those without a meter could consider investing in an AIM stock Smart Metering Systems

07/12/14
When they state average,they mean average across the board, that's combined water metered charges and combined rateable value charges . not a true breakdown of what people are paying
on meters and rateable value
what they need to do is break the average down to average water metered combined charge £........ and average rateable value combined charge£...... and then we can see the difference.
below is a list of average charges up to April 2015

Average household bills in 2014-15
Water and sewerage companies Average bill Increase
SOURCE: CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATER
Anglian
£431
1.6%
Dwr Cymru Welsh Water
£440
1.3%
Northumbrian
£364
0.6%
Severn Trent

£333
1.1%
South West
£495
-3%
Southern
£437
2.6%
Thames
£370
3.4%
United Utilities
£410
1.8%
Wessex
£485
1.3%
Yorkshire
£373
1.5%
Water only companies
Average bill
Increase
Affinity - central
£175
0.6%
Affinity - east
£172
1.5%
Affinity - south east
£205
0.6%
Bristol
£202
5%
Cambridge
£129
1.3%
Dee Valley
£152
3.2%
Essex and Suffolk
£227
2.4%
Portsmouth
£97
2.4%
Sembcorp Bournemouth
£153
-2.5%
South East
£201
0.1%
South Staffs
£144
1.3%
Sutton & East Surrey
£186

12/12/14 interesting comments found YES people are paying over £1000 a year on a meter.

1.1%fbog • 9 hours ago
If you think water increases are bad before they make you fit a water meter think again. My water bill for a family of four before was ~£400..It's now >£1,000 a year..and we are using less water.
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Sarah-Lou, Devon, United Kingdom, about 21 hours ago
I currently pay south west water £131 per month or £1572 per year it's the biggest bill I pay after my rent. It's about time that a law was put into place that means that metered water is charged at the same rate whatever part of the UK you live in. Also a bit of honesty on the part of the water companies would be nice, instead of banging on about average costs they should be reporting actual costs.
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just to say..., Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, 1 day ago
I live in Buckinghamshire in a one bedroom flat in a nice area. Anglian Water sent their statement for the next year through today and my water bill has TRIPLED. Water is water, it should be the same price across the country.
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and water for water companies
Shareholders in South West Water owner Pennon got a boost as the firm hiked its interim dividend despite a fall in half year profits after freezing prices for customers this year.
Pennon saw its first half pre-tax profits fall 10 per cent to £100million although revenues climbed 3.8 per cent to £3.69billion, and it increased the dividend by 6.3 per cent to 9.98p a share.
Freezing prices this year at South West Water meant that profits at that business fell by £1.1million to £86.2million.

12/12/14
UK households will see water bills rise on average by £5 next year to over £400 despite the industry regulator today said tariffs will fall by 5 per cent between 2015 and 2020.
The average UK water bill will fall from £396 to £376 in real terms in the next five years, Ofwat said today as it announced the final tariffs that companies can charge from April 2015 until April 2020.
However, since companies are allowed to increase their tariffs each year in line with retail price inflation, households are likely to see their water bills rise. Experts at money.co.uk calculate that including the effect of inflation, based on the current 2.3 per cent rate of RPI, a typical bill will rise by £5 to £401 next year and by £26 to £422 by 2020.

+1
Water bills: Customers will pay more despite cuts as firms are allowed to increase tariffs in line with inflation
Tony Smith, chief executive of CCWater, hailed Ofwat's final decision to force all 10 water companies to cut bills as 'good news' and 'a victory for most water customers'.
But added: 'Customers need to be aware that water companies are allowed to add inflation to bills each year which means charges are still likely to rise from what they are now. That will hurt some households.'
Ofwat's real-terms cut mean Anglian customers will experience the biggest drop, with water bills down 10 per cent from £431 to £390 by 2020. But if inflation is counted in, Anglian customers will actually see bills rise by £6 in five years.
South West will remain the most expensive supplier despite one of the larger cuts - a 7 per cent drop in its annual charge from £545 to £506. Counting in inflation, however, annual bills are expected to rise to £569.

More...
Water firms told to cut household bills as their borrowing costs come down
United Utilities customers could see water bills fall by 4% over the next five years
The snug tricks to save on energy and water bills in winter
Severn Trent, which will be forced to lower its bills by 5 per cent from £333, will still have the cheapest annual tariff at £316, according to Ofwat. But annual bills could rise to £354 by 2020 if rising in line with inflation.
The smallest cut will come from Northumbrian, which is to lower its water bills by just 1 per cent to £382 a year.
Thames Water, the UK's biggest water firm with 15million customers, was told to cut bills by 5 per cent – but the figure is not definitive and customers could end up benefiting from smaller cuts after details about the costs of building the Thames Tideway Tunnel are confirmed.
Thames Water had asked Ofwat to raise bills by 3 per cent, or about £8 each year, over the next five years to help pay for the £4.2billion Thames’ 25km sewer to deal with the problem of too much sewage overflowing into the River Thames.
Ofwat rejected its request and told it instead to raise bills.
Thames Water was one of three companies told in August that its plans for bills over the period fell well short of Ofwat's provisional expectations. The others were Bristol Water and United Utilities, which serves households in North West England


bobs comment ref averages.
i think there is something seriously wrong with the so called average,when some people are paying £10000 a year for combined water/sewage bills on a meter
i have e.mailed ofwat requesting a average for rateable value combined water bills and combined water metered customers bills ,so we have two averages , but no answer yet , it may be quite eye opening to see the difference, as you can see below average in s.west is £506 and average in Portsmouth is £96 water only, even if you doubled that to say £192 allowing for waste charge ???????? figures do not make sense how on earth can this be a fair
system when in one area the average £506 and another area it's only approx,£192.
unless in Portsmouth most of the houses are on rateable value charge?
or even worse Sara above comment in Lou in Devon paying £1,572.00 a year .crazy charges
what we need is two AVERAGES 1. for water metered customers and 1. for Rateable value charged customers, then we mite see the big difference of being on a meter.


REF OFWAT
Changes in Water Bills 2015 to 2019
Company Average bill by 2019, before RPI Average change, before RPI
Anglian
£390
-10%
Dwr Cymru
£416
-5%
Northumbrian (incl. Essex and Suffolk)
£382
-1%
Severn Trent
£316
-5%
Southern
£403
-8%
South West
£506
-7%
Thames
£353
-5%
United Utilities
£398
-3%
Wessex
£442
-9%
Yorkshire
£361
-3%
Water only companies
Affinity
£163
-7%
Bristol
£202
-21%
Dee Valley
£149
-2%
Portsmouth
£96
-1%
Bournemouth
£134
-12%
South East
£194
-3%
South Staffs (incl. Cambridge)
£135
-4%
Sutton and East Surrey
£180
-3%
NATIONAL AVERAGE ENGLAND AND WALES
£376
-5%
source: Ofwat