To wonder why our water bill has gone up?

[CobaltRose96]

Hi all.

DP and I have lived in a metered one bedroom flat since March, and have paid £35 a month to Anglian Water since then.

We received an email yesterday saying that come February our water bill will increase to £43 a month. This seems rather high for two adults, or perhaps I'm wrong? We have a shower each every day, use the dishwasher maybe once a week, and the washing machine maybe twice/thrice a week.

Our water meter is located in the basement of the shop we live above, so it's sometimes difficult to access it. I looked on our meter readings and the last time the meter was physically read was the 17th of December. The last reading before then was an estimate in July. Could this explain the increase in our bill?

Would it make a difference if we read the meter ourselves every month and submitted the readings ourselves rather than rely on an estimate? I cannot fathom any other reason why our bill has gone up as we haven't been using more water recently, aside from putting the heating on occasionally over the past couple of weeks. Not every day, just for a few minutes on the coldest mornings before we go to work.

Thanks!

Sounds like it. Just the right time of year to discover it, too.

I have had metered water for more than ten years. I keep all my readings and know exactly how much I use. Every year Thames Water puts up my direct debit by an amount that suggests they expect there to be a one third increase in my water usage in the coming year. Every year I have to phone them and tell them to put the direct debit down to what it should be.

It seems they don't have a computer system capable of computing what I consume. I don't think they pay any attention to your usage history, they just take random large amounts on the premise that it's better to take too much than too little.

I'm about £21 per month. Definitely get the loo looked at.

They tried to put it up to £65 this year. Actual usage is £45.

South West Water where I live. My unmetered water rates for a small house are currently £800 annually. I am on a meter which is a lot less, about a quarter but I live alone. Water rates vary widely.

The meters are read twice yearly usually, you can register for an online account and can ask to submit the water meter readings. Have a look at the Anglian website and do a check on what they estimate your usage to be. The problem with the toilet leakage is they run silently into the toilet instead of the old fashioned overflow which you were aware of. Fortunately I was insured when I had that problem. You can get a little tap to switch the water off to the cistern for when you go away.

A piece of advice given to me by a gas and electric meter reader was to photo your meter regularly. As you rent you might find this useful for all readings.

Check for a water leak, the first I knew about ours was a £700 bill for a quarter

Ours is £62, for two adults, DS isn't a month old yet so no idea how he'll affect the bill

In our area one company is responsible for clean water and another for dirty, so we pay two bills, it means we also pay two lots of overheads/admin costs making our bills high for our usage ☹️

So yeah, pretty sure toilet is leaking. I left it overnight, got up this morning and put a bit of toilet round the back of the bowl and sure enough it turned wet instantly. Now I'm looking at it closely I can also see water running into the bowl.

Joy! Trust us to need a plumber just before Christmas! Our flat is rented to I assume the landlord will have to arrange repairs.

*toilet paper

@CobaltRose96 Yup. Landlord responsibility. Ask for it to be sorted ASAP!

Sounds like you have a leaky flapper valve OP, yes that really is a thing, not something I've made up honest !
Either that or the float washer has bust and it's overflowing into the pan. Can you lift the cistern lid and have a look ? Sometimes a bit of gunk stops the flapper sealing properly and just needs a clean to fix it. everyone should have a clean flapper

We have just had a letter saying ours is going up, but we pay less than you and have three of us bathing most days and the washing machine on most days too. I'd check with them that they haven't been overcharging, we were overcharged on our electricity in our old house, got a £300 refund

I’d echo what @cats said, it might be a very easy fix. Google it,- and if your toilet is a brand..... google that specific model, you may find it is a very quick fix. If you have hard water look inside the cistern. We had this issue at work. The problem was a limescale build up around the plunging arm. We broke the lime off and hey presto toilet sorted

£17 a month. Three bed house. Two adults two children. And we’re on a meter too. Yours is excessively high, call them.

@MargotSimpson

Is that for water in and also waste?

@kikidelivers yep everything

What I lived in a flat just me and DP ours was under 20 a month. When we moved to our house, we moved to rates and I think it was almost 70 a month. We applied for a meter as they said we could try for a certain amount of time to see if it was cheaper and switch back if we were not happy. They said they couldn't fit one but agreed to lower our bill to 20 a month because of it. It's now gone up to 30 a month cos of something or other. But a darn sight better that 70!

Hi Rose, I work for Anglian Water and we'd love to help if we can. I understand why you want to query this. The average monthly usage for 2 adults is between £30-45 per month.
We typically read meters annually and adjust your Direct Debit for the following 12 months, based on the current balance and what we expect you to use over the following 12 months.
We'd like to look into this in more detail with you. Feel free to email [email protected], and we'll pick this up straight away.

NikAW - I would say that's expensive.
I am with Southern, four adults (shower every day), three cars (get washed every week), dishwasher (every day), washing (most days). I pay £40 per month.
Margot You are getting a really good deal - Who are you with??

Affinity water. Maybe we’re conservative with our water usage. Don’t bath the babies every day for example.