Help!! My water bill is huge!

creditcarddebt

Hi, have just received my water bill for the six month period to 2 August 2013 and its huge! It is £634, so £105pm. Little bit of background - we moved here a year ago, previously we paid our water rates on the rateable value, we have a water meter here which I am now beginning to loathe...there are 2 adults, one 10 year old and a 1 year old. 2 adults and 10 year old shower daily (well the 10 year old might skip one if she can) and the 1 year old has a daily bath (believe me with is eating habits he needs one!). He has barely any water in the bath. Me and my husband can be in and out the shower inside of five mins, my daughter is another matter! She has been told many times to reduce the shower time and is now down to maybe 7 - 10 mins :eek: Still far too long I know but she needs to wash her hair every day ( she is at that unfortunate age where everything is changing!)

I probably put on maybe 7 loads of washing a week, normally very full loads. I use the dishwasher maybe 5 times a week, on the economy wash. And probably I wash up 3 times a day. We don't water the garden as we have no plants, I water a couple of inside plants every few days, and we give the dog water!

Any tips on where I am obviously going very wrong!!!

macman

It would help if you told us what your actual cu m usage is from your bill. That is what matters, not how many baths you have.
But first things first. Are the billed opening and closing reads actuals or estimates? Have you checked the meter yourself, and does it correspond to the billed closing reading?
Because you are billed £643 it doesn't mean that you are using £105pm. Do you have arrears from the last billing (i.e. a catch up bill)?
Have you done a flow test to determine if there is a leak downstream of the meter? Any leaking WC's in the property (a common cause of high usage)?

creditcarddebt

Hi, Yes sorry I forgot about telling you that actual details from the bill! The usage is 156 cubic metres, and that is based on actual readings. I have not checked yet whether that corresponds with the meter, have just assumed it would so will check that later when my husband gets home. We are also going to do the leak check that it says to do in the bill if we think the bill is too high.

£23 brought forward from last bill, all paid monthly on direct debit so no actual arrears, water services costing £344.02 and sewerage services costing £290.56. We are with Wessex Water.

macman

There's really no point in comparing billing across regions, as prices vary by about 250%. What the OP needs to determine is 1) is the billing correct, and 2) if so, is the usage reasonable or not.

yangptangkipperbang

creditcarddebt wrote: »

The usage is 156 cubic metres, and that is based on actual readings. We are with Wessex Water.

The "average" water consumption per person (in the UK) is 153L per day. Which comes out to about 220 cu m per year for your household. So your usage would appear to be appreciably higher than average.

I would check all the figures on the bill first !

http://www.wessexwater.co.uk/customers/threecol.aspx?id=254

creditcarddebt

Well the meter reading is correct, the figures on the bill are correct and in line with the charges in that Wessex water link, so I guess the next step is to establish whether we have a leak or not. And if no leak, then I have no idea what we do, because that is just a horrendous amount for water.

365days

Have you been having paddling pools/water fights etc?

paulsad

I had a burst whilst away so I'm dreading my next bill.

creditcarddebt

Nope no water fights, and we filled up a kids paddling pool once. Our ensuite is new so no dripping taps, running loo or anything, and in the family bathroom nothing seems to be dripping.

spiro

When you daughter showers tell her to get in the shower and get wet, then turn of shower while she washes and does her hair, then turn it on again to rinse all the soap off. Same while you brush your teeth.

macman

So do a flow test, it will take you 10 minutes.