Water bill up from £44 to £76 a month!

MarkBargain

There are only two of us living in a semi-detached house (it was our first year in the house) so I was surprised to see my bill jump to £76 a month. That's nearly as much as our energy bills!

Looking in more detail we were charged £299 for 177 units of water and £348 for 160m of sewerage, but as we 'only' paid £450 thats why the direct debit is going up so much.

Is that about right or are there any causes for concern?

It does annoy me that these privatised water firms charge people so much money when awarding massive amounts to their Execs, paying big dividends to their shareholders and avoiding paying much tax. It's not as though we can switch companies, is it!?!

brewerdave

Thats a lot of usage for two people (88.5 cu metres each) - believe the average consumption of water per person is ~ 55cu m pa ..but a lot of people seem to get by on considerably less!! Are you using a lot watering the garden or washing cars with hoses?? 10 minutes "full bore" on a hose can use 1 cu metre

MallyGirl

when ours did that we had a leak. Jumped from £22 to £70 and now we are back down to £18 having fixed the leak.

MarkBargain

brewerdave wrote: »

Thats a lot of usage for two people (88.5 cu metres each) - believe the average consumption of water per person is ~ 55cu m pa ..but a lot of people seem to get by on considerably less!! Are you using a lot watering the garden or washing cars with hoses?? 10 minutes "full bore" on a hose can use 1 cu metre

We don't have a car to wash or a dishwasher, but watered the garden a few times with a hose and did use a pressure washer to clean the paths outside. I guess this year we will just have to be more careful.

According to Thames Water, two people would use 85 cu metres (low), 108 (average) and 137 (high). http://www.thameswater.co.uk/your-account/17690.htm

MarkBargain

MallyGirl wrote: »

when ours did that we had a leak. Jumped from £22 to £70 and now we are back down to £18 having fixed the leak.

We had a small leak in the bathroom but got a plumber to fix it within a few days so I don't think that wasted too much water.

What about the supply pipe to the house, maybe those leak and people never know about it?

Cardew

If the supply pipe has a leak it is easy to check.

Note reading on water meter - including the red digits. Shut off stopcock in house and read meter a few hours later; reading shouldn't have changed.

To check if there is a leak in house, again read the meter accurately ensure no water is used in the house for a few hours, and check reading again.

The commonest form of leak is a cistern overflowing(silently) into the toilet bowl.

MarkBargain

Cardew wrote: »

If the supply pipe has a leak it is easy to check.

Note reading on water meter - including the red digits. Shut off stopcock in house and read meter a few hours later; reading shouldn't have changed.

To check if their is a leak in house, again read the meter accurately ensure no water is used in the house for a few hours, and check reading again.

The commonest form of leak is a cistern overflowing(silently) into the toilet bowl.

Thinking about it we did have a problem with the toilet dripping in the cistern and got our plumber to repair that, so that could have wasted water.

mart.vader

MarkBargain wrote: »

Thinking about it we did have a problem with the toilet dripping in the cistern and got our plumber to repair that, so that could have wasted water.

Ask TW for a leak allowance form

MarkBargain

mart.vader wrote: »

Ask TW for a leak allowance form

Thanks, I didn't realise that such a possibility existed. I have emails with my plumber showing me getting this fixed, so maybe I will get something back.

brewerdave

Dripping overflow on a cistern would be a couple of gallons per day ie 1 cu metre every 3 months -it would need to be quite a heavy overflow to cause the high usage you are seeing -suggest you try the tests suggested by Cardew.

MarkBargain

I have booked a free visit from an Anglian Water plumber to check for leaks and to fit water saving devices.

http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/environment/using-water-wisely/we-products/

I might also get a water butt installed to take rain water from the roof which I could use to water the garden. Each full butt would save me about 65p.