High water bill

Aylesbury_Duck

destype wrote: »

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.

Hang on....you water the grass? How? By sprinkler? If so, that would easily account for thousands of extra litres over the summer. A sprinkler can use a few thousand litres of water in an hour. The fact usage peaks in the summer and you admit to watering the grass suggests a cause.

destype

Incidentally my only toilet is upstairs in the middle of the house so not sure if it would have an overflow and water isn’t constantly running in the loo. I think it’s all suggesting that it might be a boiler leak.

destype

No I don’t water the garden at all as it’s only grass.

Aylesbury_Duck

destype wrote: »

No I don’t water the garden at all as it’s only grass.

Damn. Thought I'd cracked it.

Still odd that it's peaking in the summer though. Of all the possible causes I can think of, none are season-dependent.

destype

It’s very puzzling! The only other thing I could think of was that the meter is connected to someone else’s supply. Someone who does water their garden in the summer but not sure how likely that can be. But thank you Aylesbury Duck. I appreciate your theories.

keith969

destype wrote: »

The only other thing I could think of was that the meter is connected to someone else’s supply.

Stranger things have happened. I'd be asking Thames Water to test the meter to make sure it was reading correctly - at the same time they can check that usage in your house (as opposed to someone else's) registers on the meter.

destype

Some great suggestions. Thank you. I’ll be doing them all.

Fire_Fox

Welcome to MSE.

Different showers can use vastly different amounts of water in the same amount of time. Might be worth a few days of only turning the shower on to wet down and to rinse off, but switching the shower off whilst you are actually soaping up. Read your meter before and after the few days.

Probably is not the shower, but at least it is one more variable eliminated.

valmiki

I had a slow leak a few years back, turned out to be one of the toilets.

Take the lid off the cistern and see where the water level is, it should be below the overflow.

Also, if you are going out for the day (hence definitely not using any water), take a meter reading, then compare when you get back. It shouldn’t have changed. A quick way to check you’re not going bonkers!

Alfrescodave

I would be doing daily checks myself. I know that's a pain but it would show whether it was a constant daily usage (leak ?) or if there were peaks on certain days which you might be able to relate to certain activities.