Water bill - HOW MUCH??? - is this normal?

FIREDreamer

Our water bills have almost doubled in 2 years from £600 to nearly £1,100 a year.

Metered house, 2 adults and 3 teenagers. Meter reading read by water company remotely.

Is it just the cost that has soared or has our usage become excessive - 5 month gap in the readings here. We seem to be average according to tne volume on the bill. So I don’t think we have a leak.

Monthly DD amounts …

Jun 2022: £56.30
Aug 2022: £43.64

Sep 2022: £48.62
Aug 2023: £58.45
Sep 2023: £63.41
Mar 2024: £72.82
May 2024: £77.65
Aug 2024: £81.70
Sep 2024: £81.62
Feb 2025: £79.74
Mar 2025: £84.59
Aug 2025: £82.90 on bill
Sep 2025: £82.87 thereafter

The drop in usage from H2 2023 (not deliberate, we use what we use) hasn’t reduced the bills.

Thanks

Hoenir

Average simply means many people are receiving similar sized bills. You've got a meter. Use less save £'s. 

njkmr

I would definitely check nothing is leaking. Taps dripping, toilet dripping etc.
Then I would ensure nothing is using water in the house and observe your meter dials. 
Make sure there is no movement. Any movement of dials would indicate a leak somewhere that you are not aware of.
If so you need to investigate further as to where the water is leaking.

fordyms

Ours (Yorkshire Water) has gone up 29%. Always paid monthly, always use about 10000-12000 litres per quarter, we have a meter. There are just the 2 of us. For some reason they estimate going forward we will use 20000 litres per quarter and promptly doubled the Direct Debit.  Told them to get stuffed, cancelled the Direct Debit and changed to quarterly bills on actual readings. 

UnsureAboutthis

The "average" can be very misleading and used to make a company, any company you are dealing with look good.
As others have stated, the "average is just that, average. You get it a lot about wages the "average wage being is it 38k? I know many people who earn half of that working 40 hours a week. The same is applied to gas and electric. So an "average is often  a big BS figure but a poor guide

Our water bill, like you we have slightly reduced our water usage, possibly due to new toilets use lower flush water and us being away more on hols.

There are two of us in our home - we take regualr bath/s showers, me daily even in the winter and my OH about 5 times in winter and at least once a day in the summer and three washing machine laods. We don't wash the cars at home or water the gardens - we are now paying about 430 fro every 6 months.

No wonder the water companies force people onto water meters in certain parts of the UK. We had no choice, as when we moved the house was metered. Some of my family rent out homes and flats and one of their flats has recently been metered, a block of 8 flats. It must have cost the water company thoudands to meter from the outside all 8 flats but the money then rolls in

When I was younger years ago my parents had a house , old Victorian house that had a water tank on the roof that filled with rain ie no cover on the tank - I think people will start collecting rain water soon, the way prices are shooting up.

housebuyer143

My water bill increased 32% this April... With additional 12% estimated over the next 3 years. It's absolutely insane they can put it up so much tbh. 

QrizB

FIREDreamer said:

Our water bills have almost doubled in 2 years from £600 to nearly £1,100 a year.
Metered house, 2 adults and 3 teenagers. Meter reading read by water company remotely.
We seem to be average according to tne volume on the bill. So I don’t think we have a leak.

If you look at all 5-person households, some of them will have got tubs / swimming pools / garden sprinklers / etc. So the average (mean) will include their use. The median (50th percentile household) will use less than that.

We're a 3/4 person household (eldest at uni) and we're using about 250 litres a day. That's more like the two-person average from your bill.

If you want to investigate, and assuming your meter is in the street:

1. Turn the water off using the stopcock at the water meter. Leave it for an hour or more. The meter shouldn't move during this time; if it does, the meter is leaking and your supplier needs to fix it.

2. Turn the meter stopcock back on, then once everyone has stopped moaning about the lack of water shut the stopcock where the main enters your house. Leave it for an hour or more. The meter shouldn't move during this time; if it does, the pipe between the meter and your house is leaking. This is probably your responsibility.

3. If both of those show no-leak, any leaks must be inside your property. It's a matter of going around and checking everything.

badmemory

The water companies were told they could put up the prices by a certain amount over the next 5 years.  So they did all in the first year.  I am sure that the dividends will be good & that they will find another way of increasing the prices for the next 4 years.  ofwat not worth the papaer they are written on.

booneruk

I can't read anything about the extra money generated going into dividends here: https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/average-bills-2025-26-press-statement/

singhini

Since January this year i started submitting my water meter reading on a monthly basis (i do this with gas/electricity so just decided to do the same for water even though it is metered).

Monthly my water usage is roughly 1m squared resulting in a regular £18.50 monthly bill (DD is £20).

Seems a bargain to me (i don't have to stick a pot on my head and walk to the water-well in the middle of the village). i can drink straight from the tap if i want to (marvellous).
My annual water bill + Gas bill + Electricity bill + Broadband bill + Mobile Phone bill + TV Licence = £2,300
My annual Council Tax bill = £2,422 (and thats after a 25% discount!). They still want a further £60 for the garden waste (no chance!!).

And the council won't send out a street sweeper to pick up all "their" leaf's that cause a mess, or install a 20mph limit infront of the nearby school (the children are only 3 years old), or fix the potholes or do anything about the litter up and down the footpath or prevent the idiots from dumping supermarket trollies into the nearby lakes!

prettyandfluffy

So how many times a day do you all shower/bath? Do you wait until there's a full load before you run the washing machine? Do you wash up by hand or use a dishwasher? All of these things make a difference,