Water Bill - ridiculous?

noncom_2

Hi all

My family has just moved into our new house. We actually completed the purchase in mid January, but weren't able to move in until 31st July, so apart from the last 3 weeks the house has been standing empty.

We visited most weekends, usually only for a couple of hours, and there were a few days when people were there for longer (decorating etc), but we didn't use it a great deal. A few cups of tea a week, use of the toilets and the odd shower, that's all really.

Now I've just had a water bill (which is metered, and the company insists that it's a genuine reading) and it comes to £266 for the last 7 months!

That seems astronomically high to me, given that we've really been occupying the place for less than a month, and I worry that either a) our bill will be thousands per year because £266 a month for water comes to three grand, or b) there's a leak which we're not aware of which will continue to drip money away.

The water co have advised me to do a flow test both with and without the stopcock turned off to see if there's a leak, but what do people here think? I have no idea what a typical "metered" bill for a house with 3 adults and 2 children should be (except surely not thousands per year) - I think in our last house (which was not metered) we paid about £550 per year.

Any advice?

Thanks
Andy

geordie_joe

What does the bill say it's for? There should breakdown of the charges. Water, sewage and standing charges.

Do you know what the meter reading was when you bought the house?

Cardew

Average water consumption for 5 in a house would be 250 to 300 cubic metres per year - As you are in the Severn Trent area expect to pay around £550 to £600 for water plus small standing charges.

Many people use a lot less water than average.

Check if you are being charged for Surface Water Drainage as you can probably claim exemption.

noncom_2

Thanks both

The bill is broken down into:

Water Supply
Water Standing Charge
Used Water
Used Water Standing Charge
Measured Drainage

Each of these appears twice, because there was a change of tariff mid-billing period.

According to the figures, we have consumed a total of about 90 cubic metres (daily average of 0.41 cubic metres), which would lead to an annual total of 146 cubic metres. That's assuming that we don't use more water than we have so far, which seems impossible given that we weren't living there.

So that's certainly less than Cardew's average quoted above. And I imagine we may end up using more than the average (with 2 young kids and three adults in the house). Perhaps it's right after all, but it still seems a lot to consume from basically an empty house.

Can someone explain what is the difference between Water Supply and Used Water, and why I am charged (at different rates) for both? Both are metered, so what is the point of the distinction?

noncom_2

Sorry, I forgot. When we took over the house, meter readings were left for us by the previous owner, and this is the same as the one on the bill. Gas and electricity were checked against the meters (and were correct) but the water one wasn't (because I didn't know where the meter was at the time, and never got round to it later).

But it would seem odd for him to have given two correct readings and one wrong one, so I assume it was correct.

It is of course eminently possible that one of my kids left a tap running after using the toilet and it got turned off again a week later when they next visited.......

Andy

moonrakerz

noncom wrote: »

But it would seem odd for him to have given two correct readings and one wrong one, so I assume it was correct.

it may be worth you looking at the actual figures on the bill and the way the figures are displayed on the meter. It may be possible that the meter was mis-read or digits transposed - decimal point is a favourite !

noncom_2

I'll certainly check that... thanks

Cardew

noncom wrote: »

Thanks both

The bill is broken down into:

Water Supply
Water Standing Charge
Used Water
Used Water Standing Charge
Measured Drainage

Each of these appears twice, because there was a change of tariff mid-billing period.

According to the figures, we have consumed a total of about 90 cubic metres (daily average of 0.41 cubic metres), which would lead to an annual total of 146 cubic metres. That's assuming that we don't use more water than we have so far, which seems impossible given that we weren't living there.

So that's certainly less than Cardew's average quoted above. And I imagine we may end up using more than the average (with 2 young kids and three adults in the house). Perhaps it's right after all, but it still seems a lot to consume from basically an empty house.

Can someone explain what is the difference between Water Supply and Used Water, and why I am charged (at different rates) for both? Both are metered, so what is the point of the distinction?

Water supply is for the water you use - charged at £1.3651 per cubic metre

Used water is sewerage charged at £0.8368 per cubic metre.It is not metered but they assume that 90% of supplied water returns to the sewer. It should be approx 92p a cubic metre but they reduce it by 10%)

The Standing charges are just that - fixed charges of £24.86 and £11.69pa.

Measured drainage is the one that you need to check carefully as by law the default position is that you are charged but many(most?) can claim relief from this charge.

Measured drainage is on the assumption that the rain that falls on your house and land enters the sewerage system; termed Surface Water Drainage(SWD)

It has 3 bands, for 1. mainly flats/tce 2. semis 3. Detached and the charges are £26.46/53.04/79.49.

Now for many years( 30+) house would not have got planning permission if surface water was to enter the sewerage system. Virtually every house had to have 'soakaways' where the down pipes from the gutters deposited their water.

Soakaways are basically a big pit filled with rubble under the gardens - most people have no idea where they are under their gardens.

If you have a soakaway then you claim relief from that charge.