High water bill - ISSUE SOLVED (see page 5)

redrabbit · 21 Feb 2014

UPDATE

7am: I turned the brass stop cock off in my house. I left the internal water tank ones (the red ones) switched on. METER READING: 223.514

5:30pm: home. METER READING: 223.537

...

Would this indicate the problem is outside my house? Or is there a chance I'm still leaking and causing the meter to run up?

I ask as I'm about to call the water company y

Dan Robinson · 21 Feb 2014

Leak between that brass stop cock and your meter.

gigz · 21 Feb 2014

I've just (very roughly) worked out that based on your reading today:- you lost 0.023 M/3 over half a day, double it and times it by 30, this gives you 1.38 M/3 over a month, at £2.50 a cubic meter it works out at £3.45 extra over the month. You say you live in a flat, is it possible your neighbours have been out today ? Turn your stop tap off when they are in, get them to run a tap and check the meter then. I just re-read your earlier post, is this only your second bill ? Could it not be the first one was an estimate and your playing catch up now ?

redrabbit · 21 Feb 2014

gigz said:
I've just (very roughly) worked out that based on your reading today:- you lost 0.023 M/3 over half a day, double it and times it by 30, this gives you 1.38 M/3 over a month, at £2.50 a cubic meter it works out at £3.45 extra over the month.

gigz said:
You say you live in a flat, is it possible your neighbours have been out today ? Turn your stop tap off when they are in, get them to run a tap and check the meter then.

Good idea, I've turned it off for now but just noticed neighbours not in. Will leave it off just for an hour or so and see if they return or knock.

gigz said:
I just re-read your earlier post, is this only your second bill ? Could it not be the first one was an estimate and your playing catch up now ?

I've dug out some old bills.

The first one I get got was not metered and was £433.69 for the year.

Eventually after two similar bills I got the meter installed.

6th March: Meter installed.
24th July: First metered bill which said: Used 45m3 of water over that period, total for the bill £100.36.
20th Jan: this big bill comes through for £342.87

so it doesn't seem like I'm playing catchup, seems like the bill just rocketted due to some water getting lost somewhere.

....
...
..
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I'm starting to get more and more p*ssed off with this now. The water company have fobbed me off, albeit on the phone they're nice but the person who came out blamed the loft tank.

He said - the meter is still moving with the stop cock off - meaning that it's MY issue and a leak on the property itself. 5 minutes later he went off.

I got a plumber out who fixed toilet ballcock and said it was fine.

I'm tempted to just stop trying - photocopy the bills I have, write a letter of complaint and see what they say.

redrabbit · 21 Feb 2014

Also just read this on a website:

If you turn stop cock off, and the meter is still running then:

1) you have a leak between the meter and the house
... or ...
2) "That is, unless you have a leaking valve, and this very common with these older bronze gate valves. Then, your leak may also be inside the house."

Whitespirit66 · 21 Feb 2014

Turn off the inside brass stop tap. Then open kitchen tap. If nothing coming out of tap - stoptap holding.

redrabbit · 21 Feb 2014

Whitespirit66 said:
Turn off the inside brass stop tap. Then open kitchen tap. If nothing coming out of tap - stoptap holding.

Oh, that's easy enough - yea it's holding fine then!

chantelle · 23 Feb 2014

For my Muggles,xx

muggles · 23 Feb 2014

chantelle said:
Dan_Robinson said:

Leak between that brass stop cock and your meter.

Click to expand...

Normally about 3 inches apart mate,be blindingly obvious and wouldn`t show on his water meter because a water meter only registers water that has passed through it not before it or in the house. So much for all the`heating/gas engineers`no idea about plumbing,makes me laugh. Can only fault find on a boiler.

Oh dear haven't they banned you yet? Not that there's a rule against blind stupidity or having a chip on your shoulder I suppose...

Dan meant there is a leak between the brass stopcock in the flat and the meter outside. A new meter, as this is, would have a nylon quarter turn valve not a brass stopcock, so it's quite obvious what he's talking about.

OP - if the leak is on your side of the meter then it is your problem, your water supplier is only responsible up to the property boundary. The exception to this, of course, would be if the new connection has failed or if it's on a shared incoming supply, IE the meter wasn't installed correctly.

chantelle · 23 Feb 2014

Oh dear haven't they banned you yet?

Banned me? why? for completely wiping the floor with your ridiculous inexperienced wafflings?

Not that there's a rule against blind stupidity or having a chip on your shoulder I suppose...

Blind stupidity is your department sweetheart

Dan meant there is a leak between the brass stopcock in the flat and the meter outside.

I stand corrected,so the O.P has said his water meter is outside has he? I assumed it was inside,can you point me to the part where he said it was external?

OP - if the leak is on your side of the meter then it is your problem, your water supplier is only responsible up to the property boundary. The exception to this, of course, would be if the new connection has failed or if it's on a shared incoming supply, IE the meter wasn't installed correctly

Been said,as usual jumping in on a problem that`s already been explained.

Burleigh · 23 Feb 2014

RedRabbit,

I haven't read the whole thread (seems there's a few ego battles being fought here !), but.....

In a previous property we had a cistern which wasn't closing off properly. It was in part of the house we didn't much use, so it may have been like it for up to 3 months. The water usage that quarter went up 80 M3 based on usage over the previous 5 years.

The water company accepted there was a problem (ie not genuine use), but also that it was our problem. The water company policy was to make an allowance for this, we were given a reduction on the bill (not a full refund though !) on the basis we declared we had identified the problem and rectified it. Their policy also states you can only make this claim once during your occupancy.

Hope this is helpful.

redrabbit · 23 Feb 2014

Thanks Burleigh, that is helpful. Water company said, fix the issue, then give us a meter reading - then a week later, give another, and they will charge for the rate we used during that period which is quite fair

redrabbit · 23 Feb 2014

My property isn't a flat as such, it's a Maisonette over two floors. The stop cock is in my spare toilet, and at the street level, outside is the meter.

Checking online, it said to search for signs of wetness, grass that appears much greener in patches, or soggy patches where a leak could be.

There is none of that.

If it's my responsibility (which I believe it is), do I have to arrange for someone to dig up the ground to find the leak? Or do I go through water company again for them to help find the leak?

I'm concerned that they came out and told me the issue was in the loft, yet they knew the water meter was running with the stop cock off.

Agile · 23 Feb 2014

redrabbit said:
I'm concerned that they came out and told me the issue was in the loft, yet they knew the water meter was running with the stop cock off.

Based on your reading test earlier, the leak ( if there is one ) resulted in a minimal increase in the meter reading and as has been calculated this would only result in an extra cost of less than £5 a month.

Tony

redrabbit · 23 Feb 2014

That's good.

What I will do then, is tomorrow I'm working all day again, so will turn off stop cock again and will monitor the change over 10-12 hour period. I will also do it overnight.

If it's still the same amount, I will have to leave it.

I can't afford to call a plumber out for £50 an hour or whatever. It's not right, but I can't do anything more about it. The water company haven't helped much whether it's on my side or not, I would still expect them to help identify the leakage area, and they haven't.

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High water bill - ISSUE SOLVED (see page 5)

chantelle

chantelle

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