darren m Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) Anyone here work for waterboard or a plumber that could give me some advice please. got a strange problem i cant solve the other day our 6 month water bill came , could not beleave it nearly £600. thats loads more than usual . so we are on a water meter worst luck , so i waited till no water was being used in the property and looked at the meter , sure enough it was turning , only slowly but defo turning. so what does that mean , i,m getting scammed , i have a leak , or the meter is buggerd. i can see or find any leakage as yet , well nothing obvious not had a really good look yet. we live in a bungalow , it has solid concrete floors and has far as i know all our water pipes are above ground . any thoughts anyone thank you Edited June 21, 2011 by darren m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clubb699 Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) Ours is £35 a month so thats £210 half a year 2 adults and 1 bab yours is well over i would say, think you need to phone them up asap and explain whats going on Or at somepoint you have been in credit they then knocked your payments down and then it eats into the credit and you then owe them a lump sum as it was never changed to original rate<<<<<<<<< wifes idea she heard this happen before Lee Edited June 21, 2011 by clubb699 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet boy Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Something is not right there Darren.Get it checked out mate.ATB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard.Hosgood Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Turn off the external stop tap and the internal one, then look at the meter - if it's still spinning then you have a leak on the service pipe between the 2. Then check with your water authority on what your options are. Hth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampire Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 If the meter is still turning when its turned off it would suggest a leak and as you have high bills and had a new meter fitted,i know where i would look first,THE METER When our estate had meters installed,lots leaked and water was running everywhere for ages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Normally covered on house insurance for loss of metered water too, though the repair won't be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicW Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 If you turn the stop tap off in the house and the meter is still turning over you have almost certainly got a leak.The meter is driven by the water flowing through it. You should contact your supplier soonest and they will come and 'listen' for a leak.You may be able to hear it for yourself especially at night.Turn the stop tap off and you may then hear a similar sound to the one you get when you are drawing any water from the system. Vic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magman Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Is the meter in your property or on the pavement outside ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodcock Magnet Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 VicW is on the right lines, turn off your mains stop tap, then get a straight stick, like a piece of dowel wood put one end on the lead pipe and the other end in your ear, don't touch wood rod, and listen carefully!!! if you hear a hissing noise, thats a leak. Ex-Plumber, when worker in lead meant somethink, good luck. Wiz :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricko Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 No solution, but in my first house the meter stopped turning for nearly 2 years (a piece of grit, maybe?) Only paid for sewerage charges for that time period! Remember it is only leaks after the meter that will cause a large bill, check that you are not on a joint supply for an older semi-det property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diceman Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 I topped the Koi pond with the hose just before I went on holiday for 2 weeks...came back and it was still running...oops. Complained to the water board when the huge bill came in and they agreed it was ridiculous and sent a man round to find the leak. Thank ~~~~ he found one! Fixed it and a full rebate back to the average quarterly bill, and after that the bills dropped substantially, so I feel less guilt knowing they had been overcharging me for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highseas Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 I topped the Koi pond with the hose just before I went on holiday for 2 weeks...came back and it was still running...oops. Complained to the water board when the huge bill came in and they agreed it was ridiculous and sent a man round to find the leak. Thank ~~~~ he found one! Fixed it and a full rebate back to the average quarterly bill, and after that the bills dropped substantially, so I feel less guilt knowing they had been overcharging me for years. i would have made one !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper3 Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Mums bill was also £606.00 she had a leaking pipe..and yes it was her side of the meter, lucky enough she had a ins cover from the southwest water called safesure (think thats right) so the repare was covered... just filling forms in from waterboard to claim money back from leak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 yep you have a leak, first thing is to get the waterboard out to confirm its in your section not theirs. However this will then get you on their radar if its under your garden you will be responsible for the repair and they will enforce it if you take too long. I had one on a terraced house and it was a nightmare, neighbours not agreeing to pay and water board trying to enforce it. In the end having listened as well as possible to where we traced it to we dug it up one saturday afternoon. As soon as we uncovered it all hell broke loose and water everywhere, had to switch it off at the meter which disconnected the neighbour as well. She was one of our ethnic friends and apparently was about to have her annual bath so went up the wall My mates who were there didn't help by finding it hilarious, next problem was buying the kit to repair it on a saturday afternoon. I the end I did find it and as it was a split metal pipe just cut out the section and replaced with plastic along with two special linking compression fittings and job done. We had no signs of a leak at all as it had found its way into the drains. Never had a word of thanks from the neighbour having saved her a packet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted June 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 lads thanks very much for the comments - very useful . the meter is inside my property just under the sink in the utility room , i turned off the stop cock ( that comes out of the top of the meter ) after the meter and the meter stopped runnning . left it like that all night and the meter didnt budge . turned it back this morning and it starts turning again even though no water is being used in the property the meter is turning a red digit every minute approx. so am i right in thinking that means there is a leak on my property i,ve checked the toilet and water tank ball cock , but dont think its there . looked at my overflow pipes and they are all dry. i dont get it we have solid floors all the pipes as far as i am aware are above ground or in the loft and come down the walls for each individual room , unless i,ve got it wrong and the cold water pipes are chased into the floor , but i cant see anything that suggests that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canis Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 If you can't find the source of the problem its time to call a plumber. water meters measure in terms of cubic metres (1000 litres) if your meter has a tenths digit you are geting a change of a tenths digit every minute you are loosing about 1.5 litres a second Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 To be honest, I don't know the workings of a meter. However, as a one time hydraulic engineer I am au fait with volumetric efficiency. Wonder if it's possible that a defective meter could have an internal leak across the flow sensing mechanism and shut off valve giving the indication that water was being used. They're probably fail safe but you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 ok first thing make sure no water is being used and have a listen near the meter you will hear it if water is still flowing. If you can't hear it then get the water board in as it may be the meter, if you can hear it then you can double check all tanks and cisterns etc then it may be worth checking with your house insurer whether you have insurance for leaks within the house. Depending on the type of house you will have a main feed to the kitchen sink and to the cold tank usually so trace it and if it does go up the walls above ground you shouldn't have anywhere for it to leak. If it goes under the floor is when you need to get a little concerned. The other thing worth checking is whether you have a check meter by the road, If so then you can double check from that. Its definitely odd if the meter is in the house I'd be a little cautious about calling just any plumber as you need to know they are right before you do any damage getting to pipes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monster1971 Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 its not a problem on the meter its an internal leak,i had this recently and even though the customers had solid floors the water can seep away through the sub floor we chopped up the floor and replaced the pipework and the leak stopped .you need to speak to your plumber soon because if the water is dissapearing it could be damaging your footings and then you will be in the brown stuff. just because you cant see it dosnt mean its not leaking it can escape through breaks in the oversite like drainage pipes and such Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asa Bear Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 I'm a plumber and just had a similar problem. This time however the customer had heard the leak and it was in the cavity of his extension. I had to repipe the kitchen & isolate the old pipes. Get a professional in pal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodcock Magnet Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 yep you have a leak, first thing is to get the waterboard out to confirm its in your section not theirs. However this will then get you on their radar if its under your garden you will be responsible for the repair and they will enforce it if you take too long. I had one on a terraced house and it was a nightmare, neighbours not agreeing to pay and water board trying to enforce it. In the end having listened as well as possible to where we traced it to we dug it up one saturday afternoon. As soon as we uncovered it all hell broke loose and water everywhere, had to switch it off at the meter which disconnected the neighbour as well. She was one of our ethnic friends and apparently was about to have her annual bath so went up the wall My mates who were there didn't help by finding it hilarious, next problem was buying the kit to repair it on a saturday afternoon. I the end I did find it and as it was a split metal pipe just cut out the section and replaced with plastic along with two special linking compression fittings and job done. We had no signs of a leak at all as it had found its way into the drains. Never had a word of thanks from the neighbour having saved her a packet I, a14x, I'm finding it very hard to concentrate on reading anyones post? as I get distracted by your lady in the pic 'jumping about' is there any chance you can make it bigger!!! :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magman Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 ok first thing make sure no water is being used and have a listen near the meter you will hear it if water is still flowing. If you can't hear it then get the water board in as it may be the meter, if you can hear it then you can double check all tanks and cisterns etc then it may be worth checking with your house insurer whether you have insurance for leaks within the house. Depending on the type of house you will have a main feed to the kitchen sink and to the cold tank usually so trace it and if it does go up the walls above ground you shouldn't have anywhere for it to leak. If it goes under the floor is when you need to get a little concerned. The other thing worth checking is whether you have a check meter by the road, If so then you can double check from that. Its definitely odd if the meter is in the house I'd be a little cautious about calling just any plumber as you need to know they are right before you do any damage getting to pipes No its not any old house that was not on a meter has them fitted as its easy than the water board digging up the pavement Ask the water board to check change your meter as the amount your using should be traceable to most people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showe Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 i think they think u have a fishn lake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 No its not any old house that was not on a meter has them fitted as its easy than the water board digging up the pavement Ask the water board to check change your meter as the amount your using should be traceable to most people We had a water meter fitted a couple of months ago it's on the end of the drive outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 ok first thing make sure no water is being used and have a listen near the meter you will hear it if water is still flowing. If you can't hear it then get the water board in as it may be the meter, if you can hear it then you can double check all tanks and cisterns etc then it may be worth checking with your house insurer whether you have insurance for leaks within the house. Depending on the type of house you will have a main feed to the kitchen sink and to the cold tank usually so trace it and if it does go up the walls above ground you shouldn't have anywhere for it to leak. If it goes under the floor is when you need to get a little concerned. The other thing worth checking is whether you have a check meter by the road, If so then you can double check from that. Its definitely odd if the meter is in the house I'd be a little cautious about calling just any plumber as you need to know they are right before you do any damage getting to pipes i,m trying to find it first if poss because of costs and then get a plumber in or rectify it myself if possible , mrs is double checking the insurance right now. the only thing i have found is a slight drip at my cold water tank from the ball cock housing and it also takes a long time to shut off , i left the loft hatch open and listened to it for a bit and there was a drip every 5/10 seconds , got up there and held the ball cock up till it stopped , ran a hot tap and it carried on dripping but its not overflowing. so i,m going to get the whole attachment from screwfix later , but to be honest is that enough to warrent such a high bill tried dye in the loo , but that was ok , double checked the outside tap - thats ok . looked around and put my finger up all the overflows and they are dry. none of the taps drip . all my ceilings are dry , can not see any water damage. there was an extension built on to property before we moved here just a small one to the lounge , i,m hoping to god theres no pipe under there , if there was surely a builder would of moved it before lying a new floor. so i,m going to start pulling off all the pipe covers around the backs of sinks and loo and check there next . thanks all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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