Help!! My water bill is huge!

creditcarddebt

Just to update, we did a test this morning as described on the back of our water bill, and the meter was still turning when all the stop taps to our property were turned off tight, so it appears that there must be a leak somewhere. We think it must be from the water meter to the stop tap outside our front door which feeds the extension on our property, and this runs under the driveway. So have called Wessex Water and they said someone would be in touch in 1 -5 working days, and that they would repair it out of courtesy.... I thought as the leak seems to be on our property then it would be down to us to repair. Has anyone had any experience of this?

Cardew

creditcarddebt wrote: »

Just to update, we did a test this morning as described on the back of our water bill, and the meter was still turning when all the stop taps to our property were turned off tight, so it appears that there must be a leak somewhere. We think it must be from the water meter to the stop tap outside our front door which feeds the extension on our property, and this runs under the driveway. So have called Wessex Water and they said someone would be in touch in 1 -5 working days, and that they would repair it out of courtesy.... I thought as the leak seems to be on our property then it would be down to us to repair. Has anyone had any experience of this?

Whilst it is very clearly your responsibility for any leak after the meter, it is normal procedure for most(all?) water companies to carry out a once only goodwill repair.

They will usually also make an allowance for the estimated water lost and give a refund. They normally do this by taking two measurements over a fixed period of a few weeks and base your normal consumption on that amount. So ensure you use as little water as possible during that period. - no baths etc

monkey_writer

Thames Water just upped my estimated bill as it discovered we had a leak.

neneromanova

creditcarddebt wrote: »

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!!!

WOOAH! No wonder your water bill is so high! Why do you need to do 7 loads of washing a week? Surely they can't all get THAT dirty?! and you wash up 3 times a day AND have the dishwasher on? That's quite a fair amount of water to use in my eyes. Sorry.

As for your DD, I would say to her she has 5 mins to shower, if not done by then, the water gets shut off and she comes out however clean (or not) she is. Then get it down to 3 mins. If you don't nip it in the bud now, then she'll be like my sister and running the water for 15 mins every time she showers! (She thinks it's ok as she turns the water off at some points :rotfl:) :eek:

creditcarddebt

In fairness 7 loads of washing a week (and thats prob max) I thought was quite fair!! My husband is a builder, so his work clothes are one wash, the bed sheets are one wash, and all the towels for the week are one wash, which leaves 4 loads for normal clothes and bearing in mind my littlest is now trying to feed himself we can get through a couple changes of clothes for him a day, depending on what our plans are.

With regards to the washing up 3 times a day, thats not a full load of water every time, if I was to use the dishwasher all the time then that would be way over 5 times a week.

And both myself and my daughter have long hair so it is just not possible to get in the shower, wash body, wash and condition hair in 3 mins.

Maybe the way I use water would seem alarming to some, and maybe yes does warrant a higher bill, but when my sister - whose house of late has consisted of two adults and 5 teens, and her bill is cheaper than mine then I do consider something to be wrong.

starrystarry

I don't think 7 loads of washing a week is excessive for a family of four. The kids must go through loads of clothes.

There's only two of us and we do about 6 loads a week. One bedding, one towels and two each for clothes. Some weeks it may be more.

I don't know how people manage to wash less than that.

fuzzgun19

macman wrote: »

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

What is the flow test? Is it where you read the meter them not use water for as long as possible, or do this with the stop tap off?

Cardew

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

What is the flow test? Is it where you read the meter them not use water for as long as possible, or do this with the stop tap off?

Yes, read meter - turn off stopc0ck - wait for several hours(if possible) and read meter again.

The reading should obviously not have moved.

fuzzgun19

Cardew wrote: »

Yes, read meter - turn off stopc0ck - wait for several hours(if possible) and read meter again.

The reading should obviously not have moved.

Ok thanks, I've already done that. Once overnight, and once for 1 1/2 hours with stop tap off. Nothing on the meter moved.

We are a family of 4 (2 adults 2 teens) and we have used 116 cubic metres in 6 months. Water company (N'thumbrian) seems to think that's high for 4 people.

I was paying £35 a month, just put it up to £45 pm.

I don't think we use alot though.. We have no shower no dishwasher, no paddling pools etc.

HappyMJ

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

Ok thanks, I've already done that. Once overnight, and once for 1 1/2 hours with stop tap off. Nothing on the meter moved.

We are a family of 4 (2 adults 2 teens) and we have used 116 cubic metres in 6 months. Water company (N'thumbrian) seems to think that's high for 4 people.

I was paying £35 a month, just put it up to £45 pm.

I don't think we use alot though.. We have no shower no dishwasher, no paddling pools etc.

You have no shower? So you all have a bath...how full do you make it. You only need just enough water to wash in.

It's 159 litres per person per day so it's average. Especially considering you have baths rather than showers.