Water bill 4x usual amount!!

Veed3779 · 11 November 2014 at 1:43PM

Hi, received our 6 monthly water bill from thames water the other day and it's for £274! It's usually around the £70 mark, I don't pay by dd I just pay it every six months when it comes in.
We've lived here almost five years and it's always been around the same and nothing's changed, it's a 2 bed flat the meter is just outside the front door on the landing I checked it this morning and the meter reading they took about two weeks ago seems likely.
If it was a leak that was causing a high reading then would I be right in saying it would be after the meter? Therefore inside the building and would have made itself known by now if that amount of water was leaking? The only internal leak we had was the toilet cistern wasn't shutting off but this was sorted fairly quickly and it was only a trickle and can't see it ramping uo the bill 3x the normal amount also it was a while ago so might have even been before the last bill.
Any ideas on what could cause this? I will ring thames water but worried if there is an internal leak wether it's worth getting the cover for £12 a year that covers damaged pipes before I make thames water aware as they might refuse cover and then ask us to pay to repair the pipe.

Cardew · 11 November 2014 at 2:12PM

Wow £70 every 6 months!

Fixed Charges are at least £62 or £87 pa so you must use very little water.

You are correct a high reading would indicate a leak after the meter(or very rarely a faulty meter)

A faulty cistern with water trickling(silently) into the bowl is the commonest form of internal leak; and it is surprising how much water it wastes.

If you check your consumption over the next couple of weeks, and it has returned to normal(about 0.75 units a week?) you will know if the cistern was the problem.

Veed3779 · 11 November 2014 at 2:37PM

Well I did originally think the cistern but it was a leak we could hear as it just wouldn't cut off when cistern was full so we was aware of it straight away and it was sorted in few days and even before we had it sorted we shut the water off to the cistern to minimise the loss so I'd be surprised if it was.
Our bill says they took an actual reading in April this year and one in October and that we have used 111m3 of water so from that I'm thinking even if they had been under charging us they would have worked this out and explained it, also the bill says that this amount has passed through our meter so must have come through or as you say a faulty meter but I've read elsewhere that this is unlikely. I'm gonna check for leaks else where but can't see us loosing that amount without noticing, but a leak before the meter or even in the ground wouldn't cause a faulty reading would it? Just if its that would need to find out who's responsible when we live in a flat.

Cardew · 11 November 2014 at 5:39PM

111 cubic metres in 6 months is about 70 more than your previous bills would indicate is normal consumption.

As you say it would be impossible for a leak of 70,000 litres not to be noticed in a block of flats.

If you are confident that it isn't the cistern - could it have been leaking silently earlier - you need to check your current consumption over a week or two.

Is it possible you are being charged for the wrong meter?(easy to check) or the meter supplying another flat as well as yours?

My bet is on the cistern! and a check that your consumption is back to normal will confirm.

Veed3779 · 11 November 2014 at 9:39PM

Cardew wrote: »

111 cubic metres in 6 months is about 70 more than your previous bills would indicate is normal consumption.

As you say it would be impossible for a leak of 70,000 litres not to be noticed in a block of flats.

If you are confident that it isn't the cistern - could it have been leaking silently earlier - you need to check your current consumption over a week or two.

Is it possible you are being charged for the wrong meter?(easy to check) or the meter supplying another flat as well as yours?

My bet is on the cistern! and a check that your consumption is back to normal will confirm.

Well I realise the cistern does sound like the likely culprit and I did wonder if it had been leaking silently for a good while before but the leak become apparent to us end april/ begginng of May so if it had been leaking a while before that then that would have coincided with the last bill which was normal price.

Been doing a bit of googling and looks as though if you believe your meter to be faulty you can request it be removed and tested independently but if it's ok they will send you the bill and a lot of people have said meters rarely go wrong.

Think what I might do tonight is go and check the meter reading and not use any water till morning and then check again see if it's moved.
Also the meter reading was taken in 19th oct and read 507 I checked it today and it read 515, all these numbers on the bill are confusing me but isn't that 8m3 used? Sounds like a lot for 3 weeks?
I've checked the meter serial number is the correct one on the bill and all the other flats have there own seperate meters as well.

Cardew · 11 November 2014 at 11:48PM

Meter readings 507 and 515 do indeed indicate 8m3 used.

8m3 in 23 days equates to an average annual consumption of 127m3.

The average consumption in UK is approx. 55m3 per person so that is just a little more than 2 people would use on average.

On the other hand with your previous bills being £70 for 6 months(£140 pa) that would indicate your annual consumption was around 40m3 pa. - Water sewerage is around £2/m3. with a £60 standing charge.

Be interested to see if your meter moves overnight. the 3 red digits are litres hundreds/tens/units

P.S. I assume the cistern leak was fixed prior to 19th Oct?

Water bill 4x usual amount!!

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