to ask you about your water usage/bills?

[COCKadoodledooo]

Because we've just had our bill today and I'm

Apparently we have used twice as much water as this time last year (141 cubic metres as opposed to 71!).

We're a family of 4, in a 2 bed, 1 bathroom (and only 1 bog) house. We have a dishwasher and a washing machine, and the babe is in cloth nappies. The washing machine is on no more than once a day, neither the dishwasher.

Our monthly payments have gone up to £25 for water supply and £46 for sewerage (nfi why btw, but it's 2 separate companies). £71 a MONTH

Is it me, or is that a fucking huge amount? Would like to kow about others for comparion purposes please!

[DorisIsAPinkDragon]

That is an enormous bill! Fwiw I keep thinking about a metered bill then I worry about exactly this scenario.

The most obvious suggestion is to check for leaks. EVERYwhere (My parenets lifted floor boards last week and found a slow leak they didn't realise they had).

Was the last bill an estimate or an actual reading?

Have you changed anything in that time (power shower, washing machine dishwasher?

My bill is also riduculously expensive £64.97 (in 10 monthly payments) and that's for a band A house!

[GBR]

A leak sounds like a possibility - like you, we're a family of four in a one bathroom house, I am a childminder though so dishwasher on twice a day, presumably more flushing than your house, and our last bill to mid Jan was 70 cubic metres, and we pay £33 per month.

[cakeretention]

How long is that bill for? We're also a family of 4 in a large-ish house and use about 15 cubic metres each month. We don't pay any sewage as we have a septic tank - our bill is usually about £130 per year.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

I just got my new water bill (meter) and our 3-bed semi housing a family of 2 with usual appliances (washing machine run about twice a week, dishwasher daily) will cost me £15/month. Get them to check you don't have a leak somewhere.

[PersonalClown]

I'm agreeing with the leak theory.

3 bed house. 2 adults 1 child and 2 dogs.
Power shower, no dishwasher, the usual water usage. £16 a month here.

[Lizcat]

Search for a leak. Think about your white goods how old are they? I have saved £60 per year on what was a £380 per year water bill by switching washing machines to a 8kg drum.
If you bath consider sharing bath water.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

BTW... if your water meter is positioned in your home then there could be a leak somewhere in your house. If the meter is at the edge of your premises e.g. in the pavement, then the leak could be anywhere between there and your house. The harsh winter last year cracked a lot of outside pipes.

[AlpinePony]

About 15 quid a month, and a bunch of that is taxes and "water pipe tax" type bollocks.

A house we lived in a few years ago had a leak which our evillandladyfromhell refused to get fixed and we were paying over 400 a year!

[overmydeadbody]

MY bill is £25 a month, for a two bed flat with one bathroom. Sounds like a lot now...

[2rebecca]

Don't have a water meter as in Scotland where we have loads of the stuff.

[COCKadoodledooo]

My is not misplaced then!

The meter is at the bottom of the drive, about 50 yards from the house. There's advice on how to check for leaks on the back of the bill, so I shall do so when dh is home to wrangle the children.

It's a 6 month period btw, not even a whole year. We did have a drippy tap, but it has been replaced (in fact they all have). There's no huge puddles/soggy patches or anything on the lawn or the drive in front of the house to suggest a cracked pipe, but I guess if the pipes are a long way down then we might not get that.

Thanks for sharing!

[crazyhairlady]

That is a huge amount, presume you are not watering garden every day from mains? Ours is £4 a month, water only as we don't pay sewerage as we are on a septic tank. Three bed house, one loo, no dishwasher, 2 adults, 2 children. We also on cloth nappies, twice weekly washing plus clothes washing in between so like you not more than once a day (machine is A+ rated).
We are on a meter which has hugely reduced our costs. I remember reading that to check for leaks you should check meter when you are definately not using any water and maybe an hour later check back to see if it has moved.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

Do you have pipes/plumbing/drainage insurance? If not, now would be a good time to consider the type that covers not only your home but also your underground water supply pipe. If you suspect that the leak is somewhere under your drive & you're not insured it could be very expensive to find and fix it.

[AlpinePony]

What about the loo? If there is always a tiny trickle leaking from the cistern it's literally like pissing money away.

Great idea of crazyhairlady - don't turn on taps/dishwasher/washing machine for an hour and see if the numbers on the meter have changed - at least you'll know then if you have a problem or not before you start ripping up paving slabs.

[ambercat]

we are in the south west and pay £73 month we used 75 cubic meres over last 6 months! not sure why it is so expensive we are on a metre and give regular readings.

[DorisIsAPinkDragon]

ambercat the sw has (I think) the most expensive water charges in the country. They jsutify this on the basis of the length of coastline they have to maintain clean up (all the old direct outlet sewage pipes).

I personally think they see it as a licence to print money, and oh and it has to go up above the rate of inflation next year..... because water is sooo much more exepnsive now am I wrong in thinking it's fairly free when it falls from the sky and the bastard stockholders just get greedier?????

[shortround]

my next door neighbour put in a meter thinking it would save him money and he is paying the same as the op, we were going to follow him and he came round and told us not to bother, we pay £49 a month.

[COCKadoodledooo]

We're SWish - Wessex Water for our sewerage, water provided by Sembcorp Bournemouth. Explains the price but not the usage!

Anyway, I went down the drive to look. Lifted up the wee black hatch that I assume the meter is underneath (it's where the van stops when they come to read it anyway) and BLEURGH!! It's full of soil, maggots and ants Couldn't see anything remotely meter-like, just manky disgustingness! Wouldn't be surprised if they just made up the figures after looking at that

Will get dh to get the marigolds on and have a dig later.

[DorisIsAPinkDragon]

shortround you can in your first year of metering return to your previous fixed tariff (on a permenant basis) If you want but you only have 12 months to do it. But then when you sell the property will become a metered address. (can't tell I've been seriously looking into this ).