We have very high water meter readings any ideas please?

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Gary111

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Hi, we have been getting very high water meter readings, I did the test where you shut off your stop tap in the house and the reading stayed the same, but moved when it was switched back on but no water was being used in the house.

im not sure if it’s related but we aren’t getting very hot water just warm. It’s an old vented system with loft tanks. There doesn’t seem to be any dripping from the overflow.

I’ve checked the toilets , washing machine etc but can’t find any leaks.

Any ideas please?
 
Gary111 said:
I did the test where you shut off your stop tap in the house and the reading stayed the same, but moved when it was switched back on but no water was being used in the house.
Click to expand...

Did you also try - noting the reading, and making sure all taps were off/remained off, then rechecking the reading after a few hours?
 
If the meter is moving continually with the stop tap in the house open but stops when the stop tap in the house is closed this suggests a leak at some point after the stop tap. My father recently had a very small pinhole leak in the pipe between the stop tap at the meter in the road and the stop tap where the pipe entered the house, this was enough to almost double his water consumption.

It is a lot easier to identify the problem if your meter has the little 'spinner' indicator as this will rotate with even the smallest of water consumption.
 
Did you check the toilet pans for running water or the cisterns?
 
Have you watched this guy looking for leaks.
Might help you..
 
Gary111 said:
but moved when it was switched back on but no water was being used in the house.
Click to expand...

If any water at all, has been used between switching the water off, and back on, it will move as it makes it up.

Gary111 said:
im not sure if it’s related but we aren’t getting very hot water just warm. It’s an old vented system with loft tanks.
Click to expand...

That might, or might not indicate a leakage from the hot water somewhere. If you look in the loft, and see if there is a constant flow of water going into the large loft tank, it suggests you are leaking hot water somewhere.

Otherwise, what ever heats the cylinder, is not bringing it up to temperature, and you have a second issue to deal with.
 
Gary111 said:
Hi, we have been getting very high water meter readings, I did the test where you shut off your stop tap in the house and the reading stayed the same, but moved when it was switched back on but no water was being used in the house.
Click to expand...

Therefore, you have a water leak upstream of the stopcock, inside the house, or possibly a garden tap.


Gary111 said:
we aren’t getting very hot water just warm. It’s an old vented system with loft tanks.
Click to expand...


Tie up the float valve in the feed and expansion tank and the cold water cistern. You may find the water level in one or both of them drops even when you are not conscious of using water.

Do you have water pipes under the ground floor, for example for radiators or taps? You will not see a leak. But if you lift some floorboards you may smell damp.

Lift your manhole covers and see if there is a constant dribble of clean water.

Lift your WC cistern lids and see if any are constantly filling.
 
Hi, thanks for all your advice, I turned the water off last night and went into the loft.
One of the overflows on the tanks was under water so I guess I need to try to unblock it.
The only one that looked anything but full was the small one at the end, I’m not sure of the purpose of that.
I’m going to go back in a couple of hours and check the level again.
 

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