To enquire about your water bill?

[hawleybits]

We are two adults in a three bed house. DD is at university but is home during the holidays. Both out all day, two days per week neither of us is home until 10pm. Both term time only.
Water bill was £35pm but has now increased to £55. Seems rather a jump.
Can I ask how much similar families pay?
We're in the south.

I am in the south west, we have the highest water charges in the whole country. Our bill last year was £ 1190.60, which we pay by DD over 10 months. We are due this years bill any day now & no doubt will increase again! 😖

1 bed flat. Live alone. Daily shower (sometimes 2), washing machine 3 times a week. Last bill was £56 for the quarter. Looking at break down on back of bill most of it is made up of standing charge , sewerage etc and about £15 on actual water used.

Is the "jump" because you underpaid by £10/month (based on your usage) last year, so they've increased by £20/month to correct? So your actual usage is around £45/month.

I think it's the most likely explanation.

We pay £53 for 10 months on a metered charge.

2 adults and 2 (soap dodging) DC. Dishwasher run daily and probably around 8 loads of washing a week.

Bumpsadaisy, we're in the south west too 😡

Two of us, daily shower each, washing machine 3-4 times per week, at least one bath a week, daily dishwasher and hot tub in summer.

£23 per month

The reason your all paying so much even on a meter is because you are paying monthly - cancel your direct debit and pay on invoice - then you are just paying for what you actually use not what they think you will use. Unlike other utilities there is no benefit for paying by direct debit - the money is just sitting longer in their bank than yours!
Just as an example our water rates were about £100 a month so we changed to meter asap they still tried to set me up on a direct debit plan of £70 a month, I said I'd prefer to pay quarterly on invoice and quarterly bill is about 100 ish so £33 a month that would have been £67 a month of my money sitting in their bank for nothing!

Our water bill is a complete mystery.
For about 12-18 months our dd was £45 pm. We built up credit. Then Thames water decided to knock our dd to £5 pm for 2 years until we were in debit again. Then back up to £35 pm again. It’s clear from bills we use approx £15 pm - why can’t they just bill us that? Countless phone calls and conversations suggest it is too difficult.

Water meter here. Not careful with water usage, but only 2 of us now that ds /dd flown nest.

We are in South West, 3 adults, daily showers, no dishwasher but washing machine at least 6 loads a week. £34.50p a month on a meter but without the bill would be roughly £1400 a year.

Hawleybits it might be worth while getting in contact with the water company & explaining the situation to them, my parents are on a water meter & their bill went up despite them not using any extra water. The water company came out & found that there was a leak. They repaired it & my parents bill in now back to normal.

It can be a bit like comparing apples with cheese when you go from rateable value (RV) bills to metered bills.
Firstly the standing charge will be higher as they need to cover the cost of the meter readers.
Secondly the direct debit is set up based on predictions. They are predicting future usage based on past consumption. If you have had the meter less than a year then they haven't got much history to base the prediction on.
Next, your original payments may not have been large enough to cover what you actually used in the first year, so you may be carrying over a bit of debt which they have adjusted the DD to claw back the shortfall.
Every single dripping tap, running overflow and leak on your side of the meter will clocking up.
If you pay for sewerage then the sewerage charges will be in line with the water supply charges. So the more water that is drawn into the house then the more has to go down the drain, even if it's as a result of leakage. A good habit to get into is to check your meter yourself. It's worth turning the stop tap off in the house and seeing if the dials keep spinning.

Check for a leak.

I cant believe some of these prices.

I pay £28 on a meter for 3 people in a 4 bed detached. Washer and shower every day

Another vote for a leak. We pay 35/month on a meter but it went sky high due to a leak between the meter and the house. Water company fixed and adjusted the bills. Switch all the taps and appliances off and check whether the meter is still changing.

Erm...where even is the meter to check the reading?

Just paid mine £225 metered ( 2 adults ) 6 months

I thought the meter reading happened somewhere at their end.

Check for a leak...we had one, only sign was a high water bill. Turn everything off , see if meter still spinning.

Ours is just outside in the street little round grate thingyb

I should add. , I use the dish washer & washing machine a lot , we both shower / bath 1 or 2 daily , but rarely use a hosepipe

The rates seem to depend on your provider. Severn Trent (me) are around £30 a month for a 3 bed cottage. South west seems to be expensive!

2 adults, large 3 bed, £28pcm
Severn Trent and on a meter. We both work full time but have dishwasher and do 6-7 loads laundry a week. Rarely have baths, but at least 2 showers daily (and I take ages!)

We aren't on a meter, we just pay a set rate. There are 5 of us here, and we pay £43 a month. We do, I'd guess, about 15-20 loads of washing a week, run at least 10 baths a week, do dishes twice a day, flush toilet umpteen times.... I'd say on the whole our water consumption is on the high side, but our bill sounds pretty reasonable in comparison to some others mentioned here!

SW London 3 bed house family of 4 £29 a month can’t believe some if these. Our heating bill though is astronomical

Thanks everyone for your input. I'll phone them tomorrow, tell them I think it's a bit steep and see what they suggest.
I might be better off just paying quarterly as suggested up thread.