What could go wrong with my water bill?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › What could go wrong with my water bill?

alexchennz

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#315849 22-Aug-2024 13:02

Hi there,

My water usage has raised for a long time. The last month water bill shows my daily household(4 adults and 1 child) usage is 1600L. It is a lot more than expected, so I did a water metre check for 30 mins not using any water. There was a leak, but it was just 1 litre per 30 mins, which is equivalent to 48 litres per day. It is not a lot compared to 1600. What else could be the problem?

If a pipe to my house is leaking, it still shows in the water metre, doesn't it?
I suspect it is the hot water cylinder is faulty and uses more water. can plumber companies detect this? or better to contact hot water cylinder company to check?

Please share your inputs.

Thank you!

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#3274459 22-Aug-2024 13:08

Also check how they're doing the usage readings - estimated or actual physical reading ?

An old neighbor was getting high readings from Watercare, he spoke to Watercare who said they had sent out someone for physical readings. Funny thing was, the meter was under 30cms of dirt and had never been touched (I dug it out) . Also found the meter was faulty anyway and wasn't recording any usage at all.

XPD / Gavin

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alexchennz

3 posts

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#3274462 22-Aug-2024 13:18

xpd:

Also check how they're doing the usage readings - estimated or actual physical reading ?

An old neighbor was getting high readings from Watercare, he spoke to Watercare who said they had sent out someone for physical readings. Funny thing was, the meter was under 30cms of dirt and had never been touched (I dug it out) . Also found the meter was faulty anyway and wasn't recording any usage at all.

My average daily water usage has been over 1000L for the last 5 months(it shows the last 5 months in the bill). Is this normaly for a 4 adult 1 child family?

concordnz

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#3274469 22-Aug-2024 13:34

Turning the main tap off - There could still ge a water leak into your house. (both at the house side of the main tap, or one of the joins coming into your house. )

Make sure everything in the house is off - then check the meter at 30min intervals. to see how much the 'house' is using with everything off.

(it could even be a leaky toilet.)
but most likely sticky HWC valve.

concordnz

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#3274472 22-Aug-2024 13:41

a 4 person household uses 466-620 litres per day, on average, according to Watercare Stats.
A 5 person household 621-775 litres per day.

cddt

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#3274500 22-Aug-2024 15:03

alexchennz:

My average daily water usage has been over 1000L for the last 5 months(it shows the last 5 months in the bill). Is this normaly for a 4 adult 1 child family?

Not unless you're each taking a 20 minute shower every day. If you are, then it sounds about right.

My referral links: BigPipe | Mercury

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altered-ego
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#3274504 22-Aug-2024 15:14

Here's a usage chart for 3 adults.

1½ at home during the day.

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concordnz

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#3274533 22-Aug-2024 17:12

20min showers are a great way to relax with peace and quiet (and avoid kids)

alexchennz

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#3274542 22-Aug-2024 17:27

concordnz: 20min showers are a great way to relax with peace and quiet (and avoid kids)

Nah, our shower time are normally 5 to 10 mins. if needs washing hair takes around 15 mins. Kid takes less time to shower. We dont shower that long 😉

pdh

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#3274543 22-Aug-2024 17:32

Come on guys - this isn't rocket science...

Applying statistical 'average family' water use to any specific family is a bit better (but not much) than the joke statistic about human average boob count (ie: one).

Get a watch, get a bucket and do some math on your personal family consumption.
If all occupants are teenage girls... it's going to be high.
If it's people who shower once a week, it's going to be low.
If you're washing cars or kayaks or watering a garden...

You should be able to get an estimate that's 80% accurate - for your specific case.

Armed with some empirical data - you'll be better placed to chase leaks or faulty meters or faulty readings.

cddt

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#3274546 22-Aug-2024 18:07

alexchennz:

I did a water metre check for 30 mins not using any water. There was a leak, but it was just 1 litre per 30 mins, which is equivalent to 48 litres per day. It is not a lot compared to 1600. What else could be the problem?

Get the leak fixed first. I'm no expert but I could imagine a scenario where the rate of leakage increases when the overall flow is higher (i.e. during usage), so it could be adding more than 48 litres / day to your bill.

My referral links: BigPipe | Mercury

blackjack17

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#3274548 22-Aug-2024 18:15

2 adults 2 children.

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mudguard

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#3274550 22-Aug-2024 18:31

alexchennz:
Hi there,

My water usage has raised for a long time. The last month water bill shows my daily household(4 adults and 1 child) usage is 1600L. It is a lot more than expected, so I did a water metre check for 30 mins not using any water. There was a leak, but it was just 1 litre per 30 mins, which is equivalent to 48 litres per day. It is not a lot compared to 1600. What else could be the problem?

If a pipe to my house is leaking, it still shows in the water metre, doesn't it?

I suspect it is the hot water cylinder is faulty and uses more water. can plumber companies detect this? or better to contact hot water cylinder company to check?

Please share your inputs.

Thank you!

We had a leak at the mains earlier this year. We went from about 300L per day to 1000L.
A couple and I'm away during the week. The coupling to the house had a pinhole leak which we actually heard as it was leaking almost straight into the nearby cesspit.
I think it had actually been leaking for quite some before that as our water bill seemed really high for 1.5 people.
We keep getting estimates based on the high use too but it will eventually catch up.

tweake

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#3274552 22-Aug-2024 18:56

i had a split in the main water pipe a few months back. the interesting thing was that it must have been on going for quite a long time as the water flow carved out a tunnel in the dirt. i think the split opened up depending on ground movement, which is why it was never noticed for a long time as water usage didn't change a lot.

Tinkerisk

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#3274560 22-Aug-2024 19:19

Insane consumption. As an industrialised nation, we consume an average of 120 litres per inhabitant per day (which is still too much in the future) and pay for both drinking water and wastewater treatment. Now someone might get the idea that we don't wash ourselves in Germany ... but we do. So it must be something else. 🤣

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#3274561 22-Aug-2024 19:27

@alexchennz You need to confirm whether the reading are actuals or estimates, estimates are sometimes off based on previous usage, and if you have had a few estimates in a row, we had 4 in a row, then it can really muck things up

It shows an E or A under the year in the bar graphs whether it's an estimate or not

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