How much water do you use?
Discussion
Having a problem with Thames Water.
On a water meter, looking back our consumption has been pretty constant the last few years, they bill us every 6 months and historically less than £1000 pa (used to be about £600 pa but they jacked the prices).
Family of 5, 3 kids away at Uni half of the year, quick showers only, no pool, no watering of garden. Pretty normal usage I’d say though 2 of us are in the house all day so bit more usage.
Recently, Thames Water came and changed the meter. They said they took a closing reading from the old meter, usage supposedly jumped by 350% and they sent a bill for £3000. When challenged they said this was an “estimate” (don’t know why they couldn’t take a reading off it) and they would use consumption from the new meter to back calculate our usage.
The new meter is running at around 1.5m2 per day. About 5x more than the old meter. This would give annual bills in the £4500+ landing zone. This just doesn’t seem right to me.
Meter doesn’t increase if there’s no usage, so I don’t think there’s a leak.
Overall I suspect the new meter is over-reading (how convenient for TW!) but would be interested in what others use.
On a water meter, looking back our consumption has been pretty constant the last few years, they bill us every 6 months and historically less than £1000 pa (used to be about £600 pa but they jacked the prices).
Family of 5, 3 kids away at Uni half of the year, quick showers only, no pool, no watering of garden. Pretty normal usage I’d say though 2 of us are in the house all day so bit more usage.
Recently, Thames Water came and changed the meter. They said they took a closing reading from the old meter, usage supposedly jumped by 350% and they sent a bill for £3000. When challenged they said this was an “estimate” (don’t know why they couldn’t take a reading off it) and they would use consumption from the new meter to back calculate our usage.
The new meter is running at around 1.5m2 per day. About 5x more than the old meter. This would give annual bills in the £4500+ landing zone. This just doesn’t seem right to me.
Meter doesn’t increase if there’s no usage, so I don’t think there’s a leak.
Overall I suspect the new meter is over-reading (how convenient for TW!) but would be interested in what others use.
Is your 1.5 m³/day from your readings off the meter or based on the total on the bill divided by the number of days?
If the latter, then it's possible that an incorrect meter id number has been input to the TW system when the meter was changed so you are picking up A.N.Other's bill.
Do your own readings for a week as a check.
If the latter, then it's possible that an incorrect meter id number has been input to the TW system when the meter was changed so you are picking up A.N.Other's bill.
Do your own readings for a week as a check.
Edited by speedking31 on Friday 24th July 10:17
We went to metered bill from paying the £1200 plus bill for a 4 bed house. Bill dropped to £400.
Our usage was very little, it's stepped up a bit this year as I've just put in a whole new flower bed so am trying to help the garden get established.
It thinks we use around 300litres a day, before i was watering the garden, was around 150 litres
There's two of us...4 bed house.
We've just upped our monthly payment from £18 to £43 to cover the increased usage and Thames Water massive price hike
Our usage was very little, it's stepped up a bit this year as I've just put in a whole new flower bed so am trying to help the garden get established.
It thinks we use around 300litres a day, before i was watering the garden, was around 150 litres
There's two of us...4 bed house.
We've just upped our monthly payment from £18 to £43 to cover the increased usage and Thames Water massive price hike
raceboy said:
Something can't be right with that! 
Never really looked at our bill, and this is Severn Trent, but we pay £28 a month on a 4 bed with 2/3 adults living in it, one working from home.
We use 39m³ a year....so 0.1m³/day
Has your next door neighbour got a pool and a long hose?
I'm with Thames Water, not on a meter yet. My monthly bill is £74.21 (£890 per year), supposedly based on a formula derived from the rateable value of the house... I'm in Band C for council tax. On the TW website I did a quick calculation of whether I'd save money by getting a meter, and the result was that I wouldn't, as my metered bill would be over £1,000 a year. Four adults in the house, but even so, pretty expensive.Never really looked at our bill, and this is Severn Trent, but we pay £28 a month on a 4 bed with 2/3 adults living in it, one working from home.
We use 39m³ a year....so 0.1m³/day
Has your next door neighbour got a pool and a long hose?
Just had a quick google to put some numbers into perspective....
The OP's daily usage of 1.5m³/day is 1500 litres
That's 15 average sized bath fulls, or one 7 man hot tubs worth, and would be the equivalent of the kitchen cold tap running full blast for an hour and a half.
Or 5000 cups of tea....a day!
The OP's daily usage of 1.5m³/day is 1500 litres
That's 15 average sized bath fulls, or one 7 man hot tubs worth, and would be the equivalent of the kitchen cold tap running full blast for an hour and a half.
Or 5000 cups of tea....a day!
raceboy said:
Just had a quick google to put some numbers into perspective....
The OP's daily usage of 1.5m³/day is 1500 litres
That's 15 average sized bath fulls, or one 7 man hot tubs worth, and would be the equivalent of the kitchen cold tap running full blast for an hour and a half.
Or 5000 cups of tea....a day!
Are you suggesting the OP is having hot tub parties with 6 other men while the kids are away at Uni? The OP's daily usage of 1.5m³/day is 1500 litres
That's 15 average sized bath fulls, or one 7 man hot tubs worth, and would be the equivalent of the kitchen cold tap running full blast for an hour and a half.
Or 5000 cups of tea....a day!
Water bill went from 50 a month to 130 a month when I got a lodger. Gas and electric bills have also gone up as much. He refused to dry clothes outside and washes single items on the most expensive washes - then tumble dries them on the most expensive settings. I've literally been pulling my hair out. He is going in 2 weeks and I can't wait.
PhilboSE said:
The new meter is running at around 1.5m2 per day. About 5x more than the old meter. This would give annual bills in the £4500+ landing zone. This just doesn't seem right to me.
Well, it would be a couple of grand, but it's still mental.We (couple but lots of grandchildren stays etc) steadily 10 cu metres per month. Don't do much car washing or garden watering, but otherwise I'd say we're pretty care-free with water use. So you're 5x comment seems spot on.
raceboy said:
Something can't be right with that!
Never really looked at our bill, and this is Severn Trent, but we pay £28 a month on a 4 bed with 2/3 adults living in it, one working from home.
We use 39m³ a year....so 0.1m³/day
Has your next door neighbour got a pool and a long hose?
That seems madly little! Our washing machine uses 100 litres per cycle - it's in the spec and I know it's correct as we had it draining into a wheely bin in the garage during our house refurb and it half filled it.Never really looked at our bill, and this is Severn Trent, but we pay £28 a month on a 4 bed with 2/3 adults living in it, one working from home.
We use 39m³ a year....so 0.1m³/day
Has your next door neighbour got a pool and a long hose?
Not read all of the posts but I’d say there is either a problem with the meter or there is a leak between house and meter
You can easily check the leak aspect / turn off house stop cock for a few hours and read meter before and after.
If it’s a smart meter - look at your usage on line - a leaking toilet cistern can easily do 1000 litres over 24 hrs (ask me how I know this and how much I dislike modern water efficient toilet cisterns with internal overflows as opposed to a pipe to outside)
You can easily check the leak aspect / turn off house stop cock for a few hours and read meter before and after.
If it’s a smart meter - look at your usage on line - a leaking toilet cistern can easily do 1000 litres over 24 hrs (ask me how I know this and how much I dislike modern water efficient toilet cisterns with internal overflows as opposed to a pipe to outside)
raceboy said:
Just had a quick google to put some numbers into perspective....
The OP's daily usage of 1.5m³/day is 1500 litres
That's 15 average sized bath fulls, or one 7 man hot tubs worth, and would be the equivalent of the kitchen cold tap running full blast for an hour and a half.
Or 5000 cups of tea....a day!
This ^.The OP's daily usage of 1.5m³/day is 1500 litres
That's 15 average sized bath fulls, or one 7 man hot tubs worth, and would be the equivalent of the kitchen cold tap running full blast for an hour and a half.
Or 5000 cups of tea....a day!
1500 litres is about the same as flushing a toilet 200 times.
There is no way you're using that much water just doing normal indoor things round the house.
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