Anyone had a faulty water meter?

[Tigerblue]

Has anyone had a faulty water meter? Was it a battle to get water company to sort?

My Mum has had a number of leaks over the years, so regularly checks hers water meter. Last week she realised her consumption was up 100%, so called her water insurance for them to check. All he could find was a small drip over a tank which he has sorted. Extra consumption continued, so she started switching stop tap off at night in case a pipe burst. In the mornings the dials had moved. Anyway, called insurance again who said they'd come out, checked everything again but from her description felt it was a faulty water meter.

This is what was confirmed and he phoned water board. They will probably come out in 5-10 days, but he said we would have to insist on them replacing it as they were already making comments these things don't go wrong and it was probably outside pressure building up over night (which she has never had in 18 years)

No.

It is almost certainly a leak in a pipe downstream of the water meter (i.e. her pipe).

If it is an old house it is probably the pipe which runs underground into the house.

The water co may possibly offer a subsidy towards the cost of her replacing her leaky pipe, and if it is a lead pipe, they may offer a lead pipe replacement subsidy. If it is an old house with a lead service pioe, ask them to take a sample of the drinking water and test it for lead content. This is quite slow so ask for it straight away. Once a new pipe has been fitted it is too late. If it is a steel pipe, they last about 50 years before starting to leak at an elbow.

Looking on the bright side, a new plastic pipe can be bigger, and give better water flow inside the house.

We had a faulty water meter in a new build house. After living there for around three years, we noticed that our water bills were rising rapidly so called the water board. There was a leak in the pipe between the meter and our stop cock. The water board dug our front garden up and found the leak just a few feet away from the meter (pipe wasn't quite long enough to reach the metre so the builder joined another piece of pipe to it, which water board said the builder shouldn't have done). Not sure if the water board claimed off the builders, but we were not charged and the problem was fixed immediately and a generous refund was given to recompense us for around 12 months of rising bills. Good luck!

That's what I call a faulty pipe, not a faulty meter.

Yes, a faulty pipe! But still amounted to expensive bills, with dial on meter moving round even when water was switched off so wonder if the OP's problem may be a faulty pipe rather than faulty meter.

Yes we had a faulty water meter. Only found out when we got a £2.5k water bill .

It had been leaking for a few years and the meter reader had reported the leek it was the connection of the pipe. My water company sorted out corrected the bill and refunded 5 yrs of over charging.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

The water meter is in my Mum's house. The waterboard put a stop tap about 50cm in front of it which is clearly visible and they told my Mum to use this to stop the household water supply going through the meter. Insurance engineer yesterday switched stop tap off and on and ran water from tap nearby until it drained - he commented he'd looked at the stop tap and there was no leak between that and the meter. He said he's sure it's not a leak and not to let them mess my Mum around.

Whether stop tap is on or off the reading goes up slightly over a few hours. Engineer phoned water board while at house yesterday and he warned us they were commenting about the incoming pressure fluctuating but my Mum has never had this problem since it was installed in 1996. If incoming pressure has suddenly started fluctuating and they believe this, then surely they have to provide compensation as it's doubling what's going through the meter. My Mum is a born worrier and takes a meter reading very morning and night - yes really! so she knows what it does. Has pages of readings.

PigletJohn, the house is approx. 25 years old. She is in a hardwater area so wondering if grit or limescale might be irritating the mechanisms.