Water bill!

[solosunflower]

Moved into a new build three months ago. Just received my water bill from July to October. £239. Honestly want to cry. One bath, wash a few dishes and one batch of washing daily. Surely this can't be right?

It's accurate, water meter

Turn your water off at the stopcock and then check the meter. If it's still spinning there is a leak in the pipe leading to your property. If not then turn the stopcock back on with the taps not running then check. If the wheel is spinning the leak is somewhere in the property. Do all of that before you call the water company as that's the first thing they will get you to do.

Make sure you are not using any water in the house then check the meter. If it's an old fashion one and you can see the dial slowly creeping round then you have a leak. You could also take a reading then leave it a few hours, as long as you possibly can without using water then take another reading, if it's gone up it's a leak.
Turning off your stop tap in the house will isolate the pipe between the meter and your house so if it keeps creeping up then you will know the leak is underground before it reaches the house or if that stops it then the leak is likely to be inside.

Check there's no leaks on the following

Toilet cisterns
Washing machine
Dishwasher
Outside tap
All inside taps.
Header tank - if you have one.

Not according to PP's link they're not, they are one of the cheapest. Either way £80 per month is excessive for a single adult household, which suggests either a leak or wrongly recorded readings.

My first house was a new build and the estate was still under construction, so the builders cleaned the road every few days, turns out every time they filled the bowser on the road sweeper if was coming from my property as they have not capped my water pipe off, took me a few days of constantly going out to the metre until I was home one day when they started filling it and my metre was going mad.

DM has ST and her bill on her own is the same as ours for 4.

What are your readings?

Ask how the readings calculate the amount used. It could be one turn of the meter dial per litre or whatever, then once you have that work out of what you are using per day corrssponds with what they are saying your use age is.

I'm having a similar problem with British Gas ref electric consumption. My usuals has gone up 50% a day but only since they replaced my smart meter with a new smart meter

Today I have been asked by them to turn off by the isolater so no power after the meter to the house.

They need to check of the meter is still recording usage.

So I have worked it out that if I am using 14-15 kWH a day that is the meter dial going up 1 kWh every 90 mins. I have 15 mins left.
I think that's about right?

A while ago now I'd had new turf laid. It was august and hot so I used my sprinkler 24/7 until it settled in. We had the water board banging on our door trying to detect the leak! Our bill was over £300 for that quarter. We were a family with babies and washing machine on every day plus baths.

Your bill sounds very high, cracked pipe leaking type of high.

I've been out to check and the reading is correct. I will turn the water off at the stop clock tomorrow whilst at work to see if the reading changes.

Based on your reads how much are they saying you are using per day? Does it sound right or too high?

We had a leaky toilet in our new build. Our bill was huge! You can get free testers to check if the toilet is leaking from the water companies. We could prove it was and got a refund.

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/blog/utilities/how-much-is-the-average-water-bill-per-month

We 're seven Trent so you definitely still.seem.to be over paying somehow or using a kot!

I'd rather cut back on everything else before giving up my bath. In fairness it's pretty shallow.

You're bathing (deep bath) and doing clothes washing every day, that will make your bill high regardless of anything else. Also, how much do you use the loo, how much do you wash your hands, do you wash up under running water etc. it all adds up.

Meet the fockers.

If it's brown flush it down if it's yellow let it mellow.

When we moved in to our new build they messed up the water meters and the electricity. We didn’t pay electric for 2 years and in the end it was written off as a house builder error. I had contacted our provider so many times they had proof I wasn’t trying to avoid paying. The water was such a mess too, all 5 in the row were getting each other’s bill. I wouldn’t let it rest. It can’t be right. We have a 4 bed, 2 adults and 2 kids. Washing daily and showers and/or baths daily and it’s 130 a quarter

We are with the same supplier as you and pay £30 a month for two of us. We shower daily, run the washing machine twice a week, and have used water on the garden (not the lawn before anyone calls me wasteful, potted fruit trees and raised beds) during the summer when the water butts ran dry.

How are you filling the machine with one set of clothes a day (even if you have after work clothes and sleepwear added every few days)? Can you have a shower head fitted to the bath tap?

I only run a shallow bath tbf. Even with running the washing machine everyday, it still can't be right.

When i had a new build it took ages to sort bills. As lots went from plot numbers to actual flats etc.
Check the readings they have are correct.

Also those saying about the wash. Some. Companys only give a certain amount of uniform.
Dh worked in a very dirty garage once. They supplied 2 sets of uniform.
Couldn't buy own.
Had to be washed daily as so bad. And couldn't be mixed in with other washing. The machine also got grubby so would have to be wiped out and on a short rinse otherwise oily residue would end up on other laundry.

Not everyone has a job where they can have 5x sets of smart clothes or general clothes for work.
But that said our bill was never that high. With, then 5 of us. No shower only a bath at the time.
So definitely something wrong

We are a family of 2 adults and 3 small kids (under 11) our bill is £70 a month! After reading this I feel like it's too high? No one has a bath and we have a water butt for outside... sorry OP I feel like we are in the same boat so no advice

Our brother in law had an extortionate water bill when he moved into a new build, turns out there was a massive leak under the house. The woman on the end of the phone at southern water was like 'are you filling Olympic sized pools!?' the leak, and the subsequent bill were that high. Worth checking?

@SusanKennedy you need to look into the water sure tarrif. Its capped to about 36 a month if you have 3 dcs in which you're in receipt of child benefit for.

@WeeblesWibbleWobble thank you I'll look into that asap