Water bill has increased after moving house

Heather2012 · 14 January 2020 at 9:26PM

Hi All,

I'm hoping someone can help me!

I moved house in June 2019. In my previous house my water bills were £24 a month. In my new house my bills are £44 a month. I am on a water meter and with United utilities.

My water usage varies from 250-350L a day. I have fixed a dripping tap and an over filling toilet but the usage today has come back at 350L per day.

I have read the meter, left it for the weekend while I was away and read it again when I returned- the reading was exactly the same. Therefore, there are no leaks and no water is being used while I'm not there.

I have tested the meter by measuring 10L in a jug - the meter showed an accurate usage of 10L.

The only differences in my habits from the old house to this house are;
- in this house I have a dishwasher which I use three times a week. The other house had no dishwasher. But a dishwasher uses less water than hand washing so this should only have a positive effect on my bills.
- my new house has a shower. My old house didn't, so I've gone from 5-7 baths a week, to 2 baths and 1 shower per week ( I shower at the gym 5 days a week)

There is only me living in the house.

Is there anything obvious that I'm missing, or anything else that I can check for leaks or faults?

Thanks!
Heather

Talldave · 15 January 2020 at 5:22AM

Toilet flushing could be a significant use? Have you got a short/long flush facility at the new house, or now not got one where you did have one at the previous house? Does the cistern shut off cleanly or is it quietly trickling excess water away for a time after flushing before shutting off?

We're a family of 2 adults and 1 child and usage was around 270L/day before we moved to an unmetered property last summer.

suki1964 · 15 January 2020 at 9:22AM

Are you using the dishwasher daily or only when filled to the neck? I got rid of our full sized dishwasher as there are just 3 of us and a newer more efficient slimline one was called for, it goes on every 2 / 3 days

13 ltrs every day for example adds up pretty quickly, a washing up bowl uses 9 litres , only you know how many dishes you use in a day

Heather2012 · 15 January 2020 at 11:29AM

Thanks both for your replies.

There are two toilets, the one downstairs is perfect and shuts off immediately, the one upstairs overflows and trickles into the bowl. However, I turned off the water to this toilet 2 weeks ago and am not using it until it can be fixed (hopefully this weekend!) Since then my water usage has increased which I don't understand!

Both toilets have short and long flush options and I only use the short flush. My old house was a standard lever, one flush option toilet.

I use the dishwasher three times a week, once to clean all my hob rings, supports, dish rack and other bits from the kitchen, and twice at the weekend where I will let the dishes from the day build up and run it of an evening. The rest of the week I wash by hand, but in the old house I washed by hand every day. Dishwashers should use less water than hand washing (unless I have a very inefficient dishwasher!).

I did do an experiment where I didn't use the dishwasher for a month, the water usage dropped slightly but not much, maybe I should run this experiment again now that all my leaks have been fixed!

Water bill has increased after moving house

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