High water bill - ISSUE SOLVED (see page 5)

[Agile]

At last the cause has been found.

However, there are some odd aspects.

How long have you lived there?

Has it always been metered?

Have the flats both been occupied all the time?

Your initial posting implied your metered bill had been reasonable until recently when it tripled suddenly! Why could that have happened?

You should be able to get the water Co to readjust your bills going back to whenever and I would suggest that should be a THIRD to each flat!

In my view you have a valid complaint against the Water Co because they came out and failed to identify the meter supplied three properties! If any compensation for this is due is another matter. I would have thought another £300 off your adjusted bill would be about right for all the bother you ( and us! ) have been through!

Tell us please!

Tony

 

[redrabbit]

How long have you lived there?
Has it always been metered?

Been here for 2 years. It was never metered until 6th March 2013 when it was installed after I thought the bill was a bit high (ironic!) and was told a water meter would be cheaper.

Have the flats both been occupied all the time?

Yes, I believe they have.

Your initial posting implied your metered bill had been reasonable until recently when it tripled suddenly! Why could that have happened?

Well...

There has been 2 bills for the meter.

BILL 1

6th March 2013 - 6th July 2013 showing 45m3 usage. The bill for this was £120, although account in credit so reduced by £20.

Untitled

• redrabbit
• 26 Feb 2014
• 1

BILL 2 - the recent HIGH one that caused this thread!

3rd July 2013 - 17th Jan 2014. However, also paying some £30 standing charge until March this year. Total bill was £342.87.

Untitled

• redrabbit
• 26 Feb 2014
• 1

You should be able to get the water Co to readjust your bills going back to whenever and I would suggest that should be a THIRD to each flat!

In my view you have a valid complaint against the Water Co because they came out and failed to identify the meter supplied three properties! If any compensation for this is due is another matter. I would have thought another £300 off your adjusted bill would be about right for all the bother you ( and us! ) have been through!

Tell us please!

Tony

The next house along also have a water meter, 2 people living there and are being charged over £50 a month. I told them I thought that was a high too and my theory (which has now kind of been proved).

I plan to get the water people out to confirm my thoughts as I know they'll need to remove and just check what I'm saying.

Then I will send a complaint letter, to the water company + maybe to OfWat depending on outcome.

I will ask for full adjustment of both my previous bills. Also will ask for compensation. I've paid for stop cock valve tool (£25), ball cocks, other plumbing tools.

The main thing I want compensated for - if I'm right - is my time and stress. It sounds silly, but I've lost sleep over it. Not simple because of the high bill, but because I've been thinking about water leaking through the night.

One night I stood outside in the street at 2am listening for water and racking my brains about where the water was going!

 

[Terry7556]

Cheers for the update and good luck with the claim
Perhaps you could also keep us posted about that too

 

[D_Hailsham]

You have to look at the consumption only and ignore all the other costs.

From Bill 1
Usage = 45m³
Days = 119
Daily usage = 0.38m³ or 380 litres

Assuming two people, this equals 190 litres/person, which is a bit on the high side. Long showers??

From Bill 2
Usage = 165m³
Days = 198
Daily usage = 0.828m³ or 828 litres or 417 litres/person, which is ridiculous.

But this does not explain why the second bill is so much higher. If the meter was serving both properties, surely the consumption would be high all the time. Or was the downstairs flat empty for the period covered by bill 1?

I'm wondering if the meter has been installed in the common pipe serving both properties, i.e before it branches off to each property.

Ask the residents in the flat if you can check your meter while they have a tap running.

Take a meter reading today and work out the daily consumption since 17 Jan.

 

[redrabbit]

The last reading I did was 24th Feb which was: 224.972

Sorry, but I'm not sure how to really convert that into anything useful though.

In terms of the higher usage... At the time of the first meter I lived with a female housemate who would often go away for a week or days at a time, so it may be that it was lower simply as I lived alone for a lot of the time.

 

[redrabbit]

Rang water company, they are sending an engineer out next Thursday.

They tried giving me an appointment in 3 weeks time, but I complained about that as I've been waiting weeks as it is and just want it sorted.

 

[Bunnyman]

Well done you look like you solved it, most people just clear off when they get a solution, u havent which will help others. Keep the thread goin with how the water board deal with u re bills an compensation, im sure there are others who will benefit in a future search of this forum

 

[redrabbit]

Well done you look like you solved it, most people just clear off when they get a solution, u havent which will help others. Keep the thread goin with how the water board deal with u re bills an compensation, im sure there are others who will benefit in a future search of this forum

Thank you Bunnyman. I will definitely update the thread with what happens with the water engineer, the refund and hopefully the complaint.

This is in order to potentially help others, but also because of everyone's time I've taken up. It's a huge help and without anyone on here, I probably would have given up, paid the bill, had the meter uninstalled and continued to worry about a leak.

So on that note, thanks to everyone for your help. Will hopefully confirm with water man that the meter is installed on the shared pipe.

 

[gigz]

Turn the meter stop tap off and see who comes out complaining their waters gone off. I put a boiler in for someone in an upstairs flat, internal stop tap would'nt close so turned meter off. Bloke in the downstairs flat says i turned his off so i checked. Turns out they've been sharing a meter fir six years and both claimed to be paying high bills. Water board came out and he reckoned the rebate would pay for the new boiler I got a good tip

Don't normally like to blow my own trumpet but wah wah wah wah

 

[Agile]

You don't seem to have said where the meter is located.

Turn the water off at the meter for long periods of evening for example and see if anyone squeals!

Tony

I also wanted to know if anyone else was supplied from that meter![/b]

 

[D_Hailsham]

The last reading I did was 24th Feb which was: 224.972

Sorry, but I'm not sure how to really convert that into anything useful though.

Simple maths.

Meter reading 24/2 = 225 (to nearest m³)
Meter reading 17/1 = 209 (see top of Bill 2)
Usage ......................= 16 m³

No of days = 38

Daily usage = 16/38 = 0.421m³ day =421 litres/day

So we get

6/3/13 to 3/7/13 = 380 litres/day
4/7/13 to 17/1/14 = 820 litres/day
18/1/14 to 24/2/14 = 421 litres/day

 

[planenut]

Well done in apparently solving it and as said by others, keeping the forum updated.

 

[chantelle]

The last reading I did was 24th Feb which was: 224.972

Sorry, but I'm not sure how to really convert that into anything useful though.

Simple maths.

Meter reading 24/2 = 225 (to nearest m³)
Meter reading 17/1 = 209 (see top of Bill 2)
Usage ......................= 16 m³

No of days = 38

Daily usage = 16/38 = 0.421m³ day =421 litres/day

So we get

6/3/13 to 3/7/13 = 380 litres/day
4/7/13 to 17/1/14 = 820 litres/day
18/1/14 to 24/2/14 = 421 litres/day

You should get out more mate. Seriously.

 

[stardanny]

We get that a lot in my area, in block of flats where they fitted meter on wrong supply pipe normally for houses above flats. In the old day of council flats, houses in 1960/70 have shared supply.

Redrabbit, what you got is a shared supply going from road via a stopcock to flat below your with their own stopcock tee off the rising main, then rising main goes to your stopcock in first floor. I would have the meter fitted there inside.

There's few block of flats on four level on shared supply 35mm serving all 8 flats, which is why they have meter inside after tee off rising main.

Dan.

 

[redrabbit]

ISSUE SOLVED

Sorry for delay...

25th February: I confirm that neighbours water turns off as well as mine when I close outside stop cock

26th February: Called water company to tell them I thought meter was installed on the shared pipe. I took half day off work for this.

6th March: Man comes out and says he thinks I'm right. Unfortunately, neighbour not in so he can't confirm.

17th March: Second water man comes out, thankfully neighbour is in. He turns outside stop cock off, and confirms my thoughts (like I told them nearly a month ago!).

.......... ............. ...............

The 17th March is 8 weeks from the date I got the high bill. It's taken that long with me:

- getting 2 plumbers out
- fixing 2 toilets, and a loft tank
- calling the water company about 10 times
- calling the housing association
- listening for leaks
- measuring consumption
- calling insurance company,
- taking time off work
- knocking on neighbours doors

etc...

I have now written a complaint letter asking for compensation for the expense and hassle of it. I'm sending it off tomorrow once I'm back in work where there is a printer to use.

THANK YOU - to each and everyone of you that read my long moaning posts. I would love to return the favour, but my knowledge of DIY is appalling. However, I now consider myself to be a fully trained water engineer