Water Meter - Single Person, but high bills

vultura

Hi all

Long time since my last post.

Wondering if anyone out there can help me out with some sage words of advice.

Bill under RV system was approx £440 per year as I recall, which wasn't great for one person in a 3 bed house. So I switched to a meter in 2011, having used different usage calculators and figured I could halve the bill (being conservative). Since the meter was installed the bills have been roughly equal to what I was paying under RV.

I have tried to get the supplier to listen and understand that I am not happy with this, but it just seems to fall on deaf ears.

My last bill (read by company), is £108 pounds for 84 days of water supply and sewerage. Water used is 27 cubic metres.

It's just me in the house. I work 5 days per week, use a shower, don't use a dishwasher, do 1 load of washing per week, water garden plants with a watering can.

Logic says this can't be right, but how do I get it through to them?

Thanks in advance.

matelodave

Why don't you read your own meter, weekly to see what you are using and when you are using it (daily is better)

If you turn your internal stopcock off the meter should stop and not record anything, if it does then you've got to find out where the water is going.

You could also do a few simple checks to see if you've got any leaks, any toilet cisterns letting by, dripping taps, drips from overflow pipes etc. Flow restrictors on the taps and shower can save water (you can usually get them free from the water co)

There are two of us at home all day, we have an automatic garden watering system and we only use 75cu.m per year (averaging about 100-200 litres a day between us) so your 100 a year looks excessive

SailorSam

I wish someone could explain to me why Oxfam can supply a whole African village with water for just £2 a week, when my bills are so high here.

Jue*k

It sounds like you've got a leak someone. Do like PP said and turn your stop !!!! off and see if meter still ticks on. If it does you are leaking water (or a neighbours supply is connected to your meter).

HappyMJ

SailorSam wrote: »

I wish someone could explain to me why Oxfam can supply a whole African village with water for just £2 a week, when my bills are so high here.

It's closer to £2 per family per week to provide a reliable source of water. Oxfam put lots of £2 coins together to build a well or borehole which the villagers have to take buckets to and manually pump water. If it's a bigger village or town they pay for a pump driven by petrol or diesel to extract water into an tank. If you would like to install a well in your back yard and manually pump the water to your loft tank each day then go ahead. Your future water bills could be reduced to just the standing charges.

Also, minimum wages here are about £60 per day incuding employment taxes. Wages in 3rd world countries are about £1-2 per day.

vultura

Thanks for replies all.

I have read the meter myself a number of times, which isn't an easy task as its buried in the pavement outside my neighbours property (theirs is alongside mine, in a separate hole). Last time I read it was during the warm dry spell and even then it was covered by water.

I did turn off my internal stop tap once before while I was out at work all day and the meter still moved, told the supplier and they made nothing of it.

No dripping taps or water running from cistern into toilet bowl. Have an aerator on the kitchen tap and don't leave taps running for anything.

mart.vader

vultura wrote: »

Thanks for replies all.

I have read the meter myself a number of times, which isn't an easy task as its buried in the pavement outside my neighbours property (theirs is alongside mine, in a separate hole). Last time I read it was during the warm dry spell and even then it was covered by water.

I did turn off my internal stop tap once before while I was out at work all day and the meter still moved, told the supplier and they made nothing of it.

No dripping taps or water running from cistern into toilet bowl. Have an aerator on the kitchen tap and don't leave taps running for anything.

OK, and what conclusions can you draw from that?

notbritishgas

vultura wrote: »

Thanks for replies all.

I have read the meter myself a number of times, which isn't an easy task as its buried in the pavement outside my neighbours property (theirs is alongside mine, in a separate hole). Last time I read it was during the warm dry spell and even then it was covered by water.

I did turn off my internal stop tap once before while I was out at work all day and the meter still moved, told the supplier and they made nothing of it.

No dripping taps or water running from cistern into toilet bowl. Have an aerator on the kitchen tap and don't leave taps running for anything.

Are you sure the meter you are being billed on is actually the one supplying your property.
You will need some help to turn a tap on full in the property whilst you look at the meter(s) to see which one is moving.

macman

vultura wrote: »

Thanks for replies all.

I have read the meter myself a number of times, which isn't an easy task as its buried in the pavement outside my neighbours property (theirs is alongside mine, in a separate hole). Last time I read it was during the warm dry spell and even then it was covered by water.

I did turn off my internal stop tap once before while I was out at work all day and the meter still moved, told the supplier and they made nothing of it.

No dripping taps or water running from cistern into toilet bowl. Have an aerator on the kitchen tap and don't leave taps running for anything.

Which just might have indicated to you that there's possibly a leak from or adjacent to the meter on the downstream side... in which case it will be continually clocking up that leakage.

matelodave

If the meter still goes round when you've turned off the internal stopcock then it's hard not to come to the conclusion that you've got a leak somewhere. I would be making a proper investigation of where it is and getting it sorted out, rather than saying its a bit hard to read - it's costing you lots of money by doing nothing.

Have you actually properly reported a leak to the water company.

When I checked my water meter earlier this year and noticed that the reading was higher than expected I made a few simple checks myself . By turning off the internal stopcock and watching the meter continuing to rotate made it was blinding obvious that there was a leak somewhere.

I reported it to Anglian Water and they sent a guy out to check the meter & seals. He just advised me that I had a problem downstream of the meter and that it was my responsibility to get it sorted out. As it was costing me £3 a day in lost water I got it sorted out as soon as I'd discovered it.

My buildings insurance company (Aviva) arranged to have it traced & repaired and Anglian credited me with their estimate of the lost water - £108.

By continuing to do nothing you are just racking up a ginormous water bill and potentially undermining your foundations if that's where its all going.

vultura

mart.vader wrote: »

OK, and what conclusions can you draw from that?

Either a leak or the meter isn't mine.

notbritishgas wrote: »

Are you sure the meter you are being billed on is actually the one supplying your property.
You will need some help to turn a tap on full in the property whilst you look at the meter(s) to see which one is moving.

I had thought I might be cross connected, that's what someone at the supplier called it and so I am paying someone else's bill in effect.

matelodave wrote: »

If the meter still goes round when you've turned off the internal stopcock then it's hard not to come to the conclusion that you've got a leak somewhere. I would be making a proper investigation of where it is and getting it sorted out, rather than saying its a bit hard to read - it's costing you lots of money by doing nothing.

Have you actually properly reported a leak to the water company.

When I checked my water meter earlier this year and noticed that the reading was higher than expected I made a few simple checks myself . By turning off the internal stopcock and watching the meter continuing to rotate made it was blinding obvious that there was a leak somewhere.

I reported it to Anglian Water and they sent a guy out to check the meter & seals. He just advised me that I had a problem downstream of the meter and that it was my responsibility to get it sorted out. As it was costing me £3 a day in lost water I got it sorted out as soon as I'd discovered it.

My buildings insurance company (Aviva) arranged to have it traced & repaired and Anglian credited me with their estimate of the lost water - £108.

By continuing to do nothing you are just racking up a ginormous water bill and potentially undermining your foundations if that's where its all going.

Not sure what cover I have with insurance company, but weirdly this bill came with a leaflet for Homeserve water supply pipe cover for £12 for the first year.

Whilst it may well be a leak I have a suspicion that I am cross connected. Why do I think that? Simply put when I read the meter last, I turned off the valve that was next to the meter and water still came out of my cold tap. Could be a faulty valve though......

I did try to get the supplier to investigate, but I was told I would be charged if they found no fault with the meter and that any leaks I would be liable for, even though there must be metres of pipe before it crosses my property boundary. Not sure where exactly the pipework runs, but it is a 1950s built "terrace" and the inlet pipe appears in the kitchen floor, the kitchen being in the rear of the property and the meter is at the front of neighbouring property.

If it is a leak in the supply, where its on my property the likely costs and potential disruption scare me a little. Is the Homeserve cover worth having and then waiting to report the problem?