Victoria, from Cardiff, who is a single parent, said she spent “almost every single spare penny” on her household bills and there was “nothing left to waste”, other than a Netflix subscription she had bought for her children.
She has a water meter, meaning suppliers charge a customer for the precise amount consumed rather than using an estimated flat rate.
“We turn the taps off when brushing our teeth, use the excess water on the plants after washing the dishes.
“We don’t throw it away,” she said.
Victoria has introduced a shower timer to save water which has been “quite difficult” to enforce.
“My kids want to stand there under the shower for hours,” she said.
“They’ve got a limited amount of time and then the hot tap goes on in the kitchen, which means they get showered with cold water.”
Robert and Bernadette Guy, from Cardiff, said they were “absolutely shocked” to discover that their Welsh Water bill was set to rise by about £400 this year to £1,400 annually.
They decided to install a water meter which had proven more cost-effective – bringing their annual bill down to £600.
But Robert said this meant they were “having to think a bit more carefully” about their water usage.
“I’ve got a lot of pint glasses and every time I wash my hands in the sink, I put a pint glass below, and we line them up on on the windowsill before putting them on the garden.
“The other day I had seven pints of water which would have gone down the drain.”
Robert said they were planning to buy a “dedicated bucket” to collect the water in the future.
“We’ve got a large garden and the thought of saying we can’t afford to water it just felt awful,” said Bernadette.
Bernadette said she was “absolutely astounded” to find out the cost of paying for their water, as it used to be just a “little add-on” to their monthly bills.
They said they felt it was also unfair to ask customers to take responsibility for years of under-investment into the ageing infrastructure.
“When I put the light switch on, I don’t care how that electricity gets to my light bulb, I just want it to work,” said Robert.
“I think that goes for a lot of people. We just want it to work when we want it and to work as cheaply as possible.”
Prof Ian Walker, head of psychology at Swansea University, said people could be “constrained by automatic habits” when it comes to water usage.
He said: “You might think, ‘I should take shorter showers’, but once you get in there, you go into auto-pilot and take the same time regardless.
“One of the best things you could ask people to do is don’t have showers and don’t wash your clothes. But that’s not going to happen either.”
He suggested an easier approach was to lock-in water savings measures, such as getting a low-flow shower.
“You do that once as a deliberate choice, but then you never think about it again.”
Welsh Water said it recognised that household budgets remain under pressure and understand that any increase in bills is difficult for customers.
“The additional income will support our investment of more than £4bn between 2025 and 2030 to maintain and improve essential services, including work to reduce pollution, improve water quality, reduce leakage and upgrade vital infrastructure,” a spokesperson said.
“The revenue we receive from customer bills is our sole source of funding for maintaining services and upgrading our infrastructure.
“Without profit-driven pressures, any financial surpluses are reinvested for the benefit of our customers, to improve services, support vulnerable households and address environmental challenges.
“We urge any customer who is worried about paying their bill to contact us. Our social tariffs and wider support schemes can make bills more affordable for eligible households.”
