Various issues with water company

Colosolo

Hi,

We recently purchased a property and discovered there are two water meters as back in 1985 it was turned into two flats and then back into a single dwelling in 1990.

The first issue is that I am paying £100 a month for water.  They can not tell me why the direct debit has worked out to be this high, I have yet to pay get a bill as we only moved in this past July.
Should they not know what the direct debit is being set at that amount? It's just a four bed house, not a mansion.

The second issue, more complex. I requested we only have one meter, so they came down and agreed but spotted a leak on one of the meters.  There is nothing in the house leaking but it continually spins.  When they came down to do the work, the guys turned off the water and it still continued to spin. They said there is a fault with the meter but they reinstated the same meter for both mains.  It is still spins, but slower and stops, then spins again.  The water company suggest the leak is between my boundary and inside the house up to the cocktop, and that I need to sort it.

They seem to be ignoring the fact their engineer felt there was a faulty meter. They made it really clear that once the water is turned off the meter should stop spinning, which it didn't. 

Of course if there is a small leak we will need to get it sorted but I don't want to dig up my drive and house and then go back to the fact their meter is faulty, as they have already highlighted there is an issue.

Any advice would be welcome.

MattMattMattUK

Colosolo said:

Hi,

We recently purchased a property and discovered there are two water meters as back in 1985 it was turned into two flats and then back into a single dwelling in 1990.

The first issue is that I am paying £100 a month for water.  They can not tell me why the direct debit has worked out to be this high, I have yet to pay get a bill as we only moved in this past July.

Submit readings for the meters, they they will generate a bill, in general, if you submit a reading every month they will generate a bill every month.

Colosolo said:

Should they not know what the direct debit is being set at that amount? It's just a four bed house, not a mansion.

They will know the Direct Debit is being set at, that is likely just the initial amount until they get a handle on your usage, it could be based on previous occupants usage. A four bed house with two adults, three children, a dog, garden watering, car washing etc. could get to that amount, especially if you are paying two lots of standing/fixed charges as well. 

Colosolo said:

The second issue, more complex. I requested we only have one meter, so they came down and agreed but spotted a leak on one of the meters. 

The leak could be why your bills are high...

Colosolo said:

There is nothing in the house leaking but it continually spins.  When they came down to do the work, the guys turned off the water and it still continued to spin. They said there is a fault with the meter but they reinstated the same meter for both mains.  It is still spins, but slower and stops, then spins again.  The water company suggest the leak is between my boundary and inside the house up to the cocktop, and that I need to sort it.

The general rule is that if the leak is on their side of the meter then that is their responsibility and if the leak is on your side then you are responsible. A leak on their side it would not show on the meter. Where is the meter?

Colosolo said:

They seem to be ignoring the fact their engineer felt there was a faulty meter. They made it really clear that once the water is turned off the meter should stop spinning, which it didn't. 

It should yes, because the water flow should stop from their side, but the way meters are built they also cannot spin without water flow (accuracy can drift, but they cannot spin without flow), which likely means the cutoff on their side is not working properly as well as a leak on your side. 

Colosolo said:

Of course if there is a small leak we will need to get it sorted but I don't want to dig up my drive and house and then go back to the fact their meter is faulty, as they have already highlighted there is an issue.

Any advice would be welcome.

I suspect that the problem is a leak and potentially a valve on their side that is not closing, the meter could actually be ok. It is a hard time of year to detect leaks with all the rain meaning the ground is very wet. Is the drive solid, gravel? You can sometimes hear a leak, if you have a metal pole push it against the metal pipe and then press that against the bone of you skull just in front of your year, you can sometimes hear the water flowing, though only if all the pipes are metal rather than plastic. How much does the meter spin whilst everything is turned off, that might give you an idea of the kind of flow you are looking for, a few litres an hour is difficult to find, a few hundred is much easier, a thousand will be obvious. 

caprikid1

Why not get a plumber in and get them to put a freeze kit on the pipe just down from the meter ? Freeze the pipe and if the meter stops spinning its a faulty meter as no possibility for their to be a leak so close to the meter ?.
 

Green_hopeful

Not sure where you are but you can find advice on checking for a leak on your supply on water company websites. Here is a link to Anglian Water’s page. https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/help-and-advice/plumbing/checking-for-leaks/ If you can work it out you will be better able to talk to the water company. Once you think you understand what is going on ring the company again. You might get a more sensible call agent or technician. Also the people who came to swap your meter might not be regular technicians so you might get more help from others. 

If there is a leak they might also give you a rebate for the water that has been lost. It’s often called a leakage allowance. They will be able to estimate your usage and rebate the excess. 

Is your meter a smart meter? It might be worth having a look at your usage online if it is because we could see there was unusual usage with our meter running in the night when we were asleep. 

You may also be able to work out your usage and calculate your bill yourself. Water has a price per cubic meter (1000 litres) and sewage is normally estimated at 90% to allow for your usage of the water. There will also be a daily standing charge. 

Water companies have to publish their charges annually so you should be able to find them on their website. 

 it’s a relatively easy calculation if you have your usage (subject to your potential leak).

I wonder if the £100 per month was for two meters as two sets of standing charges would be expensive. 

If you have no luck, complain because it’s no good carrying on hoping they will resolve it without you pushing.

you don’t mention what your usage is like so it’s not possible to say how much you should be paying but £100 per month is very high.