News
Example of a £ 50,000 water leak caused by incompetent contractors.
Author: Graham Mann, Water Audit Expert.
It is hard to believe a small McDonalds Restaurant could accumulate a £ 50,000 water bill! It is true and here is the story.
Water leak detection and repair site survey report.
We attended the McDonalds Gillingham site on Thursday 23rd January 2014 to carry out water leak detection and repair after receiving a phone call from the client.
We arrived on site on Thursday morning and located the water meter prior to any investigative works were carried out. Meter 09A081601 is serving the McDonalds Gillingham site. Several water meter readings were taken whilst we were on site. A meter reading of 19552m³ was taken upon arrival at site at 08.00am with a further reading being taken of 19554m³ at approximately 09.00am.
These readings reflected an average hourly usage of 2m³ per hour. This equates to 48m³ per day and a cost of £161.76 per day equating to an annual consumption of 17,520m³ with an annual cost of £59,042.40.
We began our investigations by isolating the supply at the stop valve – when this was carried out, the meter became stationary indicating that there was no external water leak and therefore the leakage issue had to be within the McDonalds building.
Upon carrying out further investigation, we found a 15mm supply with a hose outlet that was found to be discharging water straight into the drain underneath the ice machine – this was continuously running due to a contractor leaving the supply running after carrying out works on the Ice Machine.
The McDonalds Gillingham site had an average daily usage of approximately 45m³ per day during leakage which covers the period 4th July 2013 – 23rd January 2014. The average McDonalds site will use approximately 6m³ per day leaving an excess consumption per day of 39m³.
The billing period 04.07.13 – 18.10.13 = 106 days.
Excess Consumption: 39m³
106 days x 39m³ = 4,134m³
4,134m³ x £3.37 (Southern Water & Waste Water rate per M³) = £13,931.58
The billing period 18.10.2013-23.01.2014 = 97 days
Excess Consumption: 39m³
97 days x 39m³ = 3,783m³
3,783m³ x £3.37 (Southern Water & Waste Water rate per M³) = £12,748.71
Total cost of leakage: £27,465.29
Due to us being unable to isolate this constant supply, a 15mm stop valve was installed and the water stopped running. The supply will require capping off to ensure there are no further leakage instances of this nature. It is imperative that McDonalds investigate which contractors have diverted the pipe into the drain and left this running. After installing the stop valve, the water consumption dropped to a varying consumption of 0m³-0.48m³ per hour (as water was being used on site).
Recommendations
- McDonalds to investigate which contractor has diverted the hose into the drain and left this supply constantly running, subsequently costing McDonalds Gillingham £27,465.29 and should seek to recover costs from those responsible.
- This supply needs to be capped to avoid any further leakage instances of this nature.
To attend site and carry out capping of supply