Bermuda Waterworks Limited

A new water service can be turned on immediately after Bermuda Waterworks has completed the service connection with the connection made up to and including the meter installed. It is assumed at this point the customer will have completed works to have the water delivered from the meter to the property with a shut-off valve on the customer’s connecting pipe to control the flow of water.

The water meter records the amount of water used by the property. The water meter is read once a month by a Bermuda Waterworks meter reader. A monthly statement is generated from the monthly meter readings. Statements are sent out to all customers by the beginning of the second week of the month. You should expect to receive your statement for the previous month’s water consumption by the end of the second week of the month. Payments are due by the 27th day of the month or the nearest business day prior to the 27th to qualify for the discount offered.

The meter has a register with four white boxes and 3 red boxes. You read all the boxes from left to right as you would read any set of numbers. See the example below. The reading would be 95056 gallons.

The difference between the present reading and a previous reading will be the number of gallons passed through the meter from the time/date of the previous reading to the present time/ date.

Leaks can often go undetected for a time resulting in high water bills and waste of a valuable resource. If you think your water bill is too high, you can check for a leak by turning off all the water into the premises. We advocate that your water service should be installed as a top up service to your water tank. Our response is predicated on this.

Make sure the water is turned off at the tank. Watch the water meter. If you are unsure of the location of your water meter call Bermuda Waterworks for assistance at 441-236-1288. The water meter register (numbers) should not be moving, if the meter numbers are moving, there is a leak in the pipe running to the tank. You should walk along the route the pipe takes to your tank or premises looking for any visible signs of a leak such as a soggy patch in the lawn or a part of lawn that is greener than the rest, any damp spots in walls or around any visible pipe joints.

Next to check, if the meter numbers are not moving is to open the valve to the water tank. If you have a float valve in the tank you need to check that it is working properly. You can do this by lifting the float to the closed position (all the way up) water should stop running. If it does not then the float valve is leaking and your tank could fill and overflow causing a high meter reading and bill. An alternative scenario with the tank is that the valve works but there is a leak in the tank so the tank only fills to the level of the leak (crack in plaster) and the float valve never closes as a consequence. Water will continually run into the tank and out of the leak. If the pipe to the tank is secure and the float valve is working then you have to inspect the tank for any visible signs of a leak.

If your tank and associated apparatus appears to be in good working order then the cause of the high water bill is likely to be inside the premises. A quick check you can do to see if there is a problem in the premises is to turn off all valves to toilets, dishwashers, ice machines, and make sure all faucets are closed, then close the valve from the pressure tank that feeds into the premises and observe the pressure reading on the pressure gauge at the pressure tank. Then open the valve at the pressure tank leading into the premises. If the pressure gauge indicates the pressure is dropping there is a leak in a pipe in the premises somewhere. The next step will be to start systematically going through the premises to look for where there might be a leak. This can be done by a series of pressure checks like the first overall check if you can isolate different parts of the premises (you may need to have your plumber assist). You should also look for any damp spots in walls or floors. If you think you have leak in a pipe and you cannot find anything obvious you should call your plumber or someone skilled at finding leaks with a leak detector.

If the pressure gauge does not move indicating that all the pipes are secure, then you can start to reopen one valve at a time to appliances and toilets. All appliances should be turned off during this stage so that if a pressure loss is observed it is because of an internal leak in the appliance, and not because it starts to run. For a toilet if the flapper valve is faulty the tank will have drained or partially drained during the time it was closed earlier so you should hear water flowing into the tank when you reopen the valve. If there is the problem the pressure gauge will also be seen to drop. Another way to see if the toilet is leaking is to place some food colouring in the toilet tank and see if the coloured water runs down into the bowl.

Check all faucets to see if any are dripping.

If none of the above indicates a leak then it could be something else more complex. If you have reached this stage we recommend you call your plumber or someone trained to find water leaks to assist you.

Bermuda Waterworks is not responsible for leaks that occur on private property. If you are unsure about who would be responsible for a leak, or to report a leak outside of your property or inside the meter box, call Bermuda Waterworks at 441-236-1288 for assistance.

To report a broken water main, call Bermuda Waterworks at 441-236-1288 immediately, if after hours follow the instructions to reach our emergency service. If unsuccessful call the police who will in turn contact us.

Water provided by Bermuda Waterworks Limited meets or exceeds drinking water standards. However, customers should be using our service as a supplementary supply to their tanks as a top up to rainfall. Customers should therefore follow the Health Department’s guidelines for keeping their tanks clean. Some customers may choose to install additional home treatment devices to meet their personal preferences such as improving the taste or smell of their water. These treatment devices do not necessarily make the water safer or healthier to drink and if not properly maintained, can actually cause water quality problems.

There are many ways to conserve water. Fixing leaking faucets and toilets is an excellent way to start. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 2,250 gallons in a year, which adds to the cost of your water bill. A running toilet can waste as much as 5 gallons per minute. There are 1440 minutes in a day so you could lose 7,200 gallons per day through a leaking toilet. This will lead to a very high water bill in a matter of days! You can also take care to run your dishwasher and washing machine only when they are full.

Bermuda Waterworks has two sources for its public water supply. The first source is naturally occurring brackish groundwater that is desalinated and disinfected to make drinking water quality product water. We are limited in the amount of groundwater that can be abstracted on a daily average basis. The limit is set so that the amount pumped out does not exceed over the course of a year the recharge from rainfall. The second source is from seawater desalination. Approximately two thirds to three quarters of all our water supply comes from seawater desalination. The product water from the two sources are blended together to make a high quality product water that is distributed through our pipeline system.

Product water from our seawater desalination plant and our brackish water desalination plant is pumped up to a reservoir at over 200 feet elevation. The water then, by gravity, flows out into our network of distribution mains, thereby delivering water to our customers’ homes and businesses. There are other reservoirs and booster pumps that assist in the process of storing and moving the water over hills as the distribution system moves further away from the primary feed reservoir. The pipelines range in size from 2” – 12” in diameter and are located within public and estate roads. Service lines are smaller pipes that bring the water from the distribution mains to the water meter serving customer’s homes and businesses.