[zAndy1]

Got my water bill today, period 24/1/08 to 9/7/08, charge was £259.31 for water and £274.70 for sewerage. We pay by DD budget plan and our payments are increasing from £60pm to £86pm from September! Seems a bloody ridiculous amount each month to be paying for water. For comparisons sake we live in a 4 bed detached, 2 adults and 2 kids. Could somebody please give me an idea whether the amount we're paying is normal or is there something very wrong here?

Cheers
Andy

[Squiffy]

We are 4 bed detatched, 2 adults and 3 kids and we pay less than half that.

£37 per month.

[shodan]

They guestimate how much the next quart is going to be by seeing what has been used in the last quarter then use that for the next quarter as you pay in advance for the supply you will be using. British Gas do this and I asked why my bill had gone up so much and it is because we obviously use more gas in the wintertime (central heating) so they are estimating I'll use the same during the summer months. Of course I won't so instead of carrying it over and having a lower bill, I always ask for a refund so it doesn't sit in their bank earning interest.

[lurcher]

We are in 3 bed semi paying £34 monthly , our gas & electric have just gone up from £80 per month ( estimated by Npower when we tranferred to them in Dec 07 ) to £152 per month.

[zAndy1]

Well we currently pay £88pm for gas and electric , it's the water bill that's got me worried, I mean £86 per month for water simply can't be right. The balance of our last bill was £23.99, made 6 payments of £60 so balance brought forward was £336.01, total charges £534 leaving a bill amount of £198 which is why our monthly payment has gone up by nearly £30pm. There's either a lot of water being wasted in our house or a bloody big leak somewhere!

[nheather]

If you think it wrong I would get it checked.

One of my work colleagues noticed that his water consumption didn't drop when he was out of the country for a while.

It turns out that the water company had accidently registered the neighbours water meter with his account. Took him ages to get the water company to listen and come out and check.

The problem was that when the water mains was lifted there are a number of water meters and the engineer had registered the wrong serial number with the wrong house. Totally an accident and the engineer that eventually came out to investigate said that it is a pretty common problem.

My be worth checking in your case.

Cheers,

Nigel

P.S. For my big 4 bedroom house (2 adults, a 10yo and a 14yo) I pay £29.50 per month. This was increased to this amount in line with actual spend.

[zAndy1]

Well for a start I'm going to read my meter today, and I'm going to read it again in a weeks time and see how much the meter says we're using. According to the bill we used 209 cubic metres of water in this billing period, I haven't a clue what the average family should be using but I'm sure as hell going to check!

[nheather]

My last bill covering a 6 month period used

65.00 cubic metres water supply
60.13 cubic metres waste water

Family of 4 - consumption, washing machine, dishwasher, baths and showers - we don't use the hose pipe much (garden or car).

Cheers,

Nigel

[zAndy1]

Well in that case there's something very wrong somewhere isn't there. For us to use over 3 times as much water just doesn't add up at all. Right, I'm on the case now, I'm gonna get to the bottom of this cos there's no way I'm paying £86pm for bloody water!

[Mep]

we also have a 4 bed house, there are three adults as my daughter is now 20 and my 16 year old son....ours has just been put up to £63 a month!!....however, the washing machine always seems to be on and my daughter spends a good percentage of her life in the bath or shower.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Squiffy

We are 4 bed detatched, 2 adults and 3 kids and we pay less than half that.
.

Similar - 2 adults and 1 child and pay £461.01 per annum - non metered.

[SeanT]

We don't have a water meter - mostly because I didn't want them ripping my kitchen apart and running wires all over the outside walls. I'm kind of glad we don't now...

[zAndy1]

Blimey, £400 a year and here's us on track for over £1000! Well I've taken the meter reading and I'll take it again tomorrow and everyday this week and see what's going on. 1 cubic metre is £1.20 so should be using no more than 0.7 cubic metres per day on average which with sewerage being approx the same cost as water would equate to approx £600 per year (still a lot but better than we're doing now!).

[evilgenius]

wouldnt you guys consider collecting rain water for toilet flushing and so on or is that a flat fee or metered?

[IronGiant]

I pay Thames Water ~£150 a year on our metered account for a family of five...

[steptoe]

appologies if this sounds obvious but, i would check the water meter ,when you are sure no water is being used and make sure that the little dial isnt still spinning (mine was i had a small leak from the overflow in the loft)
secondly
my recent bill was £49.18 =19 cubics water(19x89.90p) +17.58 waste (17.58x159.60p)plus charges etc
so i did a reading phoned them and told them i had only used 10 cubics and the bill was reduced to £29.00 and thats with an extra 6 days added on
im with southern water 3 bed house two adults.
i know i know im sure my missus just loves the sound of running water ,but ive told her till im blue in the face

[graham.myers]

chuffing nora!!!

Jeez you lot waste a lot

We live in a 4 bed detached house with ensuite shower, guest shower and a 500 gallon hot tub.....

Our bill is £35-40 per QUARTER!. We're metered. We refill the hot tub once per quarter and costs about a tenner, so without that our bill would be £25-£30/qtr

We do all laundry on a weekend probably 3 washes and use the dish washer twice a week. When we run the shower to hot, the shower head goes in a bucket which we then use to flush the loo. Maybe that saves more than we think. Similarly we run the kitchen sink through to hot before we put the washer on. That probably doesnt save any water but saves electric as it doesnt have to heat the water in the washing machine.

[edit]Just dug our last bill out - £44.39 for the quarter

[Mr Incredible]

Originally Posted by nheather

If you think it wrong I would get it checked.

One of my work colleagues noticed that his water consumption didn't drop when he was out of the country for a while.

It turns out that the water company had accidently registered the neighbours water meter with his account. Took him ages to get the water company to listen and come out and check.

The problem was that when the water mains was lifted there are a number of water meters and the engineer had registered the wrong serial number with the wrong house. Totally an accident and the engineer that eventually came out to investigate said that it is a pretty common problem.

My be worth checking in your case.

Cheers,

Nigel

P.S. For my big 4 bedroom house (2 adults, a 10yo and a 14yo) I pay £29.50 per month. This was increased to this amount in line with actual spend.

Originally Posted by graham.myers

chuffing nora!!!

Jeez you lot waste a lot

We live in a 4 bed detached house with ensuite shower, guest shower and a 500 gallon hot tub.....

Our bill is £35-40 per QUARTER!. We're metered. We refill the hot tub once per quarter and costs about a tenner, so without that our bill would be £25-£30/qtr

We do all laundry on a weekend probably 3 washes and use the dish washer twice a week. When we run the shower to hot, the shower head goes in a bucket which we then use to flush the loo. Maybe that saves more than we think. Similarly we run the kitchen sink through to hot before we put the washer on. That probably doesnt save any water but saves electric as it doesnt have to heat the water in the washing machine.

[edit]Just dug our last bill out - £44.39 for the quarter

You don't live next door to Nigel's work colleague do you?

[Phil57]

Originally Posted by SeanT

We don't have a water meter - mostly because I didn't want them ripping my kitchen apart and running wires all over the outside walls. I'm kind of glad we don't now...

I'm.................

[Phil57]

Water..........£19.80 per month for ten months a year.

[stevefish69]

Ours is only around £15 per month on a meter with 2 adults and 2 kids in the house.

Our neigbour who only has 2 adults in the gaff had a bill for over £500 on top of their monthly payments in a year. Turned out to be one of those new toilet cistern plunger things not seated properly that was leaking constantly.

Have you any dripping taps, overflows leaking or new thangled toilet things that are faulty ??

[loz]

We have a water meter.
4beds, 2 baths,
Dishwasher and washing machine on almost every day.
I work from home, wife is at home, so both in all day making cuppas, etc.
Daughter still at home.
Probably a couple of showers a day between the three of us. Plus baths
Wife out watering the garden, hanging baskets every night this time a year (well, if it didn't rain that is...)

And... South East Water
Water for last 6 months - £58
72 cubic meters @ 79.96
+ £8.51 standing charge.
So say, £34 a qtr

sewage £57 inc standing charge
so, £28.50 qtr

Our total for last year, water and sewage was £278.

= £23 a month, water and sewage.

Heaven knows how you get to £1000....

[Ed Selley]

Originally Posted by loz

Heaven knows how you get to £1000....

Well there is one possibility;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4x75AZsmts

[JohnG]

My annual water bill (metered) is normally between £85 and £100. I get a reduced rate as my property does not drain onto the street, water that falls onto my property doesn't drain into the street and the water that falls onto the roof goes into soak away.

[DJT75]

Originally Posted by Phil57

I'm.................

I don't have a meter either, I did at my last property. We moved house last year so it's compulsary for them to come round & attempt to fit a water meter. Under my kitchen sink they wanted to remove about 12" squared piece of hardboard to access the correct section of pipe. Bloke said I either need to remove that, or we just put it down as "not possible at this address".

It was a very easy choice...

3 Bed, 3 (soon to be 4) people, washing machine always on, slim dishwasher everyday, water garden, baths, showers etc.....£27 a month all in & that's in a very expensive ratable value area.

[Mr Incredible]

Annual water charges based on rateable value for 2008 -2009 : £332
Annual wastewater charges on same basis for 2008 -2009 : £487

United Utilities.

[SeanT]

It's only compulsory to have one fitted if you have a sprinkler system or a swimming pool (that they know about...)

[Steven]

My friend has just flown to Auckland for a year study abroad. Has left some of his friends to tie up loose ends...

So he has a water bill for £186. It only says starting August. Hope that is a quarterly amount!

[DJT75]

Originally Posted by SeanT

It's only compulsory to have one fitted if you have a sprinkler system or a swimming pool (that they know about...)

From the Three Valleys Water website:


Why do I have to have a water meter if I have moved home within the supply area or moved into the supply area?

Legislation has recognised the need for water companies to have the power to install meters at properties. Therefore in accordance with the Water Industry Act 1991, section 144b/subsection 2b a water meter will be installed where there is a change of occupier.

So I guess I got lucky...

[zAndy1]

I think I've found the culprit (or at least a big contributer). Been round checking and the downstairs loo had water running down the back of the pan (probably been like that for ages but I have to admit I never really noticed). Took the top off and it seems the cistern is filling all the time, doesn't seem to be shutting off but I guess it's overflowing into the pan. I checked the meter when no other water was being used and the guage was going round, turned the downstairs loo off (closed the valve to it) and the guage has stopped moving now. I found that last night, going to take a meter reading this afternoon 24hrs after the first one (bath has been used, shower has been used, dishwasher has been used and one load of washing) and see if there's any improvement (well obviously there will be, just a case of how much). Needless to say that loo is out of bounds for now and I'll be getting a plumber in to sort it out (which no doubt will cost another fortune, turned out to be an expensive loo that one!).
I've also had a word with the wife and kids and just asked them to be a bit more conscious of what they're using! Example, whenever my wife made a cup of coffee (for 1) she would always fill the kettle...