a guess, but maybe depending on the exact start and end date of your billing period their system is rounding slightly differently? (Possibly evened out ince a full year is completed)

They would make sense. Thanks.

Am I Evil?

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

We got ours today. It's €64.12 rather than €64.10. It's only 2c so it doesn't matter but does anyone have any idea why there's a difference? 2 adults, no kids. It says that our metered charge is €64.72.



Our usage was 17.491 cubic metres. 2 adults, 2 showers a day. I'm at home during the day, he isn't. We don't tend to waste water that much but we're certainly not as careful as we were before they decided to introduce the flat charge rather than a metered charge.

Oh and we don't drink our tap water. It tastes like crap so we use bottled.

Our bill for 2 adults read as 42m3. Were both at work all day. So clearly we have a massive leak somewhere.... A phone call is needed :eek:

DvB

Am I Evil? wrote: »

Our bill for 2 adults read as 42m3. Were both at work all day. So clearly we have a massive leak somewhere.... A phone call is needed :eek:

Sounds like it. Ours was 25.739 m3 and we've 2 adults & 2 4yo children with the house empty for only a few hours 3 days a week. We didnt scrimp on water to set a benchmark going forward.

Our bill was €56.92 FTR.

Bob24

Am I Evil? wrote: »

Our bill for 2 adults read as 42m3. Were both at work all day. So clearly we have a massive leak somewhere.... A phone call is needed :eek:

Try to close all the taps in the house and have a look at the meter to see if it's moving.

I think IW have a program whereby if your metering history shows there is a leak they will come and identify it for you free of charge (and also fix it for free if it is between the meter and the boundary of your property). Not sure that works if the leak is not flagged by an automatic alert on the meter though (meters are designed to detect constant flows and raise alerts accordingly).

Am I Evil?

Bob24 wrote: »

Try to close all the taps in the house and have a look at the meter to see if it's moving.

I think IW have a program whereby if your metering history shows there is a leak they will come and identify it for you free of charge (and also fix it for free if it is between the meter and the boundary of your property). Not sure that works if the leak is not flagged by an automatic alert on the meter though (meters are designed to detect constant flows and raise alerts accordingly).

Will give this a try soon as I get the chance. Likely to be a leak on the property itself id imagine. Otherwise as you said they'd know about it.

Bob24

Am I Evil? wrote: »

Will give this a try soon as I get the chance. Likely to be a leak on the property itself id imagine. Otherwise as you said they'd know about it.

Yep, hopefully you figure it out!

And just to clarify why I meant - if the meter shows a constant flow they know there is a leak, but without coming for an on site inspection they can't tell whether the leak is on the pipe between the meter and your house (their responsibility to fix it) or inside your house (your responsabilty to fix it).

katydid

masterboy123 wrote: »

Hi

i received the first bill online today of €64.10, for a couple. Is this correct amount after the benefit discount? And will there be an extra fee if I am unable to pay it by required date?

Thanks

No, it's a bill for a quarter. The full amount is four times that, and you'll have to claim the €100 from the Dept. of Social Welfare, as far as I know. All you should pay is €160, but it looks like you'll have to pay the lot and get the hundred back yourself.

I'm going to pay the money up to the €160, and if I haven't got the hundred from whoever is supposed to give it to me, they can sing for it.

denis160

Ours was €7 for 2 adults & 4 kids. It was an actual reading & our usage was 22m.

pwurple

denis160 wrote: »

Ours was €7 for 2 adults & 4 kids. It was an actual reading & our usage was 22m.

7 euro for 6 people. Wow. Good going on conservation.

Are you guys out all the time?