Discussion
We have had a Hive water monitor for a coupe of months and it has recently been sending alerts about increased water usage. For those who aren't familiar this device clamps onto the main incoming water pipe and after a few days deriving normal usage, it sends alerts if it sees higher flow.
Anyway I contacted South East Water and got details of where our meter is. It's down the street around 30 metres away.
I've done several tests now where I ensure no water is being used then check the meter periodically and it seems to consistently use a couple of (sub) units even when nothing is being used. (ie no dripping taps, showers, leaky toilets - nothing visible anyway). We have no water tank in the attic.
By usage - I mean that the red numbers are clocking up at around one per 30 minutes. So a single full unit (ie in the black and white numbers) would I guess be used every 50 hours.
I have agreed with SE Water that I would monitor the situation for a day or two then get back to them.
Before I get back to them could someone confirm my understanding?
- if no water is being used then I would expect to see no movement whatsoever in the meter - sounds obvious but I should confirm
- if there is a leak in the 30 metres between the meter and the house - is this down to the supplier to resolve or (as I suspect) me? Note sure whether the Hive monitor would even raise an alert about a potential leak outside the property.
- anyone had any experience in such a discussion with south east water?
This may be unrelated but our meter is outside a property 3 doors down from us. One house further down has recently had a part of the pavement cordoned off while South East Water repairs are carried out outside their property.
Anyway I contacted South East Water and got details of where our meter is. It's down the street around 30 metres away.
I've done several tests now where I ensure no water is being used then check the meter periodically and it seems to consistently use a couple of (sub) units even when nothing is being used. (ie no dripping taps, showers, leaky toilets - nothing visible anyway). We have no water tank in the attic.
By usage - I mean that the red numbers are clocking up at around one per 30 minutes. So a single full unit (ie in the black and white numbers) would I guess be used every 50 hours.
I have agreed with SE Water that I would monitor the situation for a day or two then get back to them.
Before I get back to them could someone confirm my understanding?
- if no water is being used then I would expect to see no movement whatsoever in the meter - sounds obvious but I should confirm
- if there is a leak in the 30 metres between the meter and the house - is this down to the supplier to resolve or (as I suspect) me? Note sure whether the Hive monitor would even raise an alert about a potential leak outside the property.
- anyone had any experience in such a discussion with south east water?
This may be unrelated but our meter is outside a property 3 doors down from us. One house further down has recently had a part of the pavement cordoned off while South East Water repairs are carried out outside their property.
Obviously I can't help with where the leak is, sounds like a fitting is wheeping.
Downstream from your meter is your problem I'm afraid. Although because it's further up the road the water board May honour the repair as it's outside of your boundary, but 9/10 times if the meter is at the property it'll be your issue.
Have you checked around your stopcock? It could be an idea to isolate the stopcock for an hour or so and check the meter again. That way you can eliminate the probability of it being indoors.
Downstream from your meter is your problem I'm afraid. Although because it's further up the road the water board May honour the repair as it's outside of your boundary, but 9/10 times if the meter is at the property it'll be your issue.
Have you checked around your stopcock? It could be an idea to isolate the stopcock for an hour or so and check the meter again. That way you can eliminate the probability of it being indoors.
Thames will allow one free repair between the meter and house, might be worth checking if South East do too. They all seem to have their way of doing things, Thames puts the meter on the pavement/drive just outside your boundary, at my parents in East yorkshire they put the meters just inside the boundary. Having one 30m away just sounds odd, is there a bunch of them together are are you on a non-urban road?
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