Thames Water 'faulty' meters

katejo

I have had a meter with Thames water for many years so I know what my usual consumption is. In May 2019 they fitted a new smart meter but failed to actually use it for readings until May 2020. Then suddenly they claimed that I had a leak. No actual leak has been found but they still insist that I probably have one because my water consumption is showing as 800-1000 litres a day (2 bedroom terraced house with 2 people living there). TW claims that this is the level for a large house with 6 people living there. I have just found the following article. https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-8074279/Customers-complain-Thames-Water-charging-smart-meters-without.html
Has anyone had a similar problem which turned out to be a faulty meter?   I have lost all trust in Thames Water. If I had a leak this big, I would hear it somewhere in the house!

Cardew

Where is your meter situated? i.e. indoors or outside?

It is relatively easy to check the accuracy of a water meter by using a known quantity of water.

katejo

Cardew said:

Where is your meter situated? i.e. indoors or outside?

It is relatively easy to check the accuracy of a water meter by using a known quantity of water.

Outside. Back in September there were 2 weeks during which no one was in the house most of the time. A new bathroom was being fitted so there was no shower, bath and , for 1 day, no toilet at all. During this time, the smart meter still claims that we were consuming 600-800 Litres a day.

Cardew

Then you presumably have a leak despite you saying no leak has been found. It could be outside before the property, or inside with an overflowing cistern the most likely culprit.

It is easy to check if there is a leak.

If you are certain there is no leak, demand a new meter be fitted. You will have to pay if the smae situation occurs i.e. high consumption.

ToomanyPies

So what is the outcome of this problem? I would have taken daily meter readings to validate Thames Water's. You could have an underground leak or Thames Water have assigned the wrong meter to your property.

katejo

ToomanyPies said:

So what is the outcome of this problem? I would have taken daily meter readings to validate Thames Water's. You could have an underground leak or Thames Water have assigned the wrong meter to your property.

Still unresolved. A  2nd plumber has visited me and said that she doesn't think I have a leak. If one did exist, it could only be near the front door or just outside but no damage is showing to support the TW claim that I  have a leak of 22 L per hour! They are coming back to take up my hall floor as a check but doesn't expect to find anything. She thinks that there is a fault with the meter but TW won't come and investigate for at least another 2 weeks. I have been taking meter readings.

virtualfern

I have discovered I am using twice the norm for a household my size.  Thames say I must have a leak because when stop !!!!!! is off the meter stops running.  We have also no evidence of a leak - our plumber said we should be seeing overflow being called into action and this is not the case.  I wonder if the meter is defective.  I read Thames sometimes will solve customer side leaks for free but not sure how you become one of the lucky ones!

virtualfern

Ahhh message has been autocorrected for assumed use of a bad work.  Instead of the !!! it should say stopc0ck.  when that is turned to stop water flow the meter stops

Hasbeen

virtualfern said:

Ahhh message has been autocorrected for assumed use of a bad work.  Instead of the !!! it should say stopc0ck.  when that is turned to stop water flow the meter stops

If the stopcock is off and no movement then presumably the meter is working. But you can demand a new meter to ensure if all else fails?
No cisterns running? No water movement dribbles etc in toilets. No overflows running from attic? Garden taps/hoses
Run x amount litres of water into marked containers and check against meter readings in litres?

virtualfern

Yes we checked the cisterns, toilets, water mark in water tank in the loft shows not getting to overflow and checked also outside for evidence of overflow.  I like the idea of the running x amount of water to measure and see if meter accurate and will try that shortly !