Brenda's water bill quadrupled overnight - even after she recycled her own shower water

When Brenda Bird opened her water bill in January she knew instantly there must be a mistake. Her six-month charge was more than four times the £100 she usually paid.The 83-year-old, who has lived in the same home in Margate, Kent, for 45 years, pays Southern Water by cheque twice a year.When she queried the £403 bill, Brenda was told she must have used more water than usual, an accusation she firmly denies.The great-grandmother has since resorted to recycling every drop she can to cut down her usage – but she says Southern Water continued to slap her with these large bills.And Brenda is not alone when it comes to shocking water costs.Money Mail has received dozens of cases in recent weeks from readers who have faced unhelpful customer service staff, received baffling letters and had inconsistent bills. Brenda Bird's water bill more than quadrupled from £100 to £403 after Southern Water replaced the stopcocks on her meterSome say water companies have attempted to switch their billing to direct debit without consent, while others say they have been automatically placed on more regular, monthly billing – a sneaky tactic we have recently revealed at Thames Water.For Brenda, the past 15 years of water billing has been consistent. She had a water meter fitted in 2011 and paid around £100 every six months, for using roughly the same amount.But when Southern Water replaced the stopcocks on her meter in August 2025, everything changed.Brenda’s ordeal began when she opened that bi-annual bill in January, just one month after losing her husband. ‘I couldn’t work it out, it didn’t make sense,’ she says.As a now single-person household, Brenda did not think her bills should be so high. She contacted Southern Water, telling them she could not pay, insisting they investigate the issue.A Southern Water engineer visited her home and told Brenda there was no leak or seepage on her side, so she showed him her previous bills alongside the new one.‘He agreed there was something drastically wrong,’ she says.The engineer told her he would report back but Brenda says the problem was not resolved.In February, she received a letter saying Southern Water had been unable to take a direct debit from her bank account.‘I have never used or agreed to direct debit,’ she wrote back.Brenda received dozens of bills over the next few months, for various amounts.She paid £300 in the hope the problem would go away but was shocked when another bill arrived in July, showing her recorded water use had risen again.Fearing more excessive bills, Brenda has taken to lugging buckets of recycled water around her home to save money.She collects cold water while waiting for the shower or taps to heat up, which she then reuses in the garden. She has three water butts, with watering cans beneath outside downpipes.‘Every drop of water I could possibly scrounge is collected and reused,’ she said. ‘Very little goes down the drain without having been used more than once.‘I don’t understand how I can use more water when I’m doing my damnedest.’After writing to Southern Water’s chief executive, Brenda says she received a response telling her an engineer had ‘fixed a leak’ and that a small leakage allowance had been applied.She says: ‘It’s not the money. It’s the principle of it – the amount they’re saying I am using, which I am not.‘I can’t live like this. I want them to read the meter and give me a proper explanation of what’s going on.’ She adds: ‘It has made trying to grieve absolutely impossible, because I dread every time the post comes.’A Southern Water spokesman said: ‘We apologise for the complications this customer has encountered in trying to settle her account and are looking at how we can improve our processes.‘Our teams have contacted her to provide an update and have credited her account with a goodwill payment, by way of apology.’ Readers say water firms have been attempting to switch their billing to direct debit without consentCharged monthly after 56 yearsFor more than half a century, Brian Vayro has paid his Severn Trent water bill every six months.And the 78-year-old has lived in the same four-bedroom property in Heage, Derbyshire, with his wife for the past 15 years and says he has never missed a payment.When his most recent six-monthly bill arrived in July 2026, for £277.31, he noticed it only covered just over five months, from February 3 to July 21.He paid it immediately and thought little more of it. Then, on August 23, another bill landed. This time it was for £41.77 and covered just one month, from July 27 to August 26.Confused, Brian contacted Severn Trent. He says a customer service adviser told him that a ‘back office’ had reviewed a number of accounts and decided to move them on to monthly payments.Brian says he made it clear he did not agree to that and wanted to continue paying twice a year.He says the adviser then told him he would be put back on to six-monthly billing but he was given no written confirmation.Brian says: ‘I have paid my water bill every six months for the past 56 years. I haven’t consented to paying monthly.’Money Mail readers have told of multiple water suppliers attempting to make this type of switch.Earlier this month, we revealed Thames Water has been making a major change to the way some of its customers receive their bills.Between 110,000 and 120,000 selected Thames Water customers with smart meters are being moved to monthly billing by December 2026.It follows a pilot involving 5,000 households which ended in November 2025, with 11 per cent of those customers opting out.Customers selected for the new scheme can opt out and return to six-monthly billing if they wish.A Severn Trent spokesman said: ‘We apologise to the customer for any confusion caused and have reached out to assure him he remains on six-month billing and his account is up to date.‘We have not moved him or any customers on to monthly billing, with unmetered customers generally billed annually and metered customers every six months.’Water regulator Ofwat says companies should offer a reasonable range of payment frequencies and methods, and that these should be properly advertised so customers can choose the arrangement that best suits them. Between 110,000 and 120,000 selected Thames Water customers with smart meters are being moved to monthly billing by December 2026Its guidance specifically includes weekly or fortnightly, monthly and annual, half-yearly or quarterly frequencies.Thames Water itself says metered customers are usually billed every six months, although payment plans can split the cost into regular instalments.But having a water meter could be a crucial move for many, especially single-person households.Last April, average household water and sewerage bills across England and Wales experienced an unprecedented annual rise of 26 per cent.I didn’t realise I was overpayingSue Ponsford, 73, has been paying significantly more than she needed to for water as a single occupant, and believes she should have been alerted to it.She has lived alone in her small Victorian semi-detached cottage in Shalford, near Guildford, Surrey, for 32 years. Before the pandemic, her water bill was around £35 a month.In recent years it has risen steadily, first to around £80, then £98, and most recently to £102 a month for an eight-month period.Shocked by the soaring cost, she compared bills with friends and discovered that people living in larger households were paying substantially less.After discussing the issue with Thames Water, she had a meter installed in June.The company then estimated her annual bill would be about £350 a year, compared with roughly £800 previously.Sue says: ‘I feel more stupid than anything else, to be quite honest. I should have gone on a meter years ago. How many other single people don’t realise?’A Thames Water spokesman said: ‘We are sorry for the confusion Sue experienced following the installation of her meter.‘Sue’s previous bills were calculated correctly using the Rateable Value charging method that applied to her property. While her metered charges are lower, this does not mean her previous bills were incorrect.‘We understand some customers may not be aware of all the options available and are always happy to help them review their billing arrangements, discuss whether a meter could help reduce bills and explain the financial support schemes available.’Have you been hit by a shock bill? money@moneymail.co.ukSAVE MONEY, MAKE MONEYUp to £250 cashbackUp to £250 cashback2.5% cashback when investing at least £2005.01% cash Isa5.01% cash IsaTrading 212: 1.41% fixed 12-month bonus£3,000 cashback£3,000 cashback£100-£3,000 cashback when opening SippUp to £150 cashbackUp to £150 cashbackOpen a savings account with at least £5,000Welcome bonusWelcome bonusGet up to £200 when you invest £100Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence. 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