Unusually High Water Metre Reading All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[Nadia1982]

Hello,

Our water bill has gone up from 10£ to 110£ pcm. Usage from last metre reading says we used 193m³ in a year - it's only two of us, not year round, and we're the eco-conscious type. It's also three times what we previously used.
Water company suspects a leak in our rented flat, which they will come to check (but we know it is not the case). There's a couple of things though:
1/. The stopcock in our kitchen is currently stuck open (not fully I think). I tried WD40 (in vain) but won't do more myself for now as we are renting.
2/. Our meter is far from the flat, in a pit with a dozen others.

Obviously it could be many things and it will be looked into, but there's one in particular that has been bugging me: is it possible we are paying for a neighbour's bill as well as our own? If that's possible, could it have been done intentionally by someone with a bit of know-how? I don't want to accuse anyone of anything (nor do I want you to) but there's a new build (lived in about a year) next door, and lots of strange people have poked into that pit over the past 18 months...

I guess I just want to know if it is theoretically a realistic option, or if I am just being paranoid!

[htg engineer]

Get your supplier to check meter and check for leaks.

Unless new to the property or there's been building work carried out, its unlikely that you're paying for the neighbours water.

More likely to be a leak, between the meter and the house.

[Nadia1982]

Get your supplier to check meter and check for leaks.

Unless new to the property or there's been building work carried out, its unlikely that you're paying for the neighbours water.

More likely to be a leak, between the meter and the house.

Hi, thank you! It has been looked into. Mistake by the water company, simply. A big one that we could not have found ourselves from the readings and billing, and they only looked into it once they had excluded everything else. They were quick to act and refund though.