Check your water meters or get the chequebook

keno-daytrader · 20-09-2014 08:52PM #1

Ok, so I wanted to get a feel for how much water I use, went out to the trusty water meter and took a reading.

Then I noticed the little fecker was spinning like there is no tomorrow, went in and shut off the mains at supply in kitchen, as I thought the tank maybe filling in the attic. Out to the water meter to check, she still going like the devil.

Went out the next day and repeated process when I made sure attic tank was full, same thing, God only know how much water is going thru my meter but never reaching my house.

Im the end house, and suspect suspect the builder of the estate botched it like so many other thing during the tiger. (Estate is 5 years old)

I went on Irish water website, searched hi and low about leaks but found nothing, I will start paying for water next week, wtf is the procedure for this mess?

BTW nothing has come thru the post about Irish water or any packet with FAQ's

<snip> nothing on Irish water website about someone in my position, or else it is buried so deep and a normal person cant find it.

<snip>

Kristopherus · 20-09-2014 09:00PM

<snip>

On a serious note, ring Irish Water on Monday about this nonsense. Get them to check out the meter. Pt the onus firmly in their court. They are responsible for the upkeep of the meters. Make sure you check it at regular intervals between now and Monday morning. Might be helpful to have a chat with your neighbours.

Wabbit Ears · 20-09-2014 09:03PM

First irish water said If you can find the leak, Irish water will fix for free. This was all over the papers when they started this water meter thing

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-water-well-repair-leaks-but-youll-have-to-find-them-29882238.html

But of course they screwed us all on that

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/irish-water-will-fix-your-leak-for-free-if-its-big-enough-30278873.html

So if you have a leak they reccomend you get a plumber

What will I do if I have a water leak on my property?

From:https://www.water.ie/help-centre/contact-us/online-enquiry/
If the leak is within the boundary of your property it is your responsibility as the owner of the property to get it fixed. We would advise you to contact an accredited plumber who may assist you in determining the location of the leak and make a repair to the pipe.
If the leak is outside your property please contact Irish Water.

Id say just contact Irish water and give them the two readings with the mains turned off for a few hours and ask them how to proceed.

The_Morrigan · 20-09-2014 09:11PM

keno-daytrader wrote: »

Irish politics at its best, Phil makes an absolute balls of everything he touches, and Enda knows he will never get elected again, but ****e... Phil backed me big during the attempeted oust in the party, I better send Him to Europe with a big fat salary and 2 pensions so he can retire fat and happy, while the rest of us wallow in the **** he left behind.

Rant over sorry

Keno this is A&P, if you want to talk politics we have a forum dedicated to that topic. Please keep your posts here within the remit of this forum.

keno-daytrader · 20-09-2014 09:19PM

The_Morrigan wrote: »

Keno this is A&P, if you want to talk politics we have a forum dedicated to that topic. Please keep your posts here within the remit of this forum.

Fair enough, ok so back on topic, I rent this property, as Im not the owner and Im not Irish water, but I seem to still be responsible for the charges that come thru this water meter by the looks of things Irish water wont care about the problem if the leak is on the property.

And just who determines where the leak is?

I had a look around the property and the ghost estate that adjoins it and can see no standing water. Landlord will say its not my problem, Irish water will say its not our problem, and I think many people like me will be fecked because the bill is going to me.

The_Morrigan · 20-09-2014 09:32PM

Tell your landlord you think there is a leak. Although you are responsible for the charges the landlord is responsible for any repairs to the property.
He'll be paying the bill if the house is ever empty between tenants so it's in his best interests to sort it out.

Uncle Ben · 20-09-2014 09:57PM

From the links provided it does appear that Irish Water have changed the goalposts. I too was under the impression that the first fix was free and there did not appear to be any distinction whether the fault was inside or outside the gate.

However, if I were the op, I would first check to see if there is a cross service connection coming into the property, i.e. that the meter, boundary box or stopcock which is actually outside your house does not in fact service your neighbour's supply. This is in fact not so uncommon and it was I believe supposed to be checked by the meter installers. Whether they did check is another question.

To do it yourself, turn your supply off at the meter which appears to be outside your property fully. Then turn your own taps on internally. If the water flows then it means that the builders have put the connections in arse ways and your connection is outside your neighbours. If the connection is correct however the next thing I would suggest if the meter is spinning around even with the supply switched off is to contact your Co.Co.

Although the councils have passed over most of their roles and duties to Irish Water, you maybe lucky enough to get some water caretaker who may come out and at least try and detect if the leak is on your side or the public side of your fence.

I know up to recently of some local authorities that would detect and repair leaks, however with approx. 2 weeks to go I could not say with any certainty if councils are going to do any repairs at this late stage. Phone the council and your local Councillor for starters and other wise just hope that that the leak is major enough for Irish water to rectify. Good luck.

iguana · 20-09-2014 11:42PM

Uncle Ben wrote: »

However, if I were the op, I would first check to see if there is a cross service connection coming into the property, i.e. that the meter, boundary box or stopcock which is actually outside your house does not in fact service your neighbour's supply. This is in fact not so uncommon and it was I believe supposed to be checked by the meter installers. Whether they did check is another question.

Yup very common apparently. We found out by chance last week that a neighbours' water supply is coming through our meter. We're on a bit of a race against time to get it sorted as billing starts in 10 days.

keno-daytrader · 22-09-2014 01:36PM

Ok so I took a reading sat night, and just took one now so approx 36 hours have passed.

The meter shows 12,000 liters used!

We were away for most of the weekend and consumed hardly any water, so obviously there is a major leak or diversion somewhere.

I'll get on to Irish water and find out what the next step is, however I heard the spinster lady from IW on Newstalk this morning and she seemed to indicate that the leak procedure had not been fully finalized yet as so many things with IW, but we start paying next week!

Belfunk · 22-09-2014 02:06PM

Op i had a similar problem, i was fairly sure long before the meter was installed that my neighbour was connected to our supply. To cut a long story short they admitted fault and removed the meter as there were two houses feeding off the one meter.

I had a word with the contractor installing the meters and they told me that one meter in Glasneivin had 7 houses feeding off it. When i questioned why the meter was installed i was told that it wasn't their job to find out who was feeding off the meter that was for Irish water to deal with. In the same conversation he pointed out another two houses on my road that were probably feeding off the one meter.

keno-daytrader · 23-09-2014 08:38PM

Irish water were in touch and this was there response, it would appear the govt have done a complete u-turn on Phil Hogan promise of

"To help households control consumption, the Government will fund a scheme providing a free first fix of leaks identified by meter installers during the metering programme. "

Here is Irish Water reply to my inquiry on a serious leak.

"Thank you for your email regarding a potential leak.

The owner/occupier is responsible for the maintenance for any water pipe work up to 225mm from the boundary of their property. Irish Water are responsible for the maintenance for any water pipe work beyond this point. If the leak is on your private property, it would be your responsibility to get it fixed."

If we are losing 40% of our water thru leaks, I suspect this will become a major issue to home owners and renters, when we start paying based on the meters.

L1011 · 23-09-2014 08:43PM

keno-daytrader wrote: »

Irish water were in touch and this was there response, it would appear the govt have done a complete u-turn on Phil Hogan promise of

"To help households control consumption, the Government will fund a scheme providing a free first fix of leaks identified by meter installers during the metering programme. "

Here is Irish Water reply to my inquiry on a serious leak.

"Thank you for your email regarding a potential leak.

The owner/occupier is responsible for the maintenance for any water pipe work up to 225mm from the boundary of their property. Irish Water are responsible for the maintenance for any water pipe work beyond this point. If the leak is on your private property, it would be your responsibility to get it fixed."

If we are losing 40% of our water thru leaks, I suspect this will become a major issue to home owners and renters, when we start paying based on the meters.

Devil is in the detail here - the leak wasn't detected by the installers, which is what the quote states.

keno-daytrader · 23-09-2014 08:53PM

MYOB wrote: »

Devil is in the detail here - the leak wasn't detected by the installers, which is what the quote states.

Its a farce, there are more than 5000 litres of water going thru my meter in a 24 hour period and as a renter Irish Water say Im responsible.

Uncle Ben · 23-09-2014 09:00PM

keno-daytrader wrote: »

Irish water were in touch and this was there response, it would appear the govt have done a complete u-turn on Phil Hogan promise of

"To help households control consumption, the Government will fund a scheme providing a free first fix of leaks identified by meter installers during the metering programme. "

Here is Irish Water reply to my inquiry on a serious leak.

"Thank you for your email regarding a potential leak.

The owner/occupier is responsible for the maintenance for any water pipe work up to 225mm from the boundary of their property. Irish Water are responsible for the maintenance for any water pipe work beyond this point. If the leak is on your private property, it would be your responsibility to get it fixed."

If we are losing 40% of our water thru leaks, I suspect this will become a major issue to home owners and renters, when we start paying based on the meters.

I am not suggesting anything, however I did hear that if your meter somehow ended up being smashed a person would end up receiving an assessed bill. Considering how much water you are losing over a weekend when the house is empty it could be a cheaper and cleaner option.

The_Morrigan · 23-09-2014 09:03PM

keno-daytrader wrote: »

Its a farce, there are more than 5000 litres of water going thru my meter in a 24 hour period and as a renter Irish Water say Im responsible.

He owner is responsible for repairs...get onto your landlord pronto with the response from Irish Water.

Nono Toure · 23-09-2014 09:07PM

How do I check my meter? Do I just look under the black box on the footpath that was installed a few months ago? I live in an estate, and on my row of houses is about 16 houses, but Irish Water only installed 4 black boxes (meter cover). I presume only 1 meter is under each box??

Uncle Ben · 23-09-2014 09:20PM

Nono Toure wrote: »

How do I check my meter? Do I just look under the black box on the footpath that was installed a few months ago? I live in an estate, and on my row of houses is about 16 houses, but Irish Water only installed 4 black boxes (meter cover). I presume only 1 meter is under each box??

Ideally a meter should be located outside of your property. That black box is called a boundary box and in effect this houses your meter and future 'stopcock'. open the lid with a screwdriver and have a look around. the black numbers are litres and red part litres. You will be measured in cubic metres and 1000 litres = 1 cubic metre..If there is no box outside of your house your stopcock could possibly be on private property or else there is possible confusion over its location or who it serves.If you have no bb installed you will more than likely get an assessed bill.

Kelly06 · 23-09-2014 09:29PM

5,000 litres @4.88 per thousand litres is nearly €25 euro a day. If your land lord won't fix it before the metered charge comes in in six months I would just move out!

Nono Toure · 23-09-2014 09:29PM

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Ideally a meter should be located outside of your property. That black box is called a boundary box and in effect this houses your meter and future 'stopcock'. open the lid with a screwdriver and have a look around. the black numbers are litres and red part litres. You will be measured in cubic metres and 1000 litres = 1 cubic metre..If there is no box outside of your house your stopcock could possibly be on private property or else there is possible confusion over its location or who it serves.If you have no bb installed you will more than likely get an assessed bill.

Thanks for that Ben. There's a BB right outside my house on the footpath, but then there's none again for 3 houses either way! I just hope the BB at my house is for my house, and MY house only...

L1011 · 23-09-2014 09:32PM

Nono Toure wrote: »

Thanks for that Ben. There's a BB right outside my house on the footpath, but then there's none again for 3 houses either way! I just hope the BB at my house is for my house, and MY house only...

Are there stopcocks for them?

On my road they put in meters for everyone with the stopcock on the path or on the original concrete driveway - anyone with the stopcock on an asphalt or cobblelock driveway didn't get one yet. They were here again during the week a bit down the road but I didn't do see what they were doing so it may have been a return with an asphalt contractor or something.

Nono Toure · 23-09-2014 09:34PM

MYOB wrote: »

Are there stopcocks for them?

On my road they put in meters for everyone with the stopcock on the path or on the original concrete driveway - anyone with the stopcock on an asphalt or cobblelock driveway didn't get one yet. They were here again during the week a bit down the road but I didn't do see what they were doing so it may have been a return with an asphalt contractor or something.

Not sure if the stop cock is there. I've only recently moved in here. I never looked under the black cover. I'll check them tomorrow and see.

ted1 · 23-09-2014 09:35PM

If your losing that amount if water, you would notice damp in the house or garden and quite possible suffer from subsidence.

Turn off all the water . Take a reading, fill a 5 litre bottle and read the meter again.

Then come back to us

Uncle Ben · 23-09-2014 09:38PM

Nono Toure wrote: »

Thanks for that Ben. There's a BB right outside my house on the footpath, but then there's none again for 3 houses either way! I just hope the BB at my house is for my house, and MY house only...

Go out tomorrow and check.There should be a large white plastic key type screw beside the meter. just turn it a quarter turn and it should knock off the water in your house.Run your taps and if they run out you will know the connection is yours. if the water continues to flow well then you are in the same boat as a lot of other people.

Uncle Ben · 23-09-2014 09:51PM

MYOB wrote: »

Are there stopcocks for them?

On my road they put in meters for everyone with the stopcock on the path or on the original concrete driveway - anyone with the stopcock on an asphalt or cobblelock driveway didn't get one yet. They were here again during the week a bit down the road but I didn't do see what they were doing so it may have been a return with an asphalt contractor or something.

the installation was carried out initially on all those houses were the stopcocks were located on public property. where stopcocks are located on private property, on crazy paving, tarmac drives and running through the back gardens etc., these will be addressed at later stages.

jay0109 · 23-09-2014 09:54PM

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Ideally a meter should be located outside of your property. That black box is called a boundary box and in effect this houses your meter and future 'stopcock'. open the lid with a screwdriver and have a look around. the black numbers are litres and red part litres. You will be measured in cubic metres and 1000 litres = 1 cubic metre..If there is no box outside of your house your stopcock could possibly be on private property or else there is possible confusion over its location or who it serves.If you have no bb installed you will more than likely get an assessed bill.

My meter has only got black numbers and only 5 at that which seems very small. It has moved up to 16 when I checked it yesterday- it was on zero a few days after it went in last June.
Annoying that I cannot see part litres as its hard to know if the meter is running through leaks etc

Thoie · 23-09-2014 10:16PM

Elizabeth Wotsit (Irish Water representative) just announced on Prime Time again that the first fix is free, even if it's between the meter and the house, so I'd get back on to Irish Water again.

crossmolinalad · 24-09-2014 11:28AM

close the stopcock before the meter on a saturday or sunday morning when everyone is home
if your next doors are connected to your supply they will knock on your door with the question if you are out of water also
My brother in law had the same problem and found out there were six other houses connected to his supply and meter
And all of those other houses had their meters too connected to each other (in serial connection)

Meter>>house>>>>meter>>>>house>>>>meter>>> ECT ECT

Idbatterim · 24-09-2014 12:05PM

Didnt I read recently somewhere that they were setting aside 50 odd million to deal with leaks on private property? Op while this is unfortunate for you andI hope you get it sorted out asap, this is exactly why there should be water metering, simply no one gives a sh*t if they are getting something for free, now I know we are already paying for it indirectly....

keno-daytrader · 24-09-2014 12:26PM

Thoie wrote: »

Elizabeth Wotsit (Irish Water representative) just announced on Prime Time again that the first fix is free, even if it's between the meter and the house, so I'd get back on to Irish Water again.

Thanks a mil for that, I will get on to them again, can this whole thing be any more of a joke?

Lady on Prime time says first fix is free but IW tell me in writing that all responsibility falls on the owner/occupier, this is off to a really good start.

oinkely · 24-09-2014 12:46PM

Driving to work (or possibly home from work) one day and the Head of Communications with Irish water (Elizabeth Arnett) a very articulate lady was being interviewed - I would imagine on morning Ireland, or drivetime. And she repeatedly stated that Irish water would fix the first leak inside your property for free. There was no mention of who had to identify the leak, only that it would be fixed for free.

did a quick google for the podcast there but not having much luck. Maybe someone else will be unable to unearth it.

Thoie · 24-09-2014 02:08PM

oinkely wrote: »

Driving to work (or possibly home from work) one day and the Head of Communications with Irish water (Elizabeth Arnett) a very articulate lady was being interviewed - I would imagine on morning Ireland, or drivetime. And she repeatedly stated that Irish water would fix the first leak inside your property for free. There was no mention of who had to identify the leak, only that it would be fixed for free.

did a quick google for the podcast there but not having much luck. Maybe someone else will be unable to unearth it.

That's the same one who was on Prime Time last night (I missed her surname). Here's the Prime Time episode : http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10326874/

She's introduced and starts speaking around the 5 minute mark.

Check your water meters or get the chequebook

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