Water company says we're using too much water

[AintOverUntilTheCatLadySings]

And I can't work out why/how to use less.

Our water usage went up at the start of lockdown- not surprising as there was now x3 of us at home, it was summer and we were potty training a toddler.

Now our water company are saying we're using too much (we've got a water meter btw and pay for what we use) and sent someone round to talk to us about water conservation.

Thing is… We're quite water conservation conscious in general. Use eco setting on dishwasher, have a wet-room type shower so save shower and bath water in buckets for flushing toilets and watering plants (used the hose maybe 10 times in total this year and that includes filling small paddling pool - water that was also reused).

I even reuse pasta and veg water for watering plants.

Dh and I shower with our toddler so we're not having x3 showers per day or anything. And about 50% of that water is saved in buckets - including the cold water run off at the start.

I use the washing machine about x5 a week.

We don't have a car to wash. No ponds or swimming pool.

They're checking if there's an error but are certain that there's not.

Does anyone have any idea how to save water when you're already doing all the obvious things?

"So there's a collective responsibility to not waste water" that's a terrible idea.

Think about it. Everyone cuts back on water ( lets wash our hands less in a pandemic) and the companies charge more so they get the same profits, but they don't bother to fix leaks or create more reservoirs. Then where we do have a shortage of rain there's no spare capacity and we run out.

Better to use a lot as it forces them to confront it now. And should there be a real drought everyone could cut back then temporarily.

my DH was showing him round (I was on a work call) and had to leave him in the bathroom to answer the door. was it someone genuine at the door or a setup to cause you to leave the guy alone?

This is one of the weirdest threads ever! I pay £26/month, water my garden, daily dishwasher, couple of weekly washing loads and pressure washer when I can be arsed, plus at least a bath a week on top of my daily shower. I think £33/month for three of you is exceptionally good water usage?!

@LastTrainEast

my DH was showing him round (I was on a work call) and had to leave him in the bathroom to answer the door. was it someone genuine at the door or a setup to cause you to leave the guy alone?

Was an amazon delivery. We've got a downstairs bathroom (house is small with odd layout) so he wasn't left upstairs and couldn't leave the room without anyone seeing.

Was 100% a guy from Thames Water. DH rang the proper number on our bills to book him in.

I don't get how you can fit x3 sets in to your machine at once.

Maybe I've got a really small machine?

I have a 9kg machine, I can clean 2 x single duvet cover, 2 x single fitted sheet and 4 pillow cases in one load. Anthing else and the wash would spin around as a solid mass and not be cleaned because of lack of space for agitation.

You’ve definitely got a toilet leak somewhere. If you flush one of your toilets does it have a constant ‘filling up’ noise?
We had this with our en-suite toilet, £500 later 🤦🏼‍♀️ Would’ve been cheaper to pay a plumber to fix it.

@cyclingmad

just caught up kn your prev posts OP so your in London so must be with Thames Water then unless your on some weird border and its with someone else.

If you are with Thames Water what a cheek loke I said they happy to set the wayer rate for me in south London at £45 a month inc charges but when I switched to a meter a yr ago its now £15pm all in so mega cheeky for them to complain

Is your approx £30pm including the charges?

Yes Thames Water! Pre meter we were paying about £45 per month, but now we've got one installed it's around £33 a month all in.

I've read 158 messages in this thread, and, although I've seen people ask several times how much water you use, and how much it increased by, I can't see that you've anwered.

Did I miss it? Or are you really asking people to guess if you are using too much.?

I would be probably be looking for a leak, if I knew what the numbers are.

Update: it was part of the Smarter Home Visit project.

Apparently parts of London have 'severe water stress' and it's a free service rolled out to 'priority' customers. Wondering if we've been marked as vulnerable or anything on our notes because we had a newborn in the house when our water was shut off once.

Regardless, I water my houseplants with old cups of tea and my roses with bath water as well as loads of other weird water saving bits. So not sure why we were chosen or why they said we use too much.

I'm actually slightly smug as DH wasn't a fan of my shower bucket system before, but now he can see that I am legit saving the planet.

I had this and eventually a very tiny crack was found in my loo, they compare previous usage.

I have never heard of the water board doing this and £33 isnt much at all, I remember paying £45 for 3 of us on a meter and no one said anything! I reckon I pay £33 for me and DS now, only have quick showers, dont have a dishwasher yet and washing depends on activities that week

Shocking.
Can you change water company?
I use far more water than you and if some water conservation bloke came round I'd be furious.

There is always a static (remains the same level) of water on our planet. Water, as steam, clouds, or water or rain or ice it is a constant. It cannot be 'saved'. (Apart from in a bucket 😂)

See water cycle.

I'd say a water leak my sister had the same problem. X

@PigletJohn

I've read 158 messages in this thread, and, although I've seen people ask several times how much water you use, and how much it increased by, I can't see that you've anwered.

Did I miss it? Or are you really asking people to guess if you are using too much.?

I would be probably be looking for a leak, if I knew what the numbers are.

Just looked it up - between 8,000 and 13,000 litres (that's the highest and lowest measures) depending on the month over the course of the year. Normally 10,000 litres on the dot in summer months.

Think it's measured in litres. If the figures sound a bit weird.

Why are they going after the little man? Would make more sense to hound after the big corps who use a fuck ton of water on a daily basis.

@CatBatCat

Why are they going after the little man? Would make more sense to hound after the big corps who use a fuck ton of water on a daily basis.

There's a couple of illegal car wash businesses around here. So that's a good point.

Let me wash my bedsheets weekly and have showers each day!

@HeronLanyon yeah fair enough, just shows how inadequate a lot of our infrastructure is and that we get utilities and services get away with murder!

(Also a brick in the cistern instead of a balloon might do the trick)

Did you try putting the taps off and taking a reading (Don’t flush the toilet or put water in the kettle during this time obv) check in an hour and see if the reading is still the same. It should be as all your taps are off. If not there is a problem somewhere.

My friend had that problem with electricity. Turns out her meter was running two houses and she was lying for all the electricity for both.

Perhaps you’re running two houses waters!

can you have a look at your meter please. When all the taps are turned off, there should be no movement of the meter. Overnight, when you do nothing more than a few WC flushes and hand washes, maybe 5-10 litres a time. You may need to wipe the glass to read it, or hold your phone down the hole to photograph it.

Can you see how to turn off the stopcock on the meter? There may be a blue T-handle. This will be for the next step.

I was already sceptical about getting a water meter but definitely not going to now. We do take care not to waste it anyway.

It doesn't matter ther is clearly no leak of before on a water rate you paid £45 and now on a meter yojr paying less at £33 per month. Your clearly not being excessive!!! If you were you metered cosfs would be more than £45!

Myabe they should concentrate on the amount of water bursts they have and fix them quicker than they do. In last yr alkne remeber they have that massive burst by Soithwark Station, road was flooding for days befoere it was stopped. On a road near where I live its burst twice and water being wasted for days before its stopped.

Of course we should not be wasting water ourselves but come on its hardly like you are esp with all the things you are doing more than me!!!

If rhsy come knocking tell them your dling enough more than most and you had visits already and enough is enough. Your not spending more than your water rate previously so they were actually benefiting from you paying more than you needed to and why didn't they spend that extra money on making sure they maitain their pipes

So this smarter home visit they offer this is what the website says:

We’ll be on hand to offer you a free Smarter Home Visit, where our team of experts will help you save water and energy and reduce your future bills. Meters make it easier to see how and where water is being used so we can all be as efficient as possible. Our research shows that customers on a meter typically use around 12% less water. Meters also allow us to easily spot where there is a leak so we can fix it as quickly as possible.

Qmseems like you don't have to have the visits its on offer. If they visited once and done their report no need for them to come again and if they do tell them to bugger off they did one visit and thats enough.

I am beginning to think that this is a practical joke op, are you sure that these people are genuine? you are more careful than mos with your water usage.....

Crumbs I wish my water bill was £33 a month. We’re with South West Water and pay between £70 and £85 a month. That’s for 5 of us the dishwasher is is on a couple of times a day and the washing machine goes on most days and everyone has a shower every day. We don’t water the garden at all.

Seems like a leak there's absolutely no way they would send anyone round, that's unheard off, are you sure they were legitimate? It seems like a sales technique to get you to buy 'water conservation devices' I used to work for a similar company and those are the techniques we would have done sadly. You need to ring and confirm with the supplier and then if true get them to fully investigate and state exactly what you told us.