increase in daily water usuage?

julie_burt

i am a customer of severn trent ,we moved into a new house so have a meter fitted. our last bill showed our daily water usuage had increased for 0.7 a day to 0.37 a day.the bill shot up from £100 to £186 for six months.
we checked we didn't have any leaks by reading the meter last thing at night and first thing in the morning before we used any water.
we can have the meter tested but at a cost to us,don't know how much? has anyone had similar experiences.julie

elpollodiablo

Hi Julie, I'm having issue with ST as well but my problem may be slightly different to yours.

I received a bill in April for the previous six month period and noticed that the reading was about three times higher than normal. I gave them a ring and they advised me to do the stop test, whereby I turn the water off for a few hours and checked if the meter goes up.

My meter's in the street along with a stop tap so I turned the water off -- but the meter still kept going up before my eyes. Just for good measure I still did the three hours.

A few days later they sent a guy out to look at the meter but he couldn't see anything immediately wrong with. He told me that they'd take the meter away to examine but they never did.

About a month or so later I received another bill (this time covering a two month period) and once again the meter reading was about three times higher than normal. Once again I looked at the meter and it kept going up, even with the outside stoptap turned off. The speed it goes up seems to be random -- sometimes very slowly, sometimes quick.

The other day it was so slow that it appeared to be not going up at all, unless you watched it for a few minutes. I’m just wondering if this is what happened when the guy came out.

To cut a long story short, ST say they won't replace the meter or even take it away to test as they argue that it's already been checked. My argument is that they still haven't finished the first test. The only thing they can offer is an "Accuracy Test" which basically involves me paying £64.99p for them to take it away and test it, then refunding me if they find something wrong.

My complaint is still ongoing at the moment as I'm waiting to speak to their technical metering services department.

julie_burt

thanks elpollodiablo, i have had a 20 min discussion with severn trent today.interesting isn't it,the company that tests the meters also supplies the meters so are hardly independent.
the operator feels we may have a leaking tap or new equipment like a washer or power shower which may increase the supply. i can't see that this would double the bill. we have been in this house for 17 yrs and our water usage has always been consistent. we aren't allowed to get another company to test the meter and guess what they never replace meters routinely unlike gas and electric meters. as i pointed out everything will have a shelf life. another interesting thing is how, if the meter is inaccurate can they be accurate about paying us back for the fault. there does not seem any compensation for this or the time it takes you to get the problem rectified. i am posting a letter to head office and will try offwat before i order the meter to be checked. julie

deanos

A power shower can double you bill it uses more water than a bath.

Meters are changed, the expected life of 10 years(they will last longer) , Anglian Water is currently changing old meters.

A bit crude method of checking, get your red digits on your meter to 0 then fill some buckets and note down the red digits afterwards and tot up how many litres you have used then check against the red digits with as it should be the same, not an exact method but should work

julie_burt

no i don't have a power shower,glad i don't now. just to update you about my quest to sort out severn trent. wrote a letter of complaint and a copy to ofwat and the consumer council for water.i recieved a phione call from severn trent to say they are replacing my meter free of charge after seventeen years and then will take a reading from the new meter to find out my current daily usuage and then refund the difference on the last bill.
you do get results if you keep telling them . there was no sense that my water usuage had doubled .we have been here seventeen years and i have all the bills from then and my water usuage is consistent.