Thames water Meter gone AWOL

middlewife

Like many others, my bill has been hiked massively
So I tried to follow the advice to detect a leak, but fell at the first hurdle.
The meter immediately outside my property which I last read a few years ago is empty; there's just some wiring and a screw but no meter.
The pavements were resurfaced last year and the meter to the left of my property but immediately in front of my neighbour has been partially covered with asphalt and I wouldn't be able to lift the cover without damaging the pavement. I've checked with her and TW claim to have read her meter on 2nd January, mine was supposedly read on 6th January. I have a call reference and have asked for an engineer visit when I'm present to locate my meter. 

I don't, therefore, believe that any meter has been read. The bill is also nonsensical as for overlapping periods on one bill my usage has gone up by around 87%, on the other it has reduced by 82% - i.e. - my usage is unchanged. We are a 3 adult household, but our habits haven't changed in the last 3 years, previous bill was £46 a month, they now want to charge us £107 - anyone had similar experiences? I will post actual figures a bit later on, thanks.

middlewife

I may be bad at maths, but overall, our usage doesn't appear to have increased massively, however, there isn't a figure for July 25 to Jan 26, so I'm assuming the figure must be colossal for them to have hiked the bill, as I can't locate the meter, something is not right somewhere. My neighbour's house was split from 2 properties to 3 about 5 years ago, so not sure whether I am now being charged for her water as well as mine as my meter is missing....

Boohoo

middlewife said:

Like many others, my bill has been hiked massively
So I tried to follow the advice to detect a leak, but fell at the first hurdle.
The meter immediately outside my property which I last read a few years ago is empty; there's just some wiring and a screw but no meter.
The pavements were resurfaced last year and the meter to the left of my property but immediately in front of my neighbour has been partially covered with asphalt and I wouldn't be able to lift the cover without damaging the pavement. I've checked with her and TW claim to have read her meter on 2nd January, mine was supposedly read on 6th January. I have a call reference and have asked for an engineer visit when I'm present to locate my meter. 

I don't, therefore, believe that any meter has been read. The bill is also nonsensical as for overlapping periods on one bill my usage has gone up by around 87%, on the other it has reduced by 82% - i.e. - my usage is unchanged. We are a 3 adult household, but our habits haven't changed in the last 3 years, previous bill was £46 a month, they now want to charge us £107 - anyone had similar experiences? I will post actual figures a bit later on, thanks.

How is your meter usage been recorded on your bills?

Are the estimated or actual readings?

Are you sure there is no meter under the water?

If not try and remove the water to be 100% sure.

To add do you know whereabouts your exterior stop tap is as there should of been one where the meter is/was. 

QrizB

Boohoo said:

Are you sure there is no meter under the water?
If not try and remove the water to be 100% sure.

I always need to sponge out my meter hole before I can read my meter. I suspect your meter is still down there somewhere.

middlewife

Thanks, I'll have a look later, if daylight lasts and rain stays away......

MattMattMattUK

Do your bills show as actual or estimated meter readings?

Boohoo

MattMattMattUK said:

Do your bills show as actual or estimated meter readings?

I asked about that yesterday but no reply about it from the OP.

Maybe still bailing water out from the meter hole.

middlewife

I've bailed out half a gallon of water and found the meter, but I am struggling to read it, it's a long way down , any tips?

MyRealNameToo

Need to get more water out. 

The water company read it remotely by driving over it (hence the arial like bit sticking out) so the water can gather for some time. 

MattMattMattUK

middlewife said:

I've bailed out half a gallon of water and found the meter, but I am struggling to read it, it's a long way down , any tips?

Remove the second picture with the meter number on it. From the second picture it looks like it is one of the meters that can be read by the drive by vans, so likely reads are accurate, however it would be useful to know if the previous reads were estimates or actuals and the most recent was a catch up read. 

For that you need to get a bit more water off of the top of the meter then you should be able to read it with a torch and the zoom on your phone, the other you can push a tea towel on top if that is just the last of the water sat on the top making it unclear. 

middlewife

The bills are metered, not estimated and the correct number. I have been reliably informed by the man who lives up the road and "knows everything (!)" that they don't take a visual reading any more but use a device to read the meter remotely. You'd need the vision of a 6 year old to read this meter!!! I will get OH to bring up the account later and check the figures as our usage hasn't increased dramatically. Daylight is fading now, but I will try turning the water off under the sink and seeing if the numbers change (if I can read them) and then turning it back on and seeing if they change to detect a leak, thanks.