Air may explain high water bill

I REFER to Mrs Green’s letter (Connexion, June) asking for advice about her greatly increased water bill. It could be air in the pipework.

If her water company had cause to turn off the supply for routine maintenance or to repair a mains leak, then the mains in her area would be full of air. On restoring the supply, this air would have to escape somewhere and if Mrs Green had left a tap open so she knew when the supply was restored (or even simply flushed a toilet so there was an open float valve) then this large volume of air would escape via her property causing her meter to spin rapidly.

She should place the onus on her water company to prove this was not the case and if they cannot then press for a bill adjustment based on her usual consumption.