Thames Water

[Miss Demeanour]

So apparently the law is changing in October and the water company will be taking over the 'responibility' of private sewers i.e your bit of drain before it links to the main sewer.

Get a lovely little leaflet explaining the implications and the 'cost' of this change .

Little is known about the etent and condition of private sewers and drains . This makes it very hard to calculate an exact cost for our new responsibilities. The Government estimates thatthe transfer could increase customer's bills by £3 and £14 per year. We will have a better idea of costs once we take over the pipes.

This small increase in your bill will protect you against the much larger one off costs of clearing blockages and making repairs

I am on a water meter and in credit on my account as I pay a fixed sum by direct debit every month. I have just had a letter stating the direct debit will be going up by £9 amonth because of the legal changes.....not because of my water use then 

WTF happened to £3 - £14 per year ?

Feckin outraged - more than a £100 a year to give to them as an insurance policy 

[Barman]

Bastards - you could guarantee the extra wouldn't be at the bottom end of the scale tho... 

I did read a blog post some time ago which explained all this and actually was quite positive about it (in certain cases)... I'll see if I can find it...

We don't have sewers here in our village but they are installing them across the island (EU rulz) in communities over a certain size... It is an operation which causes complete chaos..

Worse, as my house is below the road I'll have to provide a pump to move everything up to the sewer when it is put in... And dig up the entire garden, patio, drive, etc.

[Snoopy]

We had the same info some moths ago from Welsh Water. Benefits gained are directly allied to the distance from your property to the mains. In our case it will save me more than it will cost to effect repairs to any problems on my property. Oh and Welsh Water have not proposed adding anything like £100 pa to my bills so I will cancel my insurance cover which does cost more then £100pa. I estimate an annual saving of around £75 will be my benefit from this change of policy.
I suspect there is a strong case of swings and roundabouts here.