Why would I have a sudden, drastic reduction in water consumption?

Huxley71

I've always felt my water bill is high for a two person household, but previous meter readings over the last few years have always suggested high usage.

I'm having a bit of financial overhaul and thought I'd take a look at my SWW account, and was surprised to see my account is currently in credit. What I'm struggling to understand, is that between July and September last year my (supposed) consumption fell from an average of 0.65 cubic metres per day to around 0.22, which it has been consistently since.

There is absolutely no reason I can think of for this, no differences in our usage, appliances, no leak repairs... Can anyone shed any light on what might be going on?! I've been in touch with SWW and so far they're baffled as well, so are sending a technician next week, but forewarned is forearmed, so to speak!

Thanks for any insights anyone can offer

QrizB

For a two person household, 0.65 seems huge and 0.22 more reasonable.

Have you had any plumbing work done recently? Replaced any taps, valves or washers? Changed from a pumped shower to a gravity one?

fatbelly

Seems like something that was leaking is no longer leaking

Rodders53

Without dates and ACTUAL meter reads and dates going back no-one will have a scooby...

Long term estimated meter reads with a fairly recent actual read might explain it?

A meter change might explain as well (if it coincidentally fixed a leak on 'your' side).

Huxley71

Thanks for the replies.

Nothing's changed that I can think of.

Could a leak of some kind just randomly stop leaking?!

Spikeygran

Is it an old property. Could there be a supply to a tap thats not now part of the property?

QrizB

Huxley71 said:

Thanks for the replies.
Nothing's changed that I can think of.
Could a leak of some kind just randomly stop leaking?!

400 litres a day is a quarter of a litre (about a mugful) a minute, so more of a gentle dribble.

Yes something could stop leaking (a bit of scale or other foreign object in a valve somewhere).

MattMattMattUK

You can also get the occasional oddity when the reads fall right on the end of a range, so if the previous read was 99.99 and the next read was 101.01 that would be two cubic meters for billing purposes despite only having uses 1.02 cubic meters. The way that can line up with billing periods can mean that sometimes the customer can have what appears a very high usage one month, or the reverse can mean that the customer can also appear to have a very low usage month.

Veteransaver

I'd check to see if then meter has been changed at all, there might well have been a leak as it leaves the meter to your property. I've had that before, was a nightmare to get the water company to reverse the charges, and apparently if I get another leak on my side then I have to pay the whole lot.

Huxley71

Thanks everybody.

No end of range reads, no new meter, so I can only assume a mystery leak has, somehow, stopped leaking.

It's a bit galling that up until now, we've seemingly been overpaying for our actual consumption to the tune of about £650 a year, but I guess I'll just have to take comfort from the current credit on the account!

Rodders53

Toilet flush valve letting by, water running down the back of pan?  Might re-seal itself (although fairly unlikely)?

Are all your meter readings on bills going back 2-3 years or more ACTUAL Meter Reader (smart meter?) reads or some / many  ESTIMATED meter reads?  

Ours get read annually by Anglian Water and have recently been done and an accurate bill produced.  There are many threads where estimates are used for years and then a shock comes when a meter reader arrives.