Thai lady gets a water bill of nearly 50K - we only have showers and do the washing up, she says

[piewarmer]

A friend got an electric bill for over 40 grand, usually 2 grand. Next door is building a huge condo , suspicious.

[topt]

49 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Never understood why its the householders job to take care and service/change the water meter. We had to change ours recently as it just stopped due to limescale build up. I would have thought its the PWA responsibility, after all it tells them what to charge and whats been used etc just like the electric meter is the PEA responsibility.

Thanks I was not aware of that and always presumed anything pre the isolating valve on my side of the meter was down to them.

I came out of the house one Saturday some time last year and there was a group of PWA guys changing the pipework on both sides of the meter but not the meter itself. They even went away with my metal wheel valve I had replaced some years ago - their replacement is some black plastic in-line jobby on both sides. They had done a number of houses but for some reason not the neighbours who's meter is right next to mine.....

[ThailandRyan]

Hopefully she was not using the hose to fill her rice fields.  Hopefully if it was a leak in the pipe they would have seen an issue before this such as soggy ground etc...Maybe the meter reader read it wrong, whatever the issue, I hope it gets settled and she is made to pay only what she has normally paid.  My Water bill runs between 185 Baht and 220 Baht.  We wash clothes daily, and the shower gets used at a minimum of 4 times a day, then add in the dish washer when its run because we cook 2 to 3 meals a day in the humble abode.

[Golden Triangle]

1 hour ago, stephenterry said:

If the meter reading is correct, clearly, there is a leak, and the authorities need to get their fingers out. 

No no, quite the opposite, remember the little dutch boy & the dam ????

[jaiyen]

1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

Is there is a leak after the meter for it to register, then it's not the responsibility of the PWA, but the householder.

And how big a leak would you need to get a bill of B50,000 ?  

[Bender Rodriguez]

the water pump is not an indication that water is used or leak ?  that is how I knew had one

[rwill]

My first guess would be that the meter reader made an error.  If there was a leak that large your ground would be a swamp. 

[Sydebolle]

Breaking news - either air in the watermetre or a leaking pipe. If it is the latter, she will be praising the Lord, if the leak is before the metre; if it is after the metre - cough up the cash. 

I had such an incident and tried to reason with the water authorities on checking the average of the last 12 months to see, what the normal usage was. No chance and I had to pay the exorbitant B 17'500, whereas the average bill was B 240. Guess how happy I was as the choice was 1) pay-up and shut-up or 2) no more water. 

[RJRS1301]

Perhaps also collecting rain water( tank collection) for toilet use, and washing machine.

 

[phantomfiddler]

1 hour ago, JeffersLos said:

A good tip to save money on the water bill is to shower once a week. 

Whether you need to or not ????

[chickenslegs]

38 minutes ago, jaiyen said:

And how big a leak would you need to get a bill of B50,000 ?  

About 2,000 cubic metres (2,000,000 litres)

https://en.pwa.co.th/calculate/water-tariff

 

Put another way, that's about 45 litres per minute for 31 days - surely not possible from a half inch water pipe.

 

 

[RJRS1301]

4 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Whether you need to or not ????

and no sex life ever >>

 

[chilly07]

With a bill that big her house would have floated away by now! Faulty meter or meter reader put the decimal point in the wrong place.

[OneeyedJohn]

What she needs is a big strong C.o.c k that works...like this  

[flexomike]

4 hours ago, billd766 said:

Not really. If the meter is showing that much water is used, then the leak (if there is one) is on her side of the meter, that makes it her problem.

with that kind of a bill she would have a lake on her property

[KannikaP]

5 hours ago, CharlieH said:

My guess would be a faulty meter.

 

If she has bills prior, and a history of usage and no apparent leaks, then it points to the meter.

 

Personally our bill is around 60 - 100 and rarely more, unless madam has been playing with the pressue washer and cleaning everything in sight.

 

Never understood why its the householders job to take care and service/change the water meter. We had to change ours recently as it just stopped due to limescale build up. I would have thought its the PWA responsibility, after all it tells them what to charge and whats been used etc just like the electric meter is the PEA responsibility.

In reply to you, and PFMills, RichardColeman & Saltire. You all quote your bills as around 60-100-250. Is that charges at the Water Board's rate of Bht 10 per unit (cu mtr). My average use is around 10 units per month, but our village boss charges Bht 25 per unit to cover maintenance????, meter reading and admin for eveyone in the village not just the Falang. No-one complains except me.

[PFMills]

37 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

In reply to you, and PFMills, RichardColeman & Saltire. You all quote your bills as around 60-100-250. Is that charges at the Water Board's rate of Bht 10 per unit (cu mtr). My average use is around 10 units per month, but our village boss charges Bht 25 per unit to cover maintenance????, meter reading and admin for eveyone in the village not just the Falang. No-one complains except me.

My last four months bills were 190/181/209/264 I don't have a bill to hand so can't say how many M3 it was but we are MWA and I think price is about 10thb/M3++. I do read the meter most days as a couple of years ago we had a leak and my bill more than doubled.

 

From my readings  1st Nov   1873.9 M3    today 1927.6 M3  and I think we use a lot, especially when our maid does the watering which is nearly every day! So there are three of us in the house and the washing m/c seems to go most days and sometimes several times a day. And it seems cloths get soaked in a large bowl before reaching the washing m/c.

[billd766]

8 hours ago, teacherclaire said:

IMO, it should be the water department's responsibility, as they are the ones who provide the meter. They're also the ones who take it out when you don't pay your bill. 

Out here in rural Kamphaeng Phet the customer supplies their own meter.

 

Water is not that expensive, and if the water department does take the meter away it can easily be bypassed.

[billd766]

7 hours ago, jaiyen said:

And how big a leak would you need to get a bill of B50,000 ?  

For me it would be 25,000 cubic meters or about 25,000,000 litres.

[billd766]

3 hours ago, KannikaP said:

In reply to you, and PFMills, RichardColeman & Saltire. You all quote your bills as around 60-100-250. Is that charges at the Water Board's rate of Bht 10 per unit (cu mtr). My average use is around 10 units per month, but our village boss charges Bht 25 per unit to cover maintenance????, meter reading and admin for eveyone in the village not just the Falang. No-one complains except me.

I pay 2 baht per cu/m for the normal supply and 5 baht per cu/m when the village has to go onto the borehole.

[kokesaat]

Years ago, an American friend of mine got a water bill for 30,000ish Baht.  He protested.  But upon investigation, it was apparent that the leak was from his water line.  A crew came in and found a broken water pipe under the foundation of his house.  He wondered why his water pressure was so low.  He eventually paid the bill.

[Pique Dard]

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

She said only two people live at her house and they only use the water for showers and doing the washing up.

what about drinking then? let's be serious, something isn't right here!

[Albert Zweistein]

10 hours ago, Saltire said:

Never paid more than 60 baht for water. For 2 houses, 5 people, washing machine everyday, lots of showers and watering of plants etc.

 

Hope she gets this resolved.

Maybe dirty farangs ?

[Albert Zweistein]

10 hours ago, CharlieH said:

My guess would be a faulty meter.

 

If she has bills prior, and a history of usage and no apparent leaks, then it points to the meter.

 

Personally our bill is around 60 - 100 and rarely more, unless madam has been playing with the pressue washer and cleaning everything in sight.

 

Never understood why its the householders job to take care and service/change the water meter. We had to change ours recently as it just stopped due to limescale build up. I would have thought its the PWA responsibility, after all it tells them what to charge and whats been used etc just like the electric meter is the PEA responsibility.

Yes but any leaks after the meter are the householders responsibility.

[AhFarangJa]

18 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

A good tip to save money on the water bill is to shower once a week. 

Whether you need it or not.........

[KannikaP]

9 hours ago, billd766 said:

I pay 2 baht per cu/m for the normal supply and 5 baht per cu/m when the village has to go onto the borehole.

That is incredibly cheap. The PWAs tariff is Bht 10 per cu mtr.

No wonder Thais are very wasterful with their water.

[Saltire]

19 hours ago, KannikaP said:

60 Baht per month...........................I don't believe you!

 

https://www.pwa.co.th/contents/service/table-price

Apologies, this month was 72 Baht, must have had an extra shower one week. Believe me now?

[KannikaP]

4 minutes ago, Saltire said:

Apologies, this month was 72 Baht, must have had an extra shower one week. Believe me now?

48 units at the PWAs tariff should be Bht 480. Who are you getting your water from for Bht 1.5 per unit please?

And 48 units in a month is considerably more than my 15-18. Very confusing.

[Saltire]

1 minute ago, KannikaP said:

48 units at the PWAs tariff should be Bht 480. Who are you getting your water from please?

And 48 units in a month is considerably more than my 15-18. Very confusing.

I have no idea where it comes from, and I don't really care, but I am in a very rural location and the neighbours bills are all simillar, because we got some others by mistake once. You can see the bill is handwritten, by a lady on a moto who reads the meters one day and gives the bill and collects cash the next day from everyone, it's a small village.

 

The wife says small villages are not on the same tarrif.

 

I am not complaining.

 

Incidentally my max elecricity is 1200 Baht with 2 aircon and a giant fridge, Sometimes it's around 900 Baht.

 

 

[bluesofa]

9 minutes ago, Saltire said:

Apologies, this month was 72 Baht, must have had an extra shower one week. Believe me now?

How come you have a hand-written bill?

All the PWA bills I've ever had are printed on a PWA headed bill, with multiple reference numbers for invoice number, account number, etc.