High water bill

destype

Hi, I’m trying to work out why my metered water bill is so high. It’s not just a case of usage.

We have gone from a 2 adult 2 child household in a 2 bed terrace to a 1 adult 2 child household and yet our water bill has gone from low usage to high. Apparently in the summer we were using almost 1000 ml per day. I’d like to add I am the only one who showers daily, I don’t have a dishwasher, I don’t wash the car at home and I don’t water the garden (grass only no flowers).

Nothing has changed in the way we use water except that we have one less adult who showers daily so water usage should be down.

However Thames Water have said that water usage went up around the time I changed my heating system from a hot water tank to a Combi boiler.

I have spoken to other people about their bills and I know of a single person who pays £12 a month but paid £40 a month when her kids were at home and a family of 4 who pays £30 a month. I have been quoted £86 a month.

Could it be my heating system? It seems to be quite coincidental that it rose when I changed my heating but I’m sure most people have this heating system now and don’t have high bills.

I’d appreciate your theories. Thames Water will be coming to check in the next couple of weeks.
Thanks.

Aylesbury_Duck

For comparison, we're a family of four adults and my water bill is around £32 a month, so something does look way off. You quoted 1,000ml a day - assuming you don't mean millilitres, what units do you mean? 1,000 litres?

It's beginning to look like you have a leak on your side of the meter. The heating system won't use more water than the old one but is it possible that when the plumbing was done, a leak occurred? Presumably you've got no signs of any leaks? Have you checked the overflow outlets from any toilet cisterns or cold water tank? Surely there must either be something leaking or the meter isn't calibrated correctly, which presuming it hasn't been touched since the new boiler was installed, is highly unlikely.

ed110220

Presumably you mean 1000 L per day? That is a lot! Very unlikely to be your heating system. Obvious answer is you have a bad leak somewhere unnoticed. Can you see the water meter turning (or hear it whirring) when all the taps in the house are turned off?

Aylesbury_Duck

ed110220 wrote: »

Presumably you mean 1000 L per day? That is a lot! Very unlikely to be your heating system. Obvious answer is you have a bad leak somewhere unnoticed. Can you see the water meter turning (or hear it whirring) when all the taps in the house are turned off?

This is good advice. Turn everything off, including the washing machine and dishwasher, and make sure any toilet cisterns have finished filling. If the meter's still turning, you have a leak.

destype

Thanks for your response. Sorry yes I meant litres. As far as I can tell there is no obvious sign of a leak but I really am not knowledgeable about overflow outlets. How would I check the toilet one? I don’t have any tanks at all now as my water is directly heated from the mains.

Ectophile

I assume that's meant to be 1000l per day, mot 1000ml.


1000l for 3 people is a lot. The average person uses about 150. I manage on 60.


The only way your heating could do that is if there is a leak. Combi boilers don't use up water anywhere, they just heat it.

destype

I will do that check thanks. Thames Water have said that usage fluctuates and that the highest was during the summer of 2018 so they don’t seem to think it’s a leak as a leak would be constant.

Aylesbury_Duck

destype wrote: »

I will do that check thanks. Thames Water have said that usage fluctuates and that the highest was during the summer of 2018 so they don’t seem to think it’s a leak as a leak would be constant.

When was your boiler installed? Did you have one massive month of use when the new boiler was being installed? You don't say if the usage has been consistently high or whether there was one month of very high usage which you're paying for retrospectively in monthly instalments.

Aylesbury_Duck

destype wrote: »

Thanks for your response. Sorry yes I meant litres. As far as I can tell there is no obvious sign of a leak but I really am not knowledgeable about overflow outlets. How would I check the toilet one? I don’t have any tanks at all now as my water is directly heated from the mains.

If you've got modern toilets, you might notice water constantly running into the bowl. On older toilets, the cisterns had overflow outlets which are usually a pipe going out of the wall to the outside.

NordicNoir

We had a very high increase in water use a few years ago. It turned out to be the cistern in the under stairs loo. As it was central in the house, it was not easy for an overflow to discharge outside for us to easily see. The plumber had therefore plumbed the overflow directly into the wash basin waste, so when the cistern started to leak, we were none the wiser.

So, check that any toilets and water tanks do have overflows that you would notice water coming out of and do not have any with ‘shortcuts’ that hide the leak.

destype

My boiler was installed in 2015 which is when my water usage went up. Thames Water have said that it gets very high in the summer and then drops back again so yes I’m paying retrospectively in instalments however there is absolutely no reason for our water usage to peak over the summer months as I don’t water the garden at all (only grass). I think I will do those checks and try and find the overflow but it’s great to be able to use your theories to be a bit more knowledgeable when Thames Water turn up. Thanks.