United Utilities

rachel6188

Hi everyone,

   We have had extremely high bills we are a family of 4 last year we were being billed for 880litres of a water a day now it's at 930 litres. I have tried to get my oh to take a meter reading a few times but there is so much water around the meter and I asked for it to be looked at but they are billing and I have been told that they are pretty certain there is a leak but its waiting for the lockdown to end but even the lady did say the meter is on the end of my driveway. I'm paying nearly 100 per month and my bill hasn't gone down much. Iv been in the property for 3 years and I have spoken to them multiple times.

Can  anyone recommend anything I can do?

Thanks Rachel.

Robin9

Ladle or pump out the water so you can read the meter. Does that reading agree with that on the bill.

Turn off the stopcock in the house - see if the meter moves. If it does you've got a leak along the drive.

Turn it back on with all the taps off - does the meter move . If it does you've a leak in the house - perhaps a continually running toilet cistern.

matelodave

The only way you'll find out what is going on is to take Robin's advice.

Bale out the water from the meter and read it yourself.- check that it's in line with your bills and they haven't been using estimates (they can be just as lazy by not baling out the meter when they come to read it).
Turn off the stopcock inside the house and see if the small dial rotates (they are quite sensitive and will detect quite a small leak). If it stops, then it tends to indicate that you dont have a leak between you and the meter. If it doesn't stop, then turn off the stop valve by the meter and see if it then stops - if it does then you've probably got a leak between the meter and your indoor stopcock.

Assuming that everything is OK (ie no leaks) turn both stopcocks on and see if the meter moves (make sure no one flushes the loo, opens a tap or anything else) if it still doesn't move or record consumption then you need to start looking at what is using all the water indoors. If it does move and you nkow that all the taps are turned off and the toilet tanks aren't refilling, then you need to check all your overflows (tanks in the loft, toilet cisterns etc to see if any are still running)

Don't wash or rinse stuff under running water, likewise turn the tap off when cleaning your teeth. Only use the washing machine and dishwasher with full loads. How many baths and showers a day do you all have - showers can use a lot more water than baths if you dont use them sensibly - a power or deluge type shower can dump 10-15 litres of water a minute, just 10 minutes can use 150litres.

Fit a flow restrictors to the taps & shower and only spend 5 minutes at time in the shower (reducing it to 6lpm and 5minutes = 30litres) Don't forget that running of several litre of cold to get the hot water through to the hot tap, not only wastes the water you've run off but also left the same quantity of valuable hot water sitting in the pipes to get cold - so if you need to rinse stuff, including your hands - use the cold tap and not the hot.

Finally read your meter yourself a bit more often and you'll be able to control your consumption - it's too late when the bill comes in.

rachel6188

I will do that but tbh I'm disabled with 2 young children one of whom is severely autistic so it's not as easy and I have spent the last year dealing with and recovering from a brain abscess.. I turned off the stopcock and my oh went out a few times and tried to take a reading but he said as soon as he was clearing it it was filling back up. The water company told me that the usage was fine for the first 6months then it went up hugely and has been l have raised it a few times. Thanks for your advice.