# Funny Water Bill



## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Interesting water bill just landed on my doorstep...

I moved into the property on 29th October last year, bill runs to 4th October this year...

Guess how much my water bill is for the period...


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## che6mw (Nov 13, 2003)

jampott said:


> Interesting water bill just landed on my doorstep...
> 
> I moved into the property on 29th October last year, bill runs to 4th October this year...
> 
> Guess how much my water bill is for the period...


Sounds like it could be a big number?

We moved in to our place last year and the house had a pay-as-you-go card meter type thing installed for paying for gas and electricity (where you need credit on a card in order to pay for power). We had this removed and Powergen kindly informed us that we might get a few odd bills arriving but they could be ignored as it was Gremlins in their system (to say how old that movie is there are a lot of the little sods still about). We got about 4 bills for about Â£800 each over the next couple of days!


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Â£5


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

actually - are you getting a rebate?


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

keep guessing


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## BreTT (Oct 30, 2002)

12p - a penny a month.


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

you have overpaid by Â£1350 & are being refunded the difference in Beer!!!!!


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## t7 (Nov 2, 2002)

Â£3K

Is there a prize?


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## Private Prozac (Jul 7, 2003)

Do you use water or just bathe in and drink your own piss?


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Ok, there is usually just me and the dogs there... I do shower every morning for about 10 mins, plus the usual ablutions. Curry no more than once a month, and I drink mainly soft drinks and little water, except coffee and occasional tea.

As you know, I never wash my car and the lawn didn't need a sprinkler this year.

Does this help narrow things down?


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## t7 (Nov 2, 2002)

Â£5K


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Lou, you're damn good...

Its part way between your 2 last guesses...


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## t7 (Nov 2, 2002)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Please please record the call to their customer services... bet they wont have trained for a customer as experienced at complaining as you!


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

t7 said:


> :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> Please please record the call to their customer services... bet they wont have trained for a customer as experienced at complaining as you!


hehehehe... the problem is, the bill would appear to be correct. 

Â£4500 give or take the odd couple of quid, just just under a year's water supply.

But I checked the meter outside tonight, and its shifted a fair amount since they read it on 4th Oct - so its quite likely I have a leak, and the meter is, in fact, "correct".

Still, I'm not paying it. They can sing for it... :lol: :lol:


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## che6mw (Nov 13, 2003)

jampott said:


> Still, I'm not paying it. They can sing for it... :lol: :lol:


Cry Me a River perhaps ???
or Bills, Bills, Bills ???
or Hole ???


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## NaughTTy (Jul 9, 2003)

Perhaps it's one of the *LEEK* members getting their own back for the Burberry jibes :lol: :wink:


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## Ikon66 (Sep 12, 2003)

jampott said:


> and the lawn didn't need a sprinkler this year.


That's because the damaged pipe was doin it for you :?


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## Dotti (Mar 9, 2003)

jampott said:


> Â£4500 give or take the odd couple of quid, just just under a year's water supply.
> 
> But I checked the meter outside tonight, and its shifted a fair amount since they read it on 4th Oct - so its quite likely I have a leak, and the meter is, in fact, "correct".
> 
> Still, I'm not paying it. They can sing for it... :lol: :lol:


Or do you think your 'orrible neighbour has fiddled it and played swopsies so you have their meter :twisted: :-* ?

'Apparently' our electricty meter which is situated on OUR house outside belongs to a neighbour across the road and 'apparantly' they have our meter on their outside wall of their house also. [smiley=rolleyes5.gif] . We were just told this so. Anyway hubby sorted thankfully so now we are getting bills in for what we have used.


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## BreTT (Oct 30, 2002)

Scary thing is that it depends on where the break in the pipe is as to who's responsibility it is to repair the break. We had a similar situation recently where we had no water. To cut a very long story short, a leak down below us at the farm meant that the pumps couldn't build enough pressure to pump water up to our house.

As the leak was on the farmer's property, the water company washed their hands of it (unless the farmer was willing to pay them to fix it) and we were left to negotiate with the farmer. Luckily he is a good bloke and has a number of guys working for him, but it still took three days to restore our water supply.

I hope the leak is not on your property or it could get even more expensive........


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

BreTT said:


> Scary thing is that it depends on where the break in the pipe is as to who's responsibility it is to repair the break. We had a similar situation recently where we had no water. To cut a very long story short, a leak down below us at the farm meant that the pumps couldn't build enough pressure to pump water up to our house.
> 
> As the leak was on the farmer's property, the water company washed their hands of it (unless the farmer was willing to pay them to fix it) and we were left to negotiate with the farmer. Luckily he is a good bloke and has a number of guys working for him, but it still took three days to restore our water supply.
> 
> I hope the leak is not on your property or it could get even more expensive........


Yeah, hopefully my British Gas Drains and Plumbing Care will cover anything on my property, and 3 Valleys cover anything up to it, so I'm not anticipating a bill...


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## Lisa. (May 7, 2002)

IIRC British Gas drain and plumbing care will cover water pipes into your home AFTER the stopcock in your house i.e not the pipes into your home and not the stopcock. So they'll only repair the leak if it's in your house. 
I don't know how far the waterboard take responsibilty, but you can bet there's an area in-between that neither take responsibility for.

Wouldn't it be covered by your NHBC?


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## Lisa. (May 7, 2002)

Just as I suspected. Read this on the 3 Valleys website.
http://www.3valleys.co.uk/home/ah_yb_he ... q12.shtml#

As I read it, you are responsible you the supply between the meter and the stopcock, and you _could _ be responsible for paying water lost through leaks after the meter :? 
Read this http://www.3valleys.co.uk/pdf/DomLeakAllowForm.pdf

I'd get onto the builders, the NHBC, your houshold insurers and waterboard ASAP.
I doubt whether the Drains and Plumbing Cover will be any use to you, check this diagram...

http://www.house.co.uk/cgi-bin/house/ho ... xtHigh=700


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## Private Prozac (Jul 7, 2003)

Do you two just talk via the Forum? :wink:


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## Hannibal (Dec 1, 2003)

And I thought my 2.5K (incorrect) gas bill was bad! Not to mention this months Orange bill was Â£320 - of which about Â£15 was actually right!

H


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## TuTTiFruTTi (Jun 24, 2005)

I recently got a letter from Scottish Water offering me "guaranteed mains water supply" for 12p a week or something like that, letter said that paying this would ensure my water supply as any repairs would be made immediately and all costs covered.I am very seriousy thinking of taking them up on their kind offer - especially as I was quoted about Â£7000 to get a mains supply instead of my well and now here they are offering to guarantee me a mains supply for only 12p a week :wink:

...........what I would like to know is where they got my name and address as I have never been a customer?


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## BreTT (Oct 30, 2002)

There's a lot of it going around...I didn't know you lived on a traveller's site though.... :wink:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4380134.stm


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## chriz1000 (Sep 17, 2005)

My business water bill for the year came through the other day, we have 2 toilets and a drinks machine, Iâ€™d say we use about twice as much water as the average house hold. I couldnâ€™t believe it when I read we owned Â£11800! Getting someone out to investigate


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

3valleys came yesterday. I turned off the stopcock, and we watched the meter carry on spinning around... 

The chap tells me if the leak was at the meter end, we'd expect to see water in the well where the meter is. There is nowt...

The pipe has no joins, and runs under the pavement, under the house, then bends upwards into the kitchen where it hits the stopcock. His best guess (from experience) is that there is a crack where the pipe bends, and this is where the water is leaking from.

Its not their responsibility (and they don't want to take my house apart) and its not British Gas' responsibility either (their cover kicks in after the stopcock) so I'm getting the housebuilder out at lunchtime to do their own investigating. I'll be expecting them to put it right AND square off the waterbill with 3valleys.

Of course it may mean digging up my kitchen floor... 

I hope they dig up the hall and dining room as well, as I'm currently getting quotes to do that myself anyway, to lay some wooden flooring


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## BreTT (Oct 30, 2002)

You're remarkably calm about all this....not sure I'd be.


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## R6B TT (Feb 25, 2003)

I had the same problem - the pipe was bent up to the stopcock, and when they had laid the screed for the floor a lump of flint had mashed the pipe to about half its normal size and (after time) penetrated it. I dug out the screed and got a plumber in who charged me 50 quid to fix.

However the leak had buggered a number of the kitchen units which needed replacing too.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

BreTT said:


> You're remarkably calm about all this....not sure I'd be.


Its not like I have an irreplaceable 1800's floor or anything like that. There's only me in the house most of the time, so I don't have to worry too much about disruption. No kiddies to fall down holes in the floor or anything like that...

I'm banking, obviously, on Bryant taking responsibility and fixing it - and expecting it'll be better than new when fixed. I'm not paying the water bill as the pipe was almost certainly broken when the house was built, which makes it their responsibility, not mine...

No point ranting and raving about it


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

R6B TT said:


> I had the same problem - the pipe was bent up to the stopcock, and when they had laid the screed for the floor a lump of flint had mashed the pipe to about half its normal size and (after time) penetrated it. I dug out the screed and got a plumber in who charged me 50 quid to fix.
> 
> However the leak had buggered a number of the kitchen units which needed replacing too.


I daresay that's what happened with mine. Or similar. Difference is, I've got a kitchen floor laid over the screed now, which could be rather messy to dig up... but its not insurmountable.

AFAIK, the kitchen units aren't affected, but I don't know what would have to be removed / refitted in order to fix the problem...

I guess I might have a better idea later on today!


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## head_ed (Dec 10, 2002)

Tim,

Remember the shenanigans we had at my old place when 2 of the showers weren't draining properly & when the house builders came out to look they discovered that they hadn't connected the plumbing at the back of the house to the drains!

I am sure given the fact that it is a new house you will have no problems getting it sorted on their buck


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## BreTT (Oct 30, 2002)

I guess I am just used to companies trying to wheedle their way out of responsibility and therefore liability. Hope all goes well with the repairs.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Bryant's groundworkers turned up to have a look today. The pipe will run from the street, under my front garden, under my bay window, dining room and kitchen.

They're coming back tomorrow to dig up my front garden, close to the house to isolate whether or not the leak occurs BEFORE the bay window or AFTER it, which will determine whether they need to take my house apart or not.


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## silkman (Jul 29, 2004)

jampott said:


> They're coming back tomorrow to dig up my front garden, close to the house to isolate whether or not the leak occurs BEFORE the bay window or AFTER it, which will determine whether they need to take my house apart or not.


They obviously won't take the house apart - they'll bypass the old and broken pipe if that's the case :roll:


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

silkman said:


> jampott said:
> 
> 
> > They're coming back tomorrow to dig up my front garden, close to the house to isolate whether or not the leak occurs BEFORE the bay window or AFTER it, which will determine whether they need to take my house apart or not.
> ...


I'm not entirely sure how they can bypass a pipe which is buried under the house, and which terminates in the kitchen. Whatever new piping they lay has to connect to my stopcock as well...


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## CH_Peter (May 16, 2002)

jampott said:


> Whatever new piping they lay has to connect to my stopcock as well...


I'm not sure surgery's the answer.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Well... it all appears to be solved.

I got home to a tidy-ish front garden, and obvious signs of the pavement being taken up. Went in, turned off the water and then checked the meter. Its no longer spinning 

Spoke to one of the groundworkers - apparently there WAS a join in the pipe - or rather a snap connector only about a metre from the meter. Whoever installed it forgot to put a couple of the rubber seals in it, by the sounds of it, and that was that...

Groundworkers have billed the house builder directly, and I'll also be passing the water bill onto them as well, as the pipe has obviously ALWAYS been leaking, since the day it was installed.


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

Glad its all sorted, and nice too see a nice and calm and smoothly sorted out situation!

Shame you didn't manage to get your new flooring FOC though


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