Thames water - confusing amount of water usage at 1 o'clock in the morning!

Jlong0593

Hi All, 

I'm currently metred by Thames water and I'm actively trying to reduce my household water usage (hard with kids!)..... 

Naturally, I've began looking at the water usage charts provided by Thames water and it appears someone or something is using 150ltrs of water at 1 o'clock almost every morning?! I'm 1000% sure none of the people in my household is opting to bathe or go to the toilet often during the night, so it's left us all very baffled.

We've contacted Thames who have claimed they have changed our water Metre outside in case there was leak due to the metre - we've also asked for someone to come out which Thames have been really poor at organising. 

The only thing that is sometimes active during the night is the washer/dryer but its only ever the dryer never the washing - would that use that amount of water?

I'm concerned as the water usage will be reviewed and we could be hit with a shocker of a bill....

Any helps/past experiences would be really appreciated! thank you!   

matelodave

Do you have a water softener, they frequently run a regeneration cycle at random times, but 150litres seem like a lot a lot. We have one, which runs it's regen at around 2am which can be a bit disconcerting if I wake up and hear water running in the middle of the night, but I do know what is causing it. (ours has an electrical timer, whereas some just have a mechanical sensor driven by the volume of water thats been through the softener)

Have you tried getting up at around 1am to see what is going on (you might have to do it several times if it doesn't happen every night. How do you know that its around 1am, can you hear water flowing. If its regular then something is triggering it - either a timer somewhere or someone else has access to your water after it's passed through the meter.

In the end it's going to take a sleepless night or two whilst you act as a detective to trace the problem.

Rodders53

Toilet(s) cisterns overflowing is the most likely cause of a loss of water to that extent, but it'd be a trickle and do it day and night probably?

Washer dryer will use some water to aid condensation during drying https://www.hotpoint.co.uk/hotpoint-rdg-9643-w-uk-n-washer-dryer-white-f160804/p says 65 litres wash/dry and 60 litres wash only.  So 5 litres during the dry cycle? 
Other machines may differ but...

Is it 150 litres used or a flow rate of 150 litres (per hour? = 2.5 l/min) being read at this 01:00 time??  If flow rate it might be the washer?

Daily meter reads at the same time and compare consumption with your previous bills to see ig there is a difference.  We use around 3-4 cu m of water a month (=3-4000 litres) so 100-133 litres each day.

My water softener regenerates at 1.5 l/min for around 15 minutes using (the maker claims) 17 litres per cycle (which is roughly once a week for our usage). 

As matelodave says it's stay up or wake up and investigate what is using water at that early hour!

Jlong0593

Thank you. Apologies, i'm an absolute novice when it comes to plumber/water systems. After a quick google, i'd assume I would know if I had a water softener system in place right? - I've only just moved into my current place (maisonette). Thames water have reassured me the water system from downstairs is not connected to ours. 

To answer your question on how I know it's around 1am - You can check via the Thames water website on your account water usage per hour. 1am seems to be the time that this 150litres is used.... it's really baffling. 

On the chance I do in fact have a water softening system, does it sound like something is switching on and then would continue to rumble (lack of a better word) - this does seem to happen at night also. I would assume the water system would be near the water tank (in my loft). 

Thanks again - sorry for the million questions like a said I'm a complete novice! 

KenMavor

Find out whyere your water stopcock is and before you go to bed at night turn your water off.

Toilets will still have a full cistern so you can still got for a pee and flush if necessary.

Do this for 3, or 4, nights and then see if the water usage at 1am is still happening.

If it is then it's clearly not happening within your property.

Then hit Thames with the evidence.

My money is on another property using the water that your meter measures.

"Thames water have reassured me the water system from downstairs is not connected to ours."

How would they know and they would day that wouldn't they??

Rodders53

We'll maybe need a TW smart meter user to assist with what is shown in your account data?

From googling it seems these smart meters send data to TW once every hour at most ... so a 1 am number would likely be usage from between midnight and 01:00 ?   

You would likely hear water running to use that much (a washing machine wash cycle is likely half that) a ten minute shower might use 120-150 litres though, if 'powerful'?  Similarly a bath will use around 100 litres.  Flushing the loo may use 10 litres?

BUT look at the daily total water use numbers from TW going back over the days/weeks/months you have been there.  That's what will determine your bill and daily/weekly use overall.

Post those daily / weekly numbers if you want feedback on whether you likely have a problem or things are normal for X adults and Y children in a dwelling.

matelodave

It would have been nice if the OP had come back and told us whether he discovered the cause and if he solved it rather than leaving us on the edges of our seats wondering.

pokora

If you have the meter accesible, i would check phisically few times during the day to see your daily consumption. Could you post a snapshot of the detailed chart without your personal details?

Rodders53

matelodave said:

It would have been nice if the OP had come back

I think hens teeth are more frequently found than such events.

Jlong0593

KenMavor said:

Find out whyere your water stopcock is and before you go to bed at night turn your water off.

Toilets will still have a full cistern so you can still got for a pee and flush if necessary.

Do this for 3, or 4, nights and then see if the water usage at 1am is still happening.

If it is then it's clearly not happening within your property.

Then hit Thames with the evidence.

My money is on another property using the water that your meter measures.

"Thames water have reassured me the water system from downstairs is not connected to ours."

How would they know and they would day that wouldn't they??

Thank you! apologies for not responding sooner - i've had some personal issues that needed attention. 

This was sound advice and actually gave leverage to force TW to send an plumber out to check downstairs. 

Thanks again! Simple solution but effective!  

Jlong0593

Rodders53 said:

matelodave said:

It would have been nice if the OP had come back

I think hens teeth are more frequently found than such events.

  Did crack me up! sorry people had a few bits to deal with. A solution (hopefully) is in place, TW are coming out in the new year - turns out it was downstairs !