Shared supply after meter in block of flat 14 August 2021 at 7:40AM in Water bills 5 replies 124 views

sebtomato

Hi,

I have been living in the same flat for many years. I was always a bit surprised by the water bills, as I am fairly careful with water.

Fairly recently, Thames Water had to replace my meter and they installed a smart meter, reporting usage every day.

I went away for several days, and meter was still reporting up to 250 litres of water being used, which was of course not right and not consistent every day either (so not a leak).

I contacted Thames Water, they sent a technician (after months of escalations) and couldn't find any leaks nor an issue with the meter.

I went away for several weeks recently, and decided to cut off water outside of the flat. Water meter stayed at 0 every day, but a neighbour complained that they had no more water in their bathroom.

Basically, I have been paying for another flat bathroom water for many years, and they have a larger household. There have been three tenant families since I have moved in.

Thames Water said that, as it's after the meter, not their responsibility. I don't think we will be able to change the building internal plumbing to fix the issue, as pipes disappear into walls. Thames Water said being put on an unmetered tariff is no longer an option either.

What could be done?

wild666

Put in a claim in the county court for a refund plus compensation and insist that they rectify their mistake in connecting to the wrong pipe. Connecting to the correct pipe could be as simple as turning off the water to all the properties and reconnecting one at a time until the water flows for you. It might be time consuming but I think that is the only way you will be connected correctly.

Robin9

wild666 said:

Put in a claim in the county court for a refund plus compensation and insist that they rectify their mistake in connecting to the wrong pipe. Connecting to the correct pipe could be as simple as turning off the water to all the properties and reconnecting one at a time until the water flows for you. It might be time consuming but I think that is the only way you will be connected correctly.

Claim on who ? It's not TW's fault

QrizB

sebtomato said:

Thames Water said that, as it's after the meter, not their responsibility. I don't think we will be able to change the building internal plumbing to fix the issue, as pipes disappear into walls. Thames Water said being put on an unmetered tariff is no longer an option either.

What could be done?

TW are correct, after the meter it's not their responsibility.Do you own your flat, or do you rent? If you rent it might be something for your landlord to fix, but if you own your flat it's probably your own problem to solve.

You might want to speak to the landlord of the other flat, too, as they will need to do their own work to connect their bathroom to their own supply once you cut them off.

Robin9 said:

wild666 said:

Put in a claim in the county court for a refund plus compensation and insist that they rectify their mistake in connecting to the wrong pipe.

Claim on who ? It's not TW's fault

I guess you could try a claim against the landlord of the other property, for taking your water, but without knowing exactly how the OP got into this situation (and without having spoken to the landlord in question) I'd be reluctant to try it.

sebtomato

wild666 said:

Put in a claim in the county court for a refund plus compensation and insist that they rectify their mistake in connecting to the wrong pipe. Connecting to the correct pipe could be as simple as turning off the water to all the properties and reconnecting one at a time until the water flows for you. It might be time consuming but I think that is the only way you will be connected correctly.

Thanks. The issue is that there are 35 flats in the purpose-built block of flat, some not occupied, and some flats have a tank on roof. Even if you turn off water, it can take days for such tank to empty as those are quite large.

Cardew

Presumably the block has managing agents. It is their problem to sort out the issue.