Double the annual consumption?

Callie22

We moved into a small rented 2 bed flat in January which has a water meter. Previously we were living in a two bed house where we paid a monthly charge of about £18 for water. It's just me and the OH in the flat. We each shower once daily (probably for about 15 minutes each), wash up twice a day, run the washing machine three to four times a week. OH does work from home so there is probably more consumption there in terms of cups of tea and the loo, but we don't have a bath, don't have a garden and don't wash the car.

We've just received our first bill from Thames Water which was £243.79 for just under 6 months - (06/01 to 28/05). The bill says that our consumption during that period was 104 cubic metres.

Looking around, I can see that the average annual consumption for two people is given as 110 cubic meters. Going off our current bill, it seems that we're using almost double the average annual consumption for two people. What's more worrying to me is that we didn't actually move into the flat until the very end of January so that usage is actually for about five months rather than six. We are 'careful' water users (no taps running whilst teeth being brushed etc etc) so I really can't work out where we're using so much water. Our meter isn't really accessible (it's under a manhole on the street which can't be easily opened) so I don't know how I can check what we're using and when.

Any suggestions very gratefully received!

Andy_WSM

Callie22 wrote: »

We are 'careful' water users (no taps running whilst teeth being brushed etc etc) so I really can't work out where we're using so much water.

We each shower once daily (probably for about 15 minutes each)

So at least double the amount of time in the shower than an average person is careful?

Cutting your shower time down would be a very good start. You can't expect an average bill if you don't have average behaviours!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15836433

Cardew

Are you sure that the meter reading in January when you moved in was correct? i.e. did you read the meter?


You wouldn't be the first person to pay for some of the previous occupant's consumption.


15 minutes each every day in a shower is a long time. You can get an idea of how much water that consumes by timing how long it takes to fill a 10 litre bucket.

matelodave

Depending on what sort of shower you've got you are using a hell of a lot of water. A power shower or rain head type can get through 15 litres/minute multiplied by your 15 minutes each a day equals 450litres a day (half a cubic metre). Reduce you shower time to 5 minutes and you'll save 300litres a day. Put a flow restrictor on (frequently free from the water co) to reduce the flow to about 7lpm and you'd save another 70 litres or so.
Water is quite expensive nowadays so letting 300-350 litres of it run down the drain whilst you are showering could be costing you a couple of quid a day and you aren't any cleaner.
Try Cardew's suggestion of timing how long it takes to fill a 10 litre bucket, if it takes less than a minute then a 15 minute shower will be using at least 150 litres a go

Having shorter showers & reducing the flow will not only save you water but energy as well, chucking that amount of hot water down the drain will have a major impact on. your fuel bill as well especially if you've got an electric shower unit. It could easily be costing you another £2 or more a day in electricity.

I'd certainly make the effort to reduce your shower time and try a bit harder to read the meter a bit more often. You could easily shave at least £20 a month off both your water and energy bills - that's a £1000 a year