Seasonal water tariffs threatens lawns

Householders are set to pay more for water during the summer following the introduction of a controversial tariff. Southern Water customers in Sussex, Kent and Hampshire will pay the higher rate this summer whenever they take a shower or water the garden.

Water watchdog OFWAT confirmed at least three other suppliers were also looking at introducing seasonal tariffs as a way to encourage people to use less water.

The new tariff, which will be in place between June and September, has been introduced because of a looming water shortages. After the winter we have just had?

Southern Water hopes it will encourage residents to use less water in the warmer, drier months. The firm last night insisted the average water bill, which is currently about £373 a year, would not rise over the course of a year.

They say this is because they plan to drop the price of water between October and March.
A Southern Water spokesman said: 'The tariff is not designed to penalise customers.

Should you want to save watering your lawn this summer, be prepared early by making an application of a Granular Wetting Agent which will aid the natural retention of water around the soil particles and make the root zone more consistently wetter than it normally would be in the traditional dryer months. When you do need to irrigate, the soil will be better equipped to retain the water rather than letting it run off so you use less water overall. Apply in April before the soil dries out and follow up with a Wetting Agent Tablet in the drier months. If your lawn is healthy all year round, it will be better prepared to cope with the drought of summer so if you want a better lawn in the drier summer months, feed it every three months with a good Granular Lawn Fertiliser.

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Want to save money on your domestic water bill? The water companies do not make this simple fact known. One item on your water bill will be listed as Sewerage Charge. This cost covers the removal of sewerage water from your house and also rainwater off the roofs etc. If you have a soak away that collects the rain water from the roofs or installed a water collection tank in your garden that you use for grey water, you can ask for a rebate for the rainwater that does not run into the sewerage system thus reducing your Sewerage Services cost. You can claim up to 12 months rebate. Most new home buildings now have to have a gutter system roof rainwater soak ways and this means that your rainwater does not go into the sewer! This was featured on Watchdog or the BBC One Show recently. Cannot recall which but here is another useful story from the BBC Web site about the same topic