Gill Matthews wrote:
... Thus my Father who has an expensive house because of the
sea view but with a small garden which he does not water and a preference
for showers over baths found he was paying significantly more for water with
a meter than he was for a water rate even though his rates were high and his
water usage is low.

Has he checked his meter readings versus estimated usage or compared
with someone similar? Thames Water installed my meter with on oversized
coupling on my side that leaked furiously (though only at night). After
spending ages proving to myself it wasn't in my 120-yo pipes, I got
them to dig up the meter and behold...

Chris

After serious thinking wrote :
Gill Matthews wrote:
... Thus my Father who has an expensive house because of the
sea view but with a small garden which he does not water and a preference
for showers over baths found he was paying significantly more for water with
a meter than he was for a water rate even though his rates were high and his
water usage is low.

Has he checked his meter readings versus estimated usage or compared
with someone similar? Thames Water installed my meter with on oversized
coupling on my side that leaked furiously (though only at night). After
spending ages proving to myself it wasn't in my 120-yo pipes, I got
them to dig up the meter and behold...

Chris

Thanks for the suggestion I will try and check up on this The house is
not all that old (less than 20 years) so leaky pipes are unlikely but I
had not thought of a leaky meter

--
I am not really dangerous