Why your water usage may be higher

If the water usage on your bill is higher than expected, there's usually some common reasons for the increase.
Our handy checklist below can help you find out why your usage may be high.

1. Seasonal variations

The way we use water and the amount we consume usually varies depending on the the time of year.

Traditionally, we use more water during the Spring/Summer months than during Autumn/Winter.

When it’s warmer, we tend to do more of the activities that use water, such as watering the garden, filling our pools and having extra showers.

If you're looking for ways to reduce your water use during the warmer months, we've got plenty of water efficiency tips for you:

Check out our water efficiency tips

Woman and girl watering residential garden with hose

Sushi and water refreshment on table in residential backyard

2. More people at your property

Visitors, new tenants or an increase in the number of residents at your home can lead to higher water usage.

For example: Having one extra visitor stay for a 90-day billing cycle (using the average daily water usage of 165 litres per person per day) would add about $51-$55 to your bill (depending on your regional pricing).

Our handy tool, My Usage Tracker, available online in My Account, helps you graph you water usage over time, so you can easily see the impact visitors have on your daily usage.

Log in or register for My Account

3. Irrigation systems and tank top-ups

Automatic irrigation systems can use thousands of litres of water each week, and the automatic top-up device on your water tank could be set to draw water from the town water supply, even when the tank is close to being full.

Please check these systems to ensure they are operating at the correct level and are not faulty. Your tank should be set to top up to about 10% to 15% below full capacity, leaving enough room for regular rainfall to fill the rest.

We also recommend you follow our 10-point checklist to make sure you're not using water more than you need to:

Water tank and house on residential property

Woman and plumber looking at wet patch next to driveway caused by hidden water leak

4. Concealed leaks

On occasions, an increase in your water use could be due to a hidden (concealed) leak.

Leaks that are hidden underground in pipes or in faulty plumbing and fixtures (such as leaking toilets) can go undetected for a long time. Some leaks waste more than 2,000 litres of water a day!

Example: Having an underground leak on your property at 2000 litres per day for the full 90 day billing cycle could lead to an additional $800 on your bill (estimate only, based on tier 2 charges).

That’s why we recommend reading your meter and checking for leaks regularly. You can also use our handy online tool 'My Usage Tracker' available in My Account to help you detect leaks earlier.

Find out how to check for leaks

5. Pool top-ups, high-pressure cleaning, washing the car or boat

Have you done any cleaning, renovating or other activities recently that used a lot of water?

This can include using a high-pressure cleaner to wash down walls, garage doors, driveways, boats or cars. It can also include filling a new pool or spa, or topping up your existing one.

See how much it takes to fill a pool or spa

Hose filling residential pool with water

Shower head spraying water in residential bathroom

6. Check how many litres of water you use in your normal day-to-day activities

Did you know:

Almost a quarter of water usage happens in the shower?
A dual full flush on your toilet uses double the water compared to a dual half flush?
A top loader washing machine uses 2.5 times more water than a front loader?

Use our water usage table to see how many litres of water you are using for each activity. It may surprise you!

See how many litres you are using

My Usage Tracker

This handy online tool calculates your daily water usage, compares it to previous bills and helps you see usage spikes which could indicate a hidden leak.