Excessive metered water bills from Southern Water

mcc100

Occasionally I have come across flats in converted buildings that share header tanks in the loft and there is a small possibility that this could be the case in your flat.

If this was the case and your meter supplied a header tank in the loft that also fed a neighbouring flat, then if the adjoining flat ran their cold kitchen tap there would be no movement on your meter but if they ran say a bathroom tap that was fed by the header tank then your meter would move.

Not sure if what I've said is clear ..... please ask if you need it clarifying.

Cardew

Gothicfairy wrote: »

Cardew is right, it could be that you are supplying someone else ( I would say probably not as it would normally be supplying the whole place rather then just a toilet say, but that does not mean it can't happen) I would turn your supply off when you are out during the day and then when you return home go door knocking and ask in the sweetest voice possible something like " I have been out to work all day and come home to no water, what have I missed ? do you have water ? Is it the water companies fault " etc etc and see if anyone say's "oh you too, I got no water either"..then you might have the answer

The problem is that this would only work if the water supply was piped to another flat AFTER the stopc0ck.

If it was piped to the other flat BEFORE the stopc0ck, then it wouldn't show.

The best idea is still to accurately note(including decimal points) the meter reading when the OP's flat is unoccupied.

Gothicfairy

Cardew wrote: »

The problem is that this would only work if the water supply was piped to another flat AFTER the stopc0ck.

If it was piped to the other flat BEFORE the stopc0ck, then it wouldn't show.

The best idea is still to accurately note(including decimal points) the meter reading when the OP's flat is unoccupied.

I am not saying in anyway shape or form that the OP should not follow your advice as it is the best, I was only saying as a quick check to see if anyone was connected after the stoptap and would be easy and as such easy then to rule that out.
As if it is someone is connected after the stoptap and she/ he can work it out with just one day turning the supply off then it is at least an answer to that.

But meter readings should be taken anyway as that will help. If it were me I would take them when leaving ( even for a day ) and coming home and see where that takes you.

With cases like this though I think anything to help sort it out is better then leaving it in the hands of the water company

Cardew

Gothicfairy wrote: »

With cases like this though I think anything to help sort it out is better then leaving it in the hands of the water company

Agreed,

If this 'line of enquiry' is correct, the water company will have supplied the water, and it will be up to ??(leaseholder?) to sort matters out.

The OP need to establish if all outlets are fed from the mains supply and not from a header tank as mcc100 suggests is a possibility.

If that is the case it will be even more difficult to trace.

deanos

Do you have a communal tap at all ?

Wondering if you meter is connected to that somehow

kelloggs36

in order to reduce your own usage, have you got a brick or water saver for the toilet cistern? There are some widgets you can get for showers to reduce the water usage there too. Small things should add up and help, even if it isn't linked to the main problem. Hope you get it sorted - Southern seem to be expensive compared to some suppliers.

Dippypud

Some communal areas, such as paladin storage or chute room have a cold tap used for washing both the room and the bins when necessary.
This may be on your 'line'.

foxyruby

Hi Moneysavers
You've all come up with some great ideas, thanks! I went away for three days recently, took a meter reading just before I left, and another when I arrived back. It hadn't moved at all :-(

Mcc100's header tank suggestion sounded really interesting. I was also interested by Gothicfairy's old washing machine suggestion. I have a Hotpoint Ultima SuperSilent (it's not) washing machine, and I've noticed recently that when I select a programme, the clock might say 1 hour 5 mins, but the cycle actually takes 1 hour 30 mins. It regularly goes over time by about 25 minutes, no matter which programme I choose (the handbook gives the shorter times). The machine is about 5 years old. Also, the other thing I've noticed is that my toilet has a very weak flush and I have to flush it at least twice to clear, shall we say, more substantial things? But do you all think that these two things could be serious enough to take my water usage over double the national average? I'd be very interested in your opinion here because I have no idea how much water the machine uses, and whether the increased time cycle will actually increase amount of water used. And wouldn't a weaker toilet flush multiplied by two be the same as, or little more than, a strong single flush?

Gothicfairy

The problems you have listed ie toilet and washing machine will not help but I can't see it being double the norm.

There is something using the water and it is steady as your adc is steady..if your meter hasn't moved when you were not there then there is not a leak, there has to be something wrong with something you are using.
I would do a meter reading before doing a wash and then take one after and also do that for the toilet etc and maybe by doing that we can work out what is using this amount of water.

Cardew

foxyruby wrote: »

Hi Moneysavers
You've all come up with some great ideas, thanks! I went away for three days recently, took a meter reading just before I left, and another when I arrived back. It hadn't moved at all :-(

Mcc100's header tank suggestion sounded really interesting. I was also interested by Gothicfairy's old washing machine suggestion. I have a Hotpoint Ultima SuperSilent (it's not) washing machine, and I've noticed recently that when I select a programme, the clock might say 1 hour 5 mins, but the cycle actually takes 1 hour 30 mins. It regularly goes over time by about 25 minutes, no matter which programme I choose (the handbook gives the shorter times). The machine is about 5 years old. Also, the other thing I've noticed is that my toilet has a very weak flush and I have to flush it at least twice to clear, shall we say, more substantial things? But do you all think that these two things could be serious enough to take my water usage over double the national average? I'd be very interested in your opinion here because I have no idea how much water the machine uses, and whether the increased time cycle will actually increase amount of water used. And wouldn't a weaker toilet flush multiplied by two be the same as, or little more than, a strong single flush?

I just looked at the Hotpoint specification for your machine and it uses 69 litres per wash. So it will take 14 cycles to use 1 cubic metre.

So used, say, twice a week would use 7 cubic metres.

Your 3 days away from the flat, with no change in reading, eliminates most of the usual culprits. e.g. leaking cistern in toilet.

That said I have had a cistern that leaked intermittently - the water overflows into the bowl. However you had that problem fixed.

It takes between 6 and 10 litres to flush a toilet. So taking the worst case where you flush on average 10 times a day - every day - that would use 36 cubic metres.