Water Usage is too high

kingdavid3

I am new flat-owner. Still learning the tricks of the game of being a home-owner.

We've received our first water and wastewater bill from Thames water for 6 months of water usage. According to the bill we've used about 400 cubic meters of water in just 6 months (the average annual usage is around 150 cubic meters). Which was way too high for 2 adults with 1 child. Most of the time we're not even in the property. I work 5 days a week. Our child is in primary school. I called them up. Even they were shocked to find we were using that much water. They asked me to perform a leak test. I shut the main valve to see if the water meter is moving by itself. I found that it's not. Thames water assumed there's a leakage inside the property which is "outside" of their remit. I don't see any obvious leakage inside the flat. It's a block of flats. We live on the 2nd floor. If there are leaking pipes people living below our flat would've have complaint already or we would see patches/damps around the walls (since these are made of wood materials). Thames Water said they would send someone to check the meter, ensure no one else is using it, create a report and do nothing else basically. I was hoping they'd replace the meter!

Anyway I have called for a Leak Detection Plumber to create me reports that I could then send to Thames Water so that they'll do more than what they said they'll do in our initial conversation (see above). This will cost me around 400 quid. LEGAL & GENERAL would not even cover the cost since they only cover "CONTENTS". My building management ground insurance would not cover it too since the test is "INSIDE" my Flat.

What if there are no leaking pipes within the property. The leak test also shows the water meter is not moving by itself when not using water. What else could it be? Faulty water meter?

When I get home tonight we'll do another test maybe take 1 litre of water and compare it to the meter reading. See how fast the meter is moving.

It's frustrating!
Water Bill of £900 in 6 months.
Water Pipe leak detection £400.

bsms1147

Any chance the meter has been misread at some point? Either now or when you moved in six months ago?

D_M_E

Try going to your local builder's merchant and buy a meter key for about a quid or so then, when you leave for work - if there's nobody else at home for the day - turn the supply off both before and after the meter (the key should fit the tap both sides of the meter) and see if anyone else in the block is complaining about lack of water when you get back.

kingdavid3

I read the meter myself when we took over at the flat. It was 1400 around February 2015. I read it just recently it's 1812 last night.

DandelionPatrol

D_M_E wrote: »

Try going to your local builder's merchant and buy a meter key for about a quid or so then, when you leave for work - if there's nobody else at home for the day - turn the supply off both before and after the meter (the key should fit the tap both sides of the meter) and see if anyone else in the block is complaining about lack of water when you get back.

Well if you did that and proved it is the wrong meter, you might find the neighbour is rightly annoyed.

Run a tap and inspect the meter. If the reading is not increasing, then it is not your meter. If it is increasing, turn off the supply at your stopcock and make sure the reading is not increasing. If the tap inside is still running then it is not your meter.

D_M_E

Did you check the serial numbers on the bill and the meter match?

Are ALL digits on the meter being read and submitted - that is, on a normal meter there are usually 3 digits to the right which record hundredths of a meter, are these being given as well and the reading should be 001.812 not 1812?

400 cubic meters - about 88000 gallons - used in 6 months is more than enough for the entire block and this is why I suggested turning off the flow at the meter.

AndysDad

D_M_E wrote: »

Did you check the serial numbers on the bill and the meter match?

Are ALL digits on the meter being read and submitted - that is, on a normal meter there are usually 3 digits to the right which record hundredths of a meter, are these being given as well and the reading should be 001.812 not 1812?

400 cubic meters - about 88000 gallons - used in 6 months is more than enough for the entire block and this is why I suggested turning off the flow at the meter.

That can't be the case as that would mean the op had only used 0.4 cu metres in 6 months,by the way 3 dec places is thousands of a cu metre.Most likely cause is that the meter is incorrectly connected.

D_M_E

AndysDad - yes, I agree about the low figure - I only gave those figures as an example, but, given the depth of some meters it's possible it has been misread.

Just doing a flow test for a few minutes is meaningless - what if the meter IS wrongly connected and, while doing the flow test no-one else was using water - a flow test would not show this, but turning the meter off completely for a while should.

Also a leak of around 400 cubic meters or so would cause severe damp problems which would be noticed, whether in the building itself or in the grounds outside.

sithmaster

D_M_E wrote: »

Also a leak of around 400 cubic meters or so would cause severe damp problems which would be noticed, whether in the building itself or in the grounds outside.

not sure I had a leak outside my property only detected when seven trent sent me a bill for just over £3000 for 5 months the ground was no different than normal they then found a leak after I said something must be wrong

Skools_Out

kingdavid3 wrote: »

I am new flat-owner. Still learning the tricks of the game of being a home-owner.

We've received our first water and wastewater bill from Thames water for 6 months of water usage. According to the bill we've used about 400 cubic meters of water in just 6 months (the average annual usage is around 150 cubic meters). Which was way too high for 2 adults with 1 child. Most of the time we're not even in the property. I work 5 days a week. Our child is in primary school. I called them up. Even they were shocked to find we were using that much water. They asked me to perform a leak test. I shut the main valve to see if the water meter is moving by itself. I found that it's not. Thames water assumed there's a leakage inside the property which is "outside" of their remit. I don't see any obvious leakage inside the flat. It's a block of flats. We live on the 2nd floor. If there are leaking pipes people living below our flat would've have complaint already or we would see patches/damps around the walls (since these are made of wood materials). Thames Water said they would send someone to check the meter, ensure no one else is using it, create a report and do nothing else basically. I was hoping they'd replace the meter!

Anyway I have called for a Leak Detection Plumber to create me reports that I could then send to Thames Water so that they'll do more than what they said they'll do in our initial conversation (see above). This will cost me around 400 quid. LEGAL & GENERAL would not even cover the cost since they only cover "CONTENTS". My building management ground insurance would not cover it too since the test is "INSIDE" my Flat.

What if there are no leaking pipes within the property. The leak test also shows the water meter is not moving by itself when not using water. What else could it be? Faulty water meter?

When I get home tonight we'll do another test maybe take 1 litre of water and compare it to the meter reading. See how fast the meter is moving.

It's frustrating!
Water Bill of £900 in 6 months.
Water Pipe leak detection £400.

kingdavid3 wrote: »

I read the meter myself when we took over at the flat. It was 1400 around February 2015. I read it just recently it's 1812 last night.

First of all, a warm welcome to MSE. I know you joined 7 years ago, but this appears to have been your first posts. :hello:

If the meter is not moving when you are not knowingly using water, then it doesn't sound like you have any leak. Did you really pay £400 to learn that? :eek:

You can do a quick/rough check yourself that will test the accuracy of the meter. Your water company or google should help with details
This will also check you are looking at the right meter.

Otherwise, remember to turn the tap off when it's not needed.