Advice - High metered water bill from Southern Water

galvanizersbaby

deanos wrote: »

Yes thats correct , turn on your cold water tap and look at the meter that you think is yours it should be spinning .

To check for a leak, turn off your internal stop tap and if the meter is spinning you have a leak

Sorry deanos I'm probably being a real thicko here - I'm the only one with a water meter fitted so if I turn on my water and my meter is spinning how do I know if I am paying for the flat upstairs water or not? (we have shared drains)

Would I have to go up and turn on their cold water tap and then see if my meter is spinning?

Apols in advance if I'm being really stupid!

deanos

Sorry i thought all your flats were metered, its worth asking a neighbour to put there cold water tap on and see if the meter spins if it does then its also supplying another flat

galvanizersbaby

deanos wrote: »

Sorry i thought all your flats were metered, its worth asking a neighbour to put there cold water tap on and see if the meter spins if it does then its also supplying another flat

Thanks for your help - unfortunately there's no way I could approach my neighbours - nevermind there must be another way - will get to the bottom of it!

deanos

Ok, i suggest you turn off you internal stop tap, take a reading including red digits and after a few hours see if its moved.

Magentasue

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

How do I tell if it's dual flush?!

Well, the push button will look something like this:


I think we're doing quite well with water without making sacrifices but we are being careful. We don't do things like brush teeth, wash hands etc with the tap running. I only wash up when there's a bowlful (most of it goes in dishwasher) and then i use that water to wash the floor.

galvanizersbaby

Magentasue wrote: »

Well, the push button will look something like this:


I think we're doing quite well with water without making sacrifices but we are being careful. We don't do things like brush teeth, wash hands etc with the tap running. I only wash up when there's a bowlful (most of it goes in dishwasher) and then i use that water to wash the floor.

Thanks Magentasue my push button is exactly like that so no brick for me!

Southern Water said that my monthly water usage was what they would have expected for 3-4 people but I don't have a dishwasher, hosepipe and my kids are really young and stay with me 4 nights a week so they have a shallow bath (don't want them drowning in it as they are only little!) so I don't think my water usage is excessive - going to check out Incisor/deano's suggestions

galvanizersbaby

deanos wrote: »

Ok, i suggest you turn off you internal stop tap, take a reading including red digits and after a few hours see if its moved.

Thanks deano's - I'm going to try that!

Magentasue

Do you know how many units your are using a week/month?

Ours average about 3 a week.

ScoobyCanDo

RE: Water Meters & Southern Water


My elderly neighbour had Southern Water install a meter for her around 11 months ago ........... and it was with much glee that she gloated about the savings she/they would make (at the time it was her & her husband in a big 3 bed semi ..... but then two months ago her husband passed away).

She got her first bill and it was for more than they paid for a year based on Rateable Value! ............. so Southern Water where called ............ and after a bit of 'ho-har' on their part they sent an engineer to check her meter and ''lo & behold'' it was whizzing around with their internal mains switched off!!!

So out came their tools and the dug a small hole in her drive and repaired a leaking connection on the house-holders side of the meter. ............ she's now (still waiting 2 months on) for news about a REFUND .......... but I suspect their waiting for her to go the way of her late husband???


Anyway it did not stop there .................. knowing there had been a problem with the meter, we kept a daily eye on her meter for her and guess what ............ she must have been filling her swimming pool each day, as it was still whizzing around, clocking up the units .............. so another call to Southern Water and after eventually getting past the disinterested operator who could not believe their service team had ballsed up the first repair ................. out came a second team (who where closely supervised by another two neighbours) only to discover the meter had a cracked union on the outlet side where the joint to the household run had been badly installed, plus when the previous repair team had dug up the meter to check it previously, they had damaged the supply copper pipe (with their kango) which had subsequently failed and was causing a secondary leak to the union one!!!!!!!!!!! ............... British Workmanship, at it's best!

This time they dug a much larger hole, replaced the meter with a new one, replaced a length of supply pipe to the house and made good the drive ............... so the moral of this particular tale is DO NOT TRUST Southern Water meter installers .............. if you are getting a meter installed (or checked) keep an eye on them and watch what they are doing ................... TRUST NO ONE.


As to her water bill .................... we are chasing them (Southern Water) to resolve her 'over inflated' bill (through no fault of her own) ............. but I guess it will take a few months given that we will have to wait to see what her actual usage is, before they can work it out retrospectively?

If you are getting high readings .............. turn off your main internal stopcock and check your meter to see if it is still turning?

If it is, you too may have a leak ............ if so your water provider may 'suggest' the leak is on your part of the supply pipe and that YOU will have to pay to have it checked out?

If you've not done any major work on or around your water supply pipes route into your house ............... consider it may just be the meter ............ look into your inspection well and see if you can see leaking water or a puddle around the meter (in this case we live on chalk so no water 'puddled' ........ but the meter was very 'wet', covered in condensation which should have been spotted by their meter reader!) ..............?

galvanizersbaby

Magentasue wrote: »

Do you know how many units your are using a week/month?

Ours average about 3 a week.

I'm not sure how many units I'm using per week (the meter is in the road outside my house so bit tricky to check)
My bill says 103m3 used in 178 days so guess this would work out at nearly 4 units per week?