Is this water bill high

[Scared0112]

We’ve been here 12 months. Im only now taking notice of everything and I suspect we have a leak, now today our water bill arrived and I realise I do not know what is normal and chatgpt suggests not.

it’s a 4 bed, 70s house we are renovating. 2A and 2c.

we do run a dishwasher, perhaps a load of laundry a day and I would say perhaps 11 baths per 7 days.

any ideas?

Are you on a water meter? I am on a meter and for Sewerage and water, pay 46 a month

On the face of it it does look a lot but then your usage looks higher than ours (the number of baths for instance, we shower).

The only way to be certain is to check your meter (and having had a leaking supply pipe (twice), I can verify how important this is).
Turn off your internal stop cock and then check your meter, any movement whatsoever indicates a leak. If you are still not certain, leave the stopcock off and check the meter an hour or two later, again there should be no change.

I actually don’t know, I feel very stupid but how would I know?

Off to Google how to find the meter, assuming we have one?

You are on a meter because you have readings there. Non metered doesn't do readings

It is high but have you tried one of the calculators to estimate your usage?

You have a lot of baths, washing and dishwasher use. Are people home all day using toilets too?

This.👍
It was because of your bill quoting actual usage that I said about reading your meter.

Random usage from other posters is not going to help in this situation.
What you first need to establish is whether you have a leak in the supply pipe. If that is ok you then need to check that you don't have an internal leak (toilet cistern constantly running etc). Having eliminated the possibility of a leak you need to do a reality check on your usage (too many baths when showers may be more appropriate, leaving taps running too long etc).

Presuming you live in a house, your meter is likely to be in the footpath/verge. As a rule, the meter is in the public highway and you are responsible for the supply pipe from where it crosses your boundary.
Water suppliers usually provide one repair/replacement to the supply pipe for the life of the property, after that you either use leakage insurance or pay yourself.

Thank you. ST have confirmed it was an actual reading not an estimate.

so next stop if to find my stop tap and switch everything off and see if the meter goes up.

i suspect we have an internal leak- the house is a full Reno and we haven’t reached one of the bathrooms yet.

we have one bathroom and one en suite- both yet to be done as we had to have new roof etc.

the en suite is gross so I hate to shower in there so have been bathing. Same for the teen. Husband and child are using shower mainly.

sigh, cost of everything is so ridiculous now

Surely 11 baths- that’s assuming the teen has one daily. And I every other, child has a shower every other day because he’s ND and a nightmare to cajole and then husband who will have a shower a day would be a normal amount of useage?

Are people really only using baths infrequently? I really love a bath!

id say we run the dishwasher once a day and same for a load of laundry?

Another thing to consider is your location; our water supplier increased their charges by 47 percent - and as already mentioned, baths aren't economical.

https://www.ccw.org.uk/save-money-and-water/water-meter-calculator/

We are a five person, bath heavy household and our usage is actually slightly higher than yours . So I don’t think it’s so unreasonable to think it’s actual usage rather than a leak. I have also checked for leaks and we are all good , just use a lot of water.

I’m in a 4 bed, 4 people, I have a bath every day, DH has 2 showers a day, kids one each. Dishwasher on once, washing machine once, DH washes car with pressure washer once a week and our bill came in today at £260.

Am also at home all day. So def think yours is much too high.

I pay about half of that on an unmetered supply but it's about right based on 3 showers a day, 3 adults in the house.

You're having 11 baths a week plus 7 showers (husband) and say 4 for other child. Plus laundry and food prep and drinking. 4 people using the toilet every day is going to add up.

I think that's about right op. Bathing uses FAR more water than showers. Quick Google suggests 4x more water per bath. You're using just over £100 a month in water, yeah, seems legit

There are two of us, and the last 6 months cost me £450, Showers only, dish washer 3 x a week, Washing machine 4 x a week. We're both out 5 days a week.

That's with Southern Water, so I'd say your bill looks about right.

159 cubic metres

I put estimated figures into the calculator above and that's what your yearly usage comes out as.

£103 a month here- 4 bed 2 adults 2 teens. 3 showers 1 bath 1 wash 1 dishwasher a day. Water meter

UK average use (which is high compared to mainland Europe) is about 142 litres per person per day or about 450l per day for a household of four. We average 280l per day for two adults and two DC.

You are averaging 760 litres or thereabouts per day. That is extremely high.

Well shit.

comes to something when you have to consider the cost of a fucking bath tub soak. Jesus Christ.

Ok I’ve discovered a leak in the bathroom
as suspected. It’s looking like the toilet. We’re covered by British Gas so the should send someone pretty quickly.

however this thread makes me think locating said leak is not about to half my bill.

11 baths a week will be way over average. Our bath might get filled once every 3 months, my mother probably once every 3 years. Are your appliances new cost effective ones? Are you using economic programs (normally very long). All these things will affect your usage massively. You aren't outside the realms of reasonable, your usage has averaged out at about £100 a month

Baths use a lot more water then a shower.

If you've got a child whose ND leads to more baths that's probably unavoidable. The teen needs a lesson in household cost/budgeting; it'll be useful when they kick out on their own.

If you've had a leak check what the water co say about leakage allowances. We got a decent refund from Anglian after a leak under the kitchen sink.

Im honestly genuinely shocked to discover that daily baths aren’t a thing. I know lots of people prefer showers as a preference/speed thing and often read about people taking them out in favour of a large shower but I adore a hot soak at the end of my day!

Unfortunately teen also ND. Except they prefer to prune, the other prefers to fester 🤣🙄🤷‍♀️

At 11 baths a week I'm not surprised your costs are high, that's a lot of water.

Obviously you should check but before you turn the water off work it out, theres plenty of information online to allow you to check the volume so see if it's reasonable

In a one person household, where I am deliberately thrifty with water (don’t flush for a wee, don’t put a wash on unless I have a full load etc and that’s never more than twice a week) , I have a slim dishwasher that goes on every 3 days and never have a bath, I prefer a shower and to be in and out efficiently, my bill is £30 pcm.

So £100 pcm doesn’t seem that bad for your household.