Apparently I use 412 litres a day?

clocKwize

I've just got a water bill and noticed my household apparently uses 412 litres a day... This seemed like an awful lot to me so I went online and found a calculator that worked it out based on bath, washing machine, people, etc, etc and even stretching the truth and saying that we have 1 more person and more showers etc, etc.. I still can't get it anywhere near that figure?

Does that seem like a reasonable number for a house hold of 2? Neither of us bath, we don't have a dish washer, we both work full time and are only home in the evening.. we have 2 kids but only every other weekend and they have 2 baths while they are with us, we don't use a garden hose, have a pond, or anything..

I can't see where it could all possibly be going?

Any advice?

Many thanks

Johnandabby

Firstly is it estimated or from actual meter readings? And is this a catch up bill, or have you worked out that this is average usage over a year?

Large shower head & long showers? I've had clients with 20 litre plus per minute shower heads - 2 people having 5 min showers each is 200 litres. Time how long it takes to fill up a 1 litre container.

dual flush toilets or large single flush? Old 9 litre flush, 4 times for each person is another 72 litres, plus wash hand basin usage and kitchen sink for washing up etc.

If you don't have a large showerhead, or lengthy showers, then it does seem high.

clocKwize

Its metered water, and was read recently according to the bill. They worked out on average how many litres per day over the last 6 months and put it on the bill.

Both our toilets have the dual flush thing and we really aren't in the house most of the day and is only used in the evenings or mornings..

Its not a huge shower head and its not exactly the most powerful shower I've ever used (not the least either though). I've just googled Triton showers and apparently it uses between 3-10 litres per minute. I think the 3 litres per minute is probably an eco one, which we don't have, so going to be say 10 per minute.

I can see how it adds up though... The online calculator I used might be really under estimating things...

Thanks for your input

Johnandabby

So reasonably:
40 l/day for toilets
100 l/day for showers
30 l/day for sinks & basins
25 l/day for washing machine
total of 195 l/day, so probably half what you actually have.

I would recommend reading the meter before going to work and then when you get back to see if there's a leak somewhere.

rollon65

Hello clocKwize,

I read your posting with interest as much of it applies to us also (see my own posting "Shock Letter from Water Authority").
I haven't done a current consumption reading due having just got back from a one week holiday, but we are two senior citizens and our consumption is reckoned to average around 350 litres per day and we can't understand that either.
Wish you luck getting to the bottom of it, as my own relatively similar situation looks like rambling on more than a bit!

Best regards - rollon65.

[Deleted User]

I live alone, and use about 200l/day. The water "saving" toilet is a real water waster, it often takes 3 or 4 flushes to get the pan to empty.

Cardew

The average UK consumption is approx 55 cubic metres per person per year; so approx 150 litres per person per day.


So for two people, 300 litres a day. However the OP has children visiting.


Therefore, 412 litres is above average, but not massively above average.


A dishwasher can actually save water. Most couples tend to wash up after meals, not stick the plates/cutlery in the dishwasher out of sight.


Everyone on MSE seems to think that they must have below average consumption, but that ain't possible!

matelodave

The only way you can be sure is to read your own meter, either daily or weekly to see when it's being used and what is using it.


As Cardew says a dishwasher can save water but only if its used with full loads, likewise the washing machine uses just as much with one pair of knickers as when it's full of towels so make sure it's only used with full loads as well

Don't let water run down the sink when rinsing or washing stuff or cleaning your teeth. Flow restrictors on taps or the shower can reduce the volume, so dose reducing the time you are using them. 5 mins at 7lpm = 35 litres, 10 mins at 15lpm = 150 litres. Many water companies give then away free.
Only fill kettles with the amount of water you need. Saving water also saves energy as you don't have to heat as much.


I've been reading my meter weekly since we had a leak last year and our usage varies between 120-200 litres a day (average about 155). There are two of us and we are at home all day.
The shower & taps have flow restrictors - they really do make a difference to how much goes down the sink when washing, showering or rinsing stuff. We've got both a washing machine & dishwasher each used about 3 times a week. Both toilets have dual flush (but mostly used with full flush as the reduced flush is useless).
We are both at home all day and we use water to wash the cars, caravan and water the garden - we have a time controlled automatic watering system for when we are on holiday and during the summer.
Even when I include our underground leak last year (I estimate we lost about 1000l a day for about 5 weeks = 35cu.m) we've still only averaged 220 litres a day since we had the meter fitted 42 month ago)

dipsy

My bill went from £28 pcm to £48

I took a reading before going to bed and another in the morning before shower/toilet etc

it had moved

I then turned off the !!!! stop took a reading went to work and then read it when I came back, again it had moved

so I rang Yorkshire Water, and they have come to take a reading this morning and will come back tonight, the !!!! stop is off again

they have said if the leak is outside the house they will sort out the pipe and I will be entitled to a leakage allowance.

have you tried these methods to find out if you have a leak?

Beachbaby

We were on rated water (no meter) when we moved into our current house May2013. We then opted for a meter to be installed in October 2013 after paying £79 a month.....when we got our first bill on the meter we were in for a shock! £9000.00! Not kidding. We obviously had a leak but United Utilities (we're Liverpool) asked us to try the above methods to determine if it was or not. After lliterally all water was turned off the meter was moving like crazy so we had to apply for a burst water allowance. The water company came out to take a look, couldn't find the leak and left us with a form. We were told to get a builder/plumber in to find the leak. Found it, the water pipe between the meter and going into the house was "like a sieve" and letting out the equivalent of about 12 baths a day! After following all UU procedures we've now finally (today) been given a credit and had the huge amount wiped off our account after getting the leak fixed. They give you a certain amount of time to fix it, think it was 2 weeks? Since then, after a few correct meter readings by ourselves we've had normal readings which for the 2 of us who shower only, no baths, both work everyday so only in mornings, evening and weekends, works out at roughly 0.14 cubic metres of water a day (approx 142 litres of water) which costs us 80 pence a day in combined water & waste water. Hope this long post helps, it's my first ever post!

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


Are you sure your figures are correct? If 142 litres cost 80 pence, you need to deduct standing charges, it means you were paying between £3.50 and £4.65 a cubic metre. The 2014/15 charges for United Utilities are 'only' £2.85p a cubic meter for combined water/sewerage.


If 142 litres cost 80 pence of which 14p to 35p would be standing charges, £9,000 lost in a leak would be a loss of well over two million litres. Given the average bath(with a human immersed!) is approx 60 to 80 litres, that would be enough for around 30,000 baths. - rather more than 12 a day!

A leak of that magnitude would be sufficient to wash away Anfield - no bad thing if you are a Blue;)