We recommend reading your water meter regularly as you’ll be able to get more accurate bills and identify increases in your water use. It should be quick and easy, and to help you, we’ve created this simple guide.
Finding your meter
If you aren’t sure where your water meter is, the first place you can check is My Account. Simply click on the “Details/Consumption” button in the “Manage Account” section.
Most water meters can be found in an underground chamber in or around your property. Meter chambers are often located close to the property boundary, in a nearby footpath or verge, or in chambers within property boundaries or neighbouring sites. Chamber covers range from a small circular plastic cover to large, heavy, rectangular covers made of metal. They’ll typically show the word “water”, “meter” or the letter “W”. If your meter is inside your property, it’s likely to be on the water pipe as it enters the property - often near the stop tap.
If you can't find your water meter, or it’s difficult to access, get in touch and we can help you.
Accessing your meter
Once you’ve found your meter, you’ll need to lift the chamber cover. Large covers may need two people to lift and a manhole key. Please take appropriate health and safety precautions.
When you’ve removed the cover, there may be a polystyrene frost cover on top of the meter - this is the case for most small meters and needs to be removed to take a reading (remember to put this back when finished). Occasionally, water can collect in the meter chamber which will need to be removed to get a reading. This can sometimes indicate a leak.
If you think there may be a leak on your supply, then please call us for advice. We can also offer a leakage find-and-fix service for an additional charge. If you’d like more information about this service, then please email us.
Reading your meter
Your water meter has its own unique serial number, which is also shown on your water bill. Check this number against your bill to make sure you’ve got the right meter. For more information on how to read your business’ water meter, take a look at our short video or follow the instructions below:
You’re charged per cubic metre of water used (one cubic metre is 1,000 litres), so in most cases we’ll only need to record the black digits when taking a meter read. A small minority of meters are x10 which means that readings have to be multiplied by ten to give the true volume. If yours is like this, it will be marked with x10 on the face.
Submit your meter read
You can easily submit your reading online via your online portal, My Account. If you haven’t yet registered for an online account, you can give us your reads here.
