On water meters: Worth it for gardeners, or not?

[Herbsandveg]

I've just recently moved into a new property, and am using the Winter months to plan ahead for the new gardening season.

In the first year, I'll mainly be growing veg in tubs and in one raised bed, and have been wondering whether a water meter that I'm planing on having installed in the property shortly would be a good investment bearing in mind how much water I'm likely to be using in the Spring and Summer.

I'm hoping to have a couple of water tubs fitted, and am planning to catch the rainfall off my roof, but just wondered whether the extra cost of the metered water throughout the main growing season would offset any benefits of of using it in the other 'quiet' months.

Could anyone advise me on this one, please?

[Kristen]

I have a very large garden and metered water. We use twice as much water in the Summer months as the Winter ones (family of 4). (Well, we did, I have now put in a rain water harvesting tank [50,000L] that takes all the roof & barn rainfall, plus the outfall from our septic tank digester thingie, so we don't need any mains water for irrigation any more).

I think much will depend on what you pay for your water. We are not on mains sewerage, so we are not charged sewage rates based on metered mains water used, which is an added cost for irrigation water for anyone on a meter + mains sewage. In the SE of England the rates are very high, here they don't seem to be too bad.

If you are going to use metered water then I recommend using water-timers so that irrigation cannot be left on "forgotten" by accident . Nearly all our irrigation is using seep-hoses / drippers, we only use sprinklers for new areas of seeded lawn and occasionally [most years not at all] the main lawn.

Dunno about your water board, but most?? don't allow use of sprinklers / unattended irrigation for people on water rates, so depending on how you intend to irrigate you might not be allowed to on Rates (or have to buy a License to, or somesuch, which may well be more than metered water).

So ... my experience is that with careful and considered usage water meter costs are not burdensome.

Biggest bugbear for me is the cost of providing storage for rainwater; I hate using using potable water, carefully processed and cleaned to be suitable for drinking, just to chuck on my lawn. I think rainwater harvesting should be heavily subsidised, as the alternative is for water companies to have to build huge reservoirs / infrastructure to meet demand, instead of encouraging store, recycle & reuse - which must be much more environmentally friendly. The payback for my rainwater storage is measured in decades ...

[Snadger]

We are on a water meter at the allotments but encourage plotholders to try and save rainwater in barrels etc to keep the costs down.

[Nicos]

I think you also need to take a careful look at mulching and other ways of retaining soil moisture.

Back in the UK we were advised not to water in a drought as the plant produces too many roots near the surface rather than growing downwards to find water.
Worked well to a certain extent so long as the drought wasn't too long.

Over here, the long, dry spells make doing that difficult, so we found mulching helped tremendously.

(Of course, from a global point of view, maybe we should only be growing fruit and veg which tolerate our local climate?)

[veggiechicken]

I've had a water meter ever since they were brought out. Makes sense to me to reduce my domestic water rates.
The garden is watered with rain water, caught from GH roofs etc. Tap water is used only for seedlings, not for anything else. I never use a hosepipe in the garden, plants have to adjust to available rainfall. No pampered plants here.

[Spunky]

I save whatever water I can the best is bath water

[Scarlet]

I'm on a water metre and also use twice as much in summer as in winter. I have about 8 water butts and these get used first but are often empty much of the summer. Wiltshire never seems to have much rain. I have two GH and during the summer these need watering once a day, give or take a few. I used thick newspaper mulches and water into milk bottles. I don't water the rest of the garden, everything gets watered in well at planting time most things do ok but I have had some casualties. Last year my raspberries were so dry that the berries almost dried on the plant.
Remember that it's not just the garden that uses water, washing cars with hoses, filling up paddling pools etc. Have you any idea how much money you would save without taking the veg plot watering into consideration?

[Lumpy]

We have a meter and use a butt and (if I really have to the tap) for all the edibles but washing up water etc to water the flowers and non edibles.
The cost will depend on your size of growing patch I suppose

[Knight of Albion]

Generally speaking you will save money with a water meter. Certainly so if you're in a high Council Tax band. In that instance you can save yourself a small fortune!

I was very mindful of my water bill this summer, whilst still deciding to grow sweet peas en masse I made the decision to water on alternate days. To be honest, I expected a diminished harvest, but the opposite was the case. I had a record haul and was still picking well into the autumn.
Watering on alternate days encourages root growth (and so a more vigorous harvest), so goes the theory and it would certainly appear to be true.

Yes, collecting rain water from the down pipe is a winner. Free water!
I have a lot of birds here and of course they let rip! and when it rains it washes off and into the water.
The more browny the water the happier I am.
I don't use -------- on ethical grounds. Concentrated chicken excrement from battery hen farms - which I am very much opposed to. I've found my browny water is similar in effect to -----------, and why wouldn't it be? Same material. Marvellous stuff.
One piece of advice though, wear gloves when scooping out.

Another piece of advice would be to go to your local water authority website. Seek out the 'water meter' section. There should be an online questionaire to fill in which gives you an idea of how much your water bill would be if you were on a meter as opposed to paying the unmetered charge.
Fill it out normally, get the estimate. Then fill it out again filling in a different total for the number of baths you have a day. i.e. the amount of water needed to fill a bath = buckets used to water the plants.
If my memory is correct I worked out that 10 buckets of water - when also factoring in the sewage charge, which is linked to tap water use - would cost me 45p on the meter.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Personally if in 2015 you will be growing mainly in containers I would hang fire having the meter fitting until you have your patch sorted.

[Scarlet]

Do you know how much water you use to water your Pots in the summer Potty?

[Knight of Albion]

Saving over £1,000 a year since we went on the meter.

[Kristen]

Back in the UK we were advised not to water in a drought as the plant produces too many roots near the surface rather than growing downwards to find water.

I was taught differently: I water heavily, and infrequently, so the water soaks down and "under" the roots; little-and-often watering encourages surface roots, which then succumb to hot sun / hot surface soil temperatures, whereas less frequent, but heavy, watering encourages deeper roots which survive drought better.

I also water "under" plants when planting. Make hole, fill with water, allow to drain, stick plant into hole; plant then doesn't need watering for a couple of weeks at least, and roots are encouraged to grow down because that is where the water is.

Oriental Veg, like Chinese Cabbage, grow shallow roots so, unfortunately, benefit from little-and-often watering ...

[Kristen]

Saving over £1,000 a year since we went on the meter.

I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure my water bill doesn't even come to £1,000 p.a. (no mains-sewerage charge here though)

[Potstubsdustbins]

Scarlet #11 far to much to be on a water meter. I have limited room for water storage so only have a 100tr butt and that is saved for my blueberries. I can use some water from the fishpond but that to is limited to prevent distress to the fish.

Growing in containers mulching as little or no effect as the sun can act on the sides of the containers, drying things out very quickly therefore you have to water much more than when using traditional methods. As a for instance a dustbin of spuds will need a two gallon bucket every day in the height of summer and I have 12 of those.