$3807 Water Bill

Received a phone call yesterday from water supplier stating I need to pay my water consumption bill of $3807... (water consumption over 950 kl) during this 2 month period (May 2015-July2015). This for one of my developments in Melb, where I started building/developing during this period.

Bill average prior and after the above period was around $160.

My initial reaction - has to be a leak, checked the builder, he advised of a minor leak that had been repaired immediately.

This amount of water would be noticed by neighbours as there would be severe flooding on the street.

The Water supplier takes no responsibility whatsoever, part of their conditions.

Apparently in Sydney as long as a plumber advises that it is a leak the invoice will be waived?

Not sure if its the same for Melb?

At the end of the day the invoice is in my companies name and I am looking for solutions to this, passing it on to the builder is not a solution for me.

I emailed the water supplier and stated I am currently investigating this and will get back to them shortly.

Any idea, solutions that may help me with this, I am patient.

MTR

 

Ouch

Do the bills in Vic have the meter reading on them? Some states do. Have someone onsite check the meter reading, maybe the Water Co just wrote it down wrong.

 

i had leak in sydney a year or 2 ago..they waive 50% of the increase if you have a statement from plumber saying it was undetected leak or something...but they only waive once a year from memory

better than nothing

 

In NSW you are required to submit a 'plumber's statement' with regards to a leak. They may grant a one off credit of up to $1000 every 5 yrs.

What is in the building contract regarding payment of services?

Get the builder to apply for the removal of the meter and pay the fixed fee for a construction site (check the website ).

 

Hi MTR.
There could be two things.
1) Is the builder using your water? I had this happened to one of my sites, the concrete was using water....
2) Even if the leak was minor sometimes with the pressure it can cause allot of water to leak.
I think it will it be hard for you to get this waived due to a development site being build so water company can argue that maybe the builders have been using the water.

 

Any reason for this?
Doesn't your builder pay water consumption during the build?
From our past developments, builder always paid water consumption as per contract.

 

I had a similar water bill a few years ago in Brisbane. The water supply company sent out a representative as our consumption was larger than typical for our area.

They thought it might have been a leak. I told them that I used 100kl to refill the pool (after renovations) and I had planted 6,000sqm of turf and needed to water it (with underground irrigation) as the rains didn't eventuate. Water was cheap compared with the turf. So, no leak.

I ask the rep who would have been responsible if there was a leak. From memory they said, if it was before the front fence-line, it was theirs; if it was after, it was mine.

When we got the bill, I was disappointed. We had used around 975kl for 3 months. If I had known this, I would have used another 25kl so that I could be a member of their Million Litre Club .

 

From what I have heard the 50% off fee is only if it's a residential property leak

Not if it is commercial which may be a problem for MTR as she has stated she builds as a company ?

Not sure. Hopefully 50% off will happen

 

How are they verifying the amount of water?

 

If there was an undetectable leak they will like reduce the bill but not waive it.

If the leak was before the meter it is their responsibly anything after is yours (including 2cm after the meter (e.g. Their Resp - METER - YOURS-----------------------------------------House). I had a leak where I couldn't tell as the meter is in my garden and there was no signs, got I think 50% (about 4000-2000) this was going back a number of years so memory is a bit vague.

 

Not always, water can travel before making its way above ground or become noticed . I've seen leaks bubbling at one point and the actual leak 100m up the road.
You need a good plumber to search and find the leak,repair it and then cry poor to the water authority for a discount

Or has the meter been misread??

 

Ouch.
I would expect a leak allowance - we have the same in Perth where a plumber can write that they fixed a leak and Water Corp will discount the usage for that period.

When my Highgate copper water pipes got stolen the lowlife 'kindly' crimped the ends so that water wouldn't leak but did a half ar$ed job of it and water was spraying everywhere in the backyard. No one noticed for about 2 weeks as the place was empty and it was being absorbed by the ground. Wish the low life had turned the water off at the mains when they stole the pipes. Anyway Water Corp gave me a discount on the usage once the situation was explained and I had a note from a plumber.

 

Are you sure they didn't apply an estimate because they couldn't "access" the meter?

 

I know South East Water in Melbourne has leak allowance, have used in the past. So speak with your water provider and check if they have leak allowance process in place. You will need a plumbers report verifying the issue has been rectified.

 

Sydney Water Form

 

i used to work for South East Water - it is normal for people to steal water etc esp concreters etc. just be careful. i always put a clause to cover all running costs (electrical, water etc) during construction until handover.

 

Really, so does this work, the steal it? where
I had the builder on site during pouring of concrete... this is all new to me

The original house was demolished and I think perhaps this is when it happened?

Thanks

 

That is not the supplier, but I will phone anyway.
Also its in my company name, someone mentioned this may not be possible.
Thanks

 

Apparently at the time the supplier thought there was a mistake with reading so they re read meter.

 

That's terrible.
Perhaps my neighbour stole my water, probably has a big pool in his backyard and just hooked it up.. can I use that one