Massive water bill

DrDoom1973

I pay my bill to three valleys by monthly direct debit, I had not paid much attention to the bills details until today and got a shock.

The Wife and I live in a one bed flat, no kids and are both out at work all day.

This is the bill

Meter reading taken 19 April 2006 864
Meter reading taken 12 October 2005 716
Water usage 148 (m3)

Billed total £309.59

Next bill

Meter reading 3 October 2006 935 Estimated
Meter reading taken 19 April 2006 864
water usage 71 (m3)

Billed total £128.42.

This adds up to a total of £438.01 for 12 months. What really scares me is that is second (lesser) bill is estimated, whereas the larger bill claims to have been meter read on the start and finish dates. This means if the estimated bill ends up being the same as the other bill, the year bill could be over £600!!

I know that I should have noticed the first huge bill in April of this year, that will teach me to not pay attention.

Anyway, I live in a block of flats, I found where the meters were and they were caked in mud, I had to really scrape handfuls off in order to see the meters. When I did see the meter with my serial no on it, it was unreadable due to condensation, even with a torch.

My questions are this

1 Judging by the half an inch of thick mud on the meters, I do not believe they have been read in years, let alone as recent as April this year.

2. Surely 2 people in a flat who work full time, no kids, no garden, no washing car, use washing machine 2/3 times a week, do not use 148 cubic meters of water in 6 months?

I have rang three valleys and the girl agreed that it seemed high, all she would offer is for someone to come out and read the meter within the next 4 weeks.

Anyone advise us on this, I think something is badly wrong here. At my last flat (unmetered) I think the yearly bill was £300 odd quid. Whereas now on a meter is that for 6 months! So much for meters been cheaper for small households?

DrDoom1973

Starb wrote:

Sounds to me that there is possibly a leak somewhere, or, very unlikely, a faulty meter as this is extremely high given your circumstances.

Read your meter before you go to work and again when you get home and see if the figures move at all. Do this over the period of a week, making anote of the figures. Most water companies will bill you for any lost water, although they may allow you a leakage allowance to reduce the figure slightly.

Thanks for the reply. I am unable to read the the meter due to condensation and scratching. Otherwise, I would take your advise and check on it whilst I am at work.

If there is a leak, which does sounds like a reasonable explanation, thenm who is liable to fix it and am I expected to pay for the lost water?

I should mention I am a tenant, not a homeowner, so would I need to contact my landlord, or is it the water boards duty to fix it (and pay)?

cdon

If there was that much mud on the meter and you could not read it, then perhaps the meter wasn't really read in April. Try to see if you can read the meter, I find it is always better to trust you own readings then any gas/electric/water reader.

tanith

How are they going to take a reading if the meter is unreadable I wonder.... maybe they will just guess again.....

Hope it sorts itself out.

DrDoom1973

cdon wrote:

If there was that much mud on the meter and you could not read it, then perhaps the meter wasn't really read in April. Try to see if you can read the meter, I find it is always better to trust you own readings then any gas/electric/water reader.

To be honest, the amount of mud that was on all the meters was so bad, I cannot believe that they had been looked at for years. When I looked in the ground, I wasnt even sure they were meters, it was just 5 muddy shapes in the hole.

Even after wiping all the mud off, my meter is unreadable, can I demand a new one is fitted? Although, I suspect that if I ask, Ill get a responce like, we have to have a look at it ourselves first to judge if it needs replacing?

deanos

Meters get covered in mud and muck very quickly , if it has condensation then tap the meter and this should clear it, if its still not very visable you want a very small torch like a mini maglight and put it right up to the digits this will make it easier to read, if the meter reader dosent have a problem reading it i doubt they will exchange as they are the ones that would report them as unreadable.


As it supplies flats have you checked its not a cross supply and supplying another flat, have a look at the meter then get someone to turn on the cold water tap to see it it starts moving.

DrDoom1973

deanos wrote:

Meters get covered in mud and muck very quickly , if it has condensation then tap the meter and this should clear it, if its still not very visable you want a very small torch like a mini maglight and put it right up to the digits this will make it easier to read, if the meter reader dosent have a problem reading it i doubt they will exchange as they are the ones that would report them as unreadable.


As it supplies flats have you checked its not a cross supply and supplying another flat, have a look at the meter then get someone to turn on the cold water tap to see it it starts moving.

Thank for the advice Deano, just a few things you may be able to advise me on.

Would a meter really be so caked in mud as to make it almost impossible to see within 6 months(last time it was read)?

I did try tapping the meter with the screwdriver head and I shone a little torch right up against the cover,but I still could not decipher any of the dial readings.

As for the cross supply theory, how can I see if this is the case? There are five meters in all, how would I know who is being confused with whom? Also as the meters are all impossible to read, bar one how can I clearly see the dials moving?

I personally have a suspicion that the meters have not been read, that or a leak. Either way I have a bad feeling that I am going to end up seriously out of pocket, anyone else on here had similar problems with their water supllier?

I mean 309 quid for 6 months in a one bed flat for 2 people, that 3 valleys claim had been read at the start and the end of that 6 month period? Surely that is piffledom and ballderdash from the Planet Zog?

niccy

i worked for anglian water 20 yrs ago and they could electronically read meters then !
if i remember they had to pass something like a metal detector over the cover

deanos

niccy wrote:

i worked for anglian water 20 yrs ago and they could electronically read meters then !
if i remember they had to pass something like a metal detector over the cover

No such thing with Anglian Water im affraid all done by lifting the lid and manual reading

deanos

DrDoom1973 wrote:

Thank for the advice Deano, just a few things you may be able to advise me on.

Would a meter really be so caked in mud as to make it almost impossible to see within 6 months(last time it was read)?
!!

Yes it can quite easily

DrDoom1973 wrote:

I did try tapping the meter with the screwdriver head and I shone a little torch right up against the cover,but I still could not decipher any of the dial readings.

Then it could have had it usually that does the trick

DrDoom1973 wrote:

As for the cross supply theory, how can I see if this is the case? There are five meters in all, how would I know who is being confused with whom? Also as the meters are all impossible to read, bar one how can I clearly see the dials moving?

Im not sure what brand of meters they use, but usually there will be a small wheel in the middle when water is going through the meter this will turn, so look at the meter and get someone in your property to turn on the cold water supply you will then see the small dial moving

There is alot of pictures here maybe yours is listed ?
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=water+meter+picture&ndsp=20&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLJ,GGLJ:2006-34,GGLJ:en&start=0&sa=N

DrDoom1973 wrote:

I personally have a suspicion that the meters have not been read, that or a leak. Either way I have a bad feeling that I am going to end up seriously out of pocket, anyone else on here had similar problems with their water supllier?

I mean 309 quid for 6 months in a one bed flat for 2 people, that 3 valleys claim had been read at the start and the end of that 6 month period? Surely that is piffledom and ballderdash from the Planet Zog?

Either way, i reckon Ill be in for a fight, this cannot be right.

If there is a leak dont worry you shouldnt be out of pocket and can claim cost of the lost water back, its best to do a leak test, turn off the water in the property at the stop tap and see if the dial on the meter is moving if it is ou probably have a leak

baby_frogmella

Hi Dr Doom

I had a similar sort of problem not too long ago. Basically Southern Water were charging me for my neighbours water and vice versa. I live on my own so i was surprised to see my bill £400 for 1 year...i checked the meter serial number on my bill against the meter itself and based on the readings, the idiots were billing me for the neighbours water!!! Obviously they gave me a refund straightaway, they didn't even bother sending someone around to check the meter readings again.

I don't know how easy or how difficult this could be but I really think you should cross check the meter serial number on your bill against the actual meter itself...you may be in for a surprise!!!

Hope this helps

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