Help Direction and Guidance regarding water bill issue

[Hifred]

We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking and looked under each sink. I called TV utility and they said they had checked the water meter twice and the reading was accurate. I don't know what else to do as I told the person from the utility company. I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off. I don't have a pool. I haven't had any guests or any reason why the water bill would be so high. The bad thing is I have automatic payment set up and it pulled more than $500 out of my checking account. I asked the person if they could pull my typical payment until we could determine what the problem was but they don't do that.

Has anyone had this situation occur? Do I need to get a lawyer? I am at a loss. Maybe the meter malfunctioned? At this point the people who work at the utility company are done with me but I still have a huge bill and they have taken the money from my bank account..... HELP PLEASE.

[Toymeister]

Meters do fail.

You can have the meter removed and checked for calibration. If it is working fine the fee for that is on you, if it is wrong it is on them and they will correct your bill.

[Bill14564]

Was a leaky toilet gasket in my case. My usage was much higher so if you had a similar problem perhaps it is leaking less or was stuck for a time?

Easy enough to monitor the meter for a few days.

[billethkid]

Several years ago a neighbor had ground lightning that created a meter hiccup.
If you haven't had it done request the water company to send a service tech to come and check your system.
They are quite responsive to such requests.

[DAVES]

We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking and looked under each sink. I called TV utility and they said they had checked the water meter twice and the reading was accurate. I don't know what else to do as I told the person from the utility company. I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off. I don't have a pool. I haven't had any guests or any reason why the water bill would be so high. The bad thing is I have automatic payment set up and it pulled more than $500 out of my checking account. I asked the person if they could pull my typical payment until we could determine what the problem was but they don't do that.

Has anyone had this situation occur? Do I need to get a lawyer? I am at a loss. Maybe the meter malfunctioned? At this point the people who work at the utility company are done with me but I still have a huge bill and they have taken the money from my bank account..... HELP PLEASE.

My two cents worth. Customer service, first of all there is a magic balance between being a push over and being politely forceful. Often in these situations the person on the other end of the phone does not have the power to help you. There is an art to finding a person with the power and the position to actually help you.

As far as an attorney, it will cost you more than the bill.

Phone? It is easy to dial a phone but you have no proof of the phone call. Old school perhaps. Return receipt letter cost is about $7.00. Confirming my conversation with xxxxx at xxxxxx on date.

Looked at the meter? Our home is roughly 9 years old. Our meter is under one of those plastic plates. The meter is read though the plate using a small hand held meter reader.

In terms of OLD SCHOOL we still pay with checks. It is truly amusing to find some zit faced kid claiming they have not been paid and my telling them to look for my check# endorced-CASHED-by xxxxxxxx

[blueash]

Could you have had an outside spigot attached to a hose fail? Sometime people forget to turn off the spigot depending on the nozzle to stop the flow, then the hose leaks and you loose potable water.

[Aceskaters]

I had a similar problem a few years ago in Hemingway. After several plumber visits and go rounds with the water dept., the water dept. person told me that, OUTSIDE the garage...near where the in-garage water shut off valve is...the white plastic water pipe under the lawn has a small vertical pipe coming up that is there in case the house ever needs to be re-piped. I went out there and the ground was squishy. Seems that the vertical pipe, which was supposed to be buried about a foot under the lawn, was only about an inch down and must have been broken by a lawnmower at some point. So, don't know if that's your problem too, but you might stomp around outside your garage, about 2 or 3 feet out, and see if the ground is wet. Good luck.

[EdFNJ]

In the OP the poster states "I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off" so it would seem unlikely it could be a leak.

I had a similar problem but it was a very "quietly" running toilet in the MB. When water use increased mid-cycle the water company (Jacobs?) came by my house and told me to check because they were notified of excessive use in their system. In our case the meter WAS moving. Took a while to discover the exact location of the running toilet as that was the last thing we looked at because it was so quiet.

[Hifred]

Thank you everyone for your responses. We checked the toilets and the spigots. I can't believe we are losing at least 45,000 gallons of water in addition to the 5000 gallons we typically use. This is a 10 fold increase. It could be the meter or ground lightening that disrupted the meter. I also appreciate the comment about checking outside the water shut off valve. Our water shut off valve in the garage is surrounded by cement as we have a patio and cement driveway. I will call the water company tomorrow and ask them to check the calibration of the meter. This is such a headache. From now on I am going to be out looking at that meter. I hate to lift the top because I am afraid of snakes or whatever else I might find.

[Velvet]

My guess is it is your meter. Some weeks ago we had our meter “recalibrated” because it was “inaccurate” (since the house was built) by someone sent out from the water company. The person went to each house on the street and unscrewed the top of the meter then recalibrated everyone’s meter. The next month my irrigation bill read 2 and half times more than before even though I used less not more water during the rainy season - but he had warned me that the usage would be more after he “corrected” the meter. It was the first time I did not pay my utilities bill. I waited. I am relatively new. Since he did the same thing on the street to all the houses and most folks here had bought 14 years ago when these homes were built, I was sure there would be some kind of fall out from this. Yesterday I looked into paying my utilities bill and sure enough, it was back to normal. So I paid it. We will see what happens next month.

[karenzeee]

So sorry to hear this happened to you. That type of usage is nuts!

Our bill doubled last month. We were not at the house and had the water inside turned off! First thing we did was changed and double checked our irrigation system as we are in the northern section of TV and it is all connected and on the same bill.

I also called TV and they came out and did a reread, then a flow test, which failed. They did say that I did not have a leak because when everything was shut off, there was no water loss. I got a new meter since ours failed and was about 20 years old.

I did a post on Nextdoor about this also and found out MANY people seemed to be experiencing higher than usual water bills. Makes me go Hmmmmm. So we shall see what happens with next months bill.

Best of luck, and please keep us posted!!

[1couple]

We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking and looked under each sink. I called TV utility and they said they had checked the water meter twice and the reading was accurate. I don't know what else to do as I told the person from the utility company. I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off. I don't have a pool. I haven't had any guests or any reason why the water bill would be so high. The bad thing is I have automatic payment set up and it pulled more than $500 out of my checking account. I asked the person if they could pull my typical payment until we could determine what the problem was but they don't do that.

Has anyone had this situation occur? Do I need to get a lawyer? I am at a loss. Maybe the meter malfunctioned? At this point the people who work at the utility company are done with me but I still have a huge bill and they have taken the money from my bank account..... HELP PLEASE. meters go bad I would make them replace it and dispute the bill

[bowlingal]

And that is exactly why I pay my bills with a check or Master Card

[thevillagernie]

from what I hear it happens a lot.

[Sabella]

We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking and looked under each sink. I called TV utility and they said they had checked the water meter twice and the reading was accurate. I don't know what else to do as I told the person from the utility company. I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off. I don't have a pool. I haven't had any guests or any reason why the water bill would be so high. The bad thing is I have automatic payment set up and it pulled more than $500 out of my checking account. I asked the person if they could pull my typical payment until we could determine what the problem was but they don't do that.

Has anyone had this situation occur? Do I need to get a lawyer? I am at a loss. Maybe the meter malfunctioned? At this point the people who work at the utility company are done with me but I still have a huge bill and they have taken the money from my bank account..... HELP PLEASE.

I had a similar issue spoke with villages mgt they said leak or meter issue and would send someone to check the meter. A truck with Jacobs written on the side was outside checking something on the lawn I only knew this because I looked outside. Is Jacobs like the FBI? No other info on truck, man checking meter didn’t ring bell or let me know he was here, when I asked him what was the problem he said nothing and someone would call me? Good luck dealing with this secretive and rude company.

[bkrug123]

My house has 2 water meters. One for water usage inside the house and the other for irrigation water. They are located on opposite sides of my house. Assuming your house is built the same way, are you checking the correct meter ?

[cheyane926]

That happened to us as well! Our meters were fine but our sprinkler system was set to run everyday 3 times a day at 20 minute increments! We had no idea! Maybe this could be the problem!

[TorriJ]

I suggest you call the Florida Public Service Commission for guidance. Your water may fall under the jurisdiction of municipal water supply which is out of their scope but they can determine that.
Consumer Assistance - Florida Public Service Commission - Florida Public Service Commission (http://www.psc.state.fl.us/ConsumerAssistance/Portal)

[Petersweeney]

It’s the governer’s fault….

[BlackHarley]

Check your irrigation system manually for a snapped off sprinkler head. That would make it gush water.

[gemini5001]

I live in Leesburg and had a similar situation awhile back. 85,000 gallons used they billed me for. When we called the city they said meter was read twice and that I must have a leak.
Called a plumber and they couldn't find anything and suggested getting a leak detection company. That company charges $300 for a simple detection. I asked the tech before he started, if I had a leak that used 85,000 gallons, shouldn't that meter dial be spinning rapidly or slowly if I had a minor leak ?
The dial did not move at all.

I called the city again and told them of the plumbers and leak detection company's results. They said they were going to send out a person to do a water flow test. I told I wanted to be present when they came to do that and they told me OK, that the person would call before coming over.
We got home from shopping and found out that they had been here and gone without any call. I was fuming.
We kept calling the city and sent them copies of the last 2 years water usage and it was nowhere near that even when we did run the sprinklers, so I told them the mistake had to be on their part and I was NOT GOING TO PAY A CENT TILL this got straightened out and I would get an attorney if things lead to that.
3 days later we get a call that they had made a mistake and that the meter had been misread.
I made them reimburse me for the plumber and leak detction company costs, which they did.

[Lyn Wagner]

The water company will give you a one time forgiveness on your bill, and you will not have to pay it. The money they took maybe they will use that as a credit on your next bills. Call and talk to them about the one time forgiveness,
Hope that helps.

[NorineBerlinski]

This happened to one of my tenants once here in Michigan. A neighbor had filled up their pool at night using my tenants outside water Spicket.

[Annie66]

I know it is hard to believe that a toilet could cause that much excess water, but if the toilet is contributing to the problem, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank. If after a few hours your toilet bowl is colored, then you have a leaky gasket.

We also put a threaded cap on the outside hose bib that we rarely use just to ensure it isn't leaking.

[Vickim]

Similar happened to us . They replaced the meter after they came out and determined the meter was faulty. They gave us a small credit . Request they check the meter

[DAVES]

I had a similar issue spoke with villages mgt they said leak or meter issue and would send someone to check the meter. A truck with Jacobs written on the side was outside checking something on the lawn I only knew this because I looked outside. Is Jacobs like the FBI? No other info on truck, man checking meter didn’t ring bell or let me know he was here, when I asked him what was the problem he said nothing and someone would call me? Good luck dealing with this secretive and rude company.

I of course was not there but techs not answering your question seems to be typical.
Medical, you go for something like an MRI or x-ray. The tech can see the issue but they will not tell you. Pecking order? You will sweat for days until the doctor calls you.

[RealJudy]

Mine was due to a tree root that wrapped around the meter and caused it to break. I had to have the tree removed and box replaced.

[Joebrads]

We bought an older place after a few months we found that our irrigation system had a leak in in the valve box. Water was leaking slowly but constantly for who knows how long. Another time we foundation that one of our sprinkler heads had been broken off and was spraying a jet of water for 20 minutes three times a week. Good luck with your investigations.

[BruggsNC1]

You likely have a sprinkler head damaged in your yard. Turn on each zone and if you see one shooting up like Old Faithful, you'll know that's where your problem is.

[am.zinger@aol.com]

I had a spike in my water bill gradually each month, nothing like yours. Turns out a plastic PVC pipe inside the wall in the spare bathroom had a hairline crack it that was slowly, over the years, leaking. It took a couple of years of slow leaking until one day I walked out of the bathroom and I stepped on a tiny wet spot that had finally surfaced. Turns out the drywall was saturated about 3 foot up the wall. Had to rip 3 foot of drywall out and dry everything out. It seems that is quite common here with cracks in the PVC. Was told by the insurance company some have even had to have all internal pipes replaced.

[75090BAR]

I had the same problem and discovered it was a very small crack in the irrigation pipe underground. Hardly noticeable. Chip from Action Irrigation came, diagnosed and repaired the issue for $100 saving me big time from replacing all the pipes under the cover, etc.

[Tredsaw12]

If you only have one meter, I can almost guarantee the problem is with the irrigation system. Very few things can use that much water without you noticing it. It's usually a broken sprinkler head or a pipe underground that has cracked. However, when I had the same problem last year, it was a faulty irrigation timer, (the box on the wall in the garage that controls the irrigation system). The sprinklers would run every day, twice a day. With the help of the water company we figured it out. They can get a readout of how much water I used and at what time of the day by reading my meter data. Then after I got it fixed I gave them the receipt from the company that replaced my timer and the water company gave me a substantial rebate because they realized I shouldn't have been charged for sewer for all that wasted water.

[KRMACK55]

I had a similar issue spoke with villages mgt they said leak or meter issue and would send someone to check the meter. A truck with Jacobs written on the side was outside checking something on the lawn I only knew this because I looked outside. Is Jacobs like the FBI? No other info on truck, man checking meter didn’t ring bell or let me know he was here, when I asked him what was the problem he said nothing and someone would call me? Good luck dealing with this secretive and rude company.
I rented from villages rental when I first got here for 2 months. My toilets overflowed water squirted out of the sinks shower and shower drain. They sent out Mike Scott who sent me a person who spoke no English and didn’t know plumbing. He shrugged his shoulders and left. This happened 3 more times within 6 weeks. The final time I kept calling they threatened to evict me and blamed it on tampons and toilet paper which was crazy. A real plumber showed up ran a snake then got fed up dug up the plastic drain pipe which was about 8-10 inches below group the pipe was never connected complete and tree roots broke it free. I took pictures. Then it finally worked but I had to go days without shower and improvising toilet trips. When I left the rental to move into my house I called for my security deposit they refused to take the call. Then I contacted Visa to dispute the charge which I won after pictures and written dispute. Neighbors there told me they had similar problems in these Fenny villas. It’s possible they’ve hooked up too many lines yo their system. At my house I’ve had low pressure and toilets and water not working. That confirmed time to sell and move which I’m doing shortly. This is a problem that will occur more frequently as massive build up continues at a feverish pace. It’s only the beginning of more problems with exponential growth.

[Ramone]

Yes, they screwed me also this month. Not there since May and $260 bill. $ 40 for sewer. Direct payment, they took my money.

[Paula]

The water company will give you a one time forgiveness on your bill, and you will not have to pay it. The money they took maybe they will use that as a credit on your next bills. Call and talk to them about the one time forgiveness,
Hope that helps.
Unfortunately the water company won't FORGIVE your bill, but they will reduce the charges to the lowest rate per gallon, one time only - ever!

[La lamy]

Yikes, so sorry to hear about all these problems. :pray:

[ThirdOfFive]

We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking and looked under each sink. I called TV utility and they said they had checked the water meter twice and the reading was accurate. I don't know what else to do as I told the person from the utility company. I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off. I don't have a pool. I haven't had any guests or any reason why the water bill would be so high. The bad thing is I have automatic payment set up and it pulled more than $500 out of my checking account. I asked the person if they could pull my typical payment until we could determine what the problem was but they don't do that.

Has anyone had this situation occur? Do I need to get a lawyer? I am at a loss. Maybe the meter malfunctioned? At this point the people who work at the utility company are done with me but I still have a huge bill and they have taken the money from my bank account..... HELP PLEASE.
We had something similar happen when we first moved to The Villages. The lawn looked pretty dry when we moved in, so we turned the irrigation system back on (it had been off). Our usage for the first month here prompted a call from some Villages office or other, our usage had gone from about 3,000 gallons (for the month before we moved in) to 21,000 gallons! They were very friendly and easy to work with though; they said that they'd get a guy out to check the meter, which they did. The meter was fine. I turned off the automatic system and bought a garden hose, watering the lawn that way. A bit more labor-intensive but our usage went way down. I did it that way for a couple of more months, then went back to the irrigation system but by turning the system manually off and on to water each sector. Usage is moderate. I''ll be getting the irrigation system checked (any recommendations?) and set to automatic once that is done.

[worahm]

As water meters age, they tend to run slower. That is, they tend to record less water then was run through them.
Many years ago, as my ten year old water meter was about to turn over to 200,000 gallons, the meter skipped over 200,000 gals to 300,000 gals. So, I was billed for the water I used plus 100,000 gals. There was no way I could have used 100,000 gals of water in one month. I reported the issue to the water company and they checked the meter and told me they found nothing wrong with the meter other then it was running "slightly" slow. They replaced the meter with a new meter. I told them I would be okay if they charged me a monthly average of my bill over the past year for the month in question. Or, charge me what I paid that month during the previous year. They accepted my offer and charged me the average for the year.

[MollyJo]

Thank you everyone for your responses. We checked the toilets and the spigots. I can't believe we are losing at least 45,000 gallons of water in addition to the 5000 gallons we typically use. This is a 10 fold increase. It could be the meter or ground lightening that disrupted the meter. I also appreciate the comment about checking outside the water shut off valve. Our water shut off valve in the garage is surrounded by cement as we have a patio and cement driveway. I will call the water company tomorrow and ask them to check the calibration of the meter. This is such a headache. From now on I am going to be out looking at that meter. I hate to lift the top because I am afraid of snakes or whatever else I might find.

Set your payment up using Bill Pay with your checking account. You receive the Water Bill, go into Bill Pay on your checking account & pay the amount on your Water Bill. If it’s EXCESSIVE & you have checked everything on your part, I would pay the normal amount you use, and begin disputes with the Water Company. Perhaps their meter is not working or the hand held reader. When I can’t get cooperation from a company that deserves a second look, I call the Media to do a story using all your facts. You’ll get satisfaction from said Company immediately 😇

[jimkerr]

Never ever give anyone or any company the ability to automatically withdraw money from your bank account.

As far as the amount of water, I bet it’s your irrigation system. Run your system and check all the sprinklers to see if you see anything obvious like a broken sprinkler head.

[Mlr4343]

If you have a pool and it has an auto fill attached you might have a leak. Happened to me and only sign was sudden increase in water bill.

[Margie&Tim]

It happened to us also. SECO placed the wrong size “washer” on the meter resulting in a high usage rate and high bill. Have the meter checked.

[bldred]

Thank you everyone for your responses. We checked the toilets and the spigots. I can't believe we are losing at least 45,000 gallons of water in addition to the 5000 gallons we typically use. This is a 10 fold increase. It could be the meter or ground lightening that disrupted the meter. I also appreciate the comment about checking outside the water shut off valve. Our water shut off valve in the garage is surrounded by cement as we have a patio and cement driveway. I will call the water company tomorrow and ask them to check the calibration of the meter. This is such a headache. From now on I am going to be out looking at that meter. I hate to lift the top because I am afraid of snakes or whatever else I might find.

Turn everthing off in the house check the meter (several times) if it's still counting then you have a leak between the meter and the house .If it's not that then check the meter everday and see how much it's reading over a several day period-if you are still getting a high reading per day it's probably the meter. Water meters don't move fast so you so be patience .

[DaleDivine]

It happened to us also. SECO placed the wrong size “washer” on the meter resulting in a high usage rate and high bill. Have the meter checked.

SECO is for electric. OP has a water problem...
:shocked::shocked:

[bern916]

We had something similar last year. We found out it was a busted irrigation pipe. We had Watet Wizard irrigation come out, they fixed the broken pipe, and our water bill went back to normal.

[joelfmi]

[QUOTE=Hifred;1986383]We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking
Most likely it is the flapper not sealing when the toilet is flushed. Get food dye poor it in the tank let it stand for 3 or 4 hours check the bowl for the dye color if the color is in the bowl then the flapper has to be change see master plumber at home depot for the correct flapper bring old one with you to match up. A bad Flapper triggers the filll vave to open every time the level in the tank goes down wasting water. joelfmi@aol.com

[Velvet]

meters go bad I would make them replace it and dispute the bill

If your meter is “bad” I would have it checked by an independent plumber. It would give me more confidence. I am concerned about these “corrections” why not just raise the rate if they need more money? If the same amount of water costs more now, to deliver, to purify etc then if you want to use the same amount as you used to you have to pay more. I can live with that.

[Velvet]

Yes, they screwed me also this month. Not there since May and $260 bill. $ 40 for sewer. Direct payment, they took my money.

Can I tell you a short story? My first motorcycle was a little 250cc Suzuki Rebel. The bike and I spent many hours together in parking lots till I learned how to ride. Then many more hours spent on country roads, visiting lakes, day trips etc. I had insurance for it and the payments came directly out of my bank account. Several months into my ownership someone stole my bike. I was heart broken, looked for it all the time.

I reported it to the insurance company who paid out for the stolen bike so they knew I did not have it. But next month the premiums were again deducted from my bank account. I called the insurance company who said they would correct it. I called my bank who said they could do nothing about it. This went on for 15 months! Finally I asked my lawyer to send a letter to the insurance company. The insurance company not only stopped taking out the premiums but fully reimbursed me.

Since then, never, no one, ever has access to my bank account.

[Quixote]

We bought our first home here directly from a very elderly and infirm couple whose family trust paid all their bills and who were being moved to assisted living. Home inspection revealed an irrigation zone had very weak pressure. We lived with wells all our adult lives and so were unfamiliar with metered water. I took the bill to customer service, where a rep looked at it and said essentially, ‘Holy cow!’ ‘What does this mean?’ ‘You used 33,000 gallons to irrigate!’ ‘What should it be?’ ‘About 3-4,000.’ Something was wrong. The rep mentioned that the bills had been that high since day one.

Long story shorter, I tracked down the company that had installed the irrigation system; they were still working in TV. A company manager watched the system run, then took a shovel and dug up TWO shovels full of soil, , fished around the hole, and pulled up an irrigation line that had been buried without a sprinkler ever having been attached to it! So whenever that zone was on, it ran like a hose underground, thus the weak pressure AND the huge bill.

He installed a sprinkler, then watched it run. The pressure had improved to normal. Not satisfied, he went to the hole, dug up ONE more shovel full, reached in and pulled up a buried sprinkler! The first was an oscillating sprinkler that served one quadrant of the lawn, while the second covered a small landscaped area. He charged nominally, recognizing that it was his company that had created this problem.

We approached TV’s management, having been told that this was a ‘construction defect.’ Their response was the house was past its warranty, and since the water went through the meter, we had to pay for it. For us it was a relatively nominal amount, but the story circulated. Be aware that this is the pervasive attitude of TV on such issues!

[Hifred]

Thank you all for your support. It turned out per the water company there was a "miscalculation " and I am now being credited back 50,000 gallons making my monthly use about 2,500 gallons. I was really worried when I first saw that bill. But today, after phone calls and emails I did get a written response with a new adjusted bill. I think those of you who said not to let any company have direct access to your bank account were correct. I am stopping the automatic payment option on all of my accounts. This experience was a real eye opener. I am really glad I had this site to turn to. Hearing the suggestions was very helpful.

[Escape Artist]

Thank you all for your support. It turned out per the water company there was a "miscalculation " and I am now being credited back 50,000 gallons making my monthly use about 2,500 gallons. I was really worried when I first saw that bill. But today, after phone calls and emails I did get a written response with a new adjusted bill. I think those of you who said not to let any company have direct access to your bank account were correct. I am stopping the automatic payment option on all of my accounts. This experience was a real eye opener. I am really glad I had this site to turn to. Hearing the suggestions was very helpful.

I'm glad your story had a happy ending and the situation was resolved. But I'm suspicious because of similar problems recurring in TV many with no resolution or identified cause. Is there willful ignorance on their part, especially with those who pay with automatic payments? It seems like a racket to me, similar to law firms illegal practice of overbilling. They hope you won't notice!

[Luggage]

Water companies are highly regulated to be allowed only a certain percentage of profit. Trust me they really don't care whether you spend $20 or $2,000 a month as there are multi-million dollar income levels per month for each of these places. It's a state regulatory board. The people on the phone are just doing their job

[Luggage]

Never ever give anyone or any company the ability to automatically withdraw money from your bank account

[skippy05]

The shock of my life was in 2013, when I was told I had stage III colon cancer. As I did, just take it one day at a time until you find a resolution. I either will or won't work out in the end.

[jack.hunter00@yahoo.com]

You probably have a leak between in sprinkler system. Happened with us and that was the cause. Ours was by the switch head box.

[BrianNotFromNYC]

45,000 gallons "extra" is one gallon (toilet flush) a minute more than usual. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 30 +/- days a month = 45,000. When you see 45,000 that sounds like a lot. When you're the water department, you see a different perspective.

[oneclickplus]

We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking and looked under each sink. I called TV utility and they said they had checked the water meter twice and the reading was accurate. I don't know what else to do as I told the person from the utility company. I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off. I don't have a pool. I haven't had any guests or any reason why the water bill would be so high. The bad thing is I have automatic payment set up and it pulled more than $500 out of my checking account. I asked the person if they could pull my typical payment until we could determine what the problem was but they don't do that.

Has anyone had this situation occur? Do I need to get a lawyer? I am at a loss. Maybe the meter malfunctioned? At this point the people who work at the utility company are done with me but I still have a huge bill and they have taken the money from my bank account..... HELP PLEASE.

And, this is a classic reason why no one gets "auto pay" from my bank accounts. Many companies try to coerce this now by charging more for not having auto pay ($5 / month for example). Of course, what they are really doing is raising prices by $5 for everyone and then giving the "discount" for auto pay. I am paying $5 extra for cable each month because I refuse auto pay. They are also all pushing paperless billing. So, it's possible to never see you bill and have it paid. Some call it convenient. I call it scary.

I just started paying bills electronically as a result of poor USPS service. But, I PUSH all my payments to the various bills. No one TAKES payment automatically. You might consider changing that so that you remain in control of your $$.

I realize that this doesn't address your specific water issue. If the usage is accurate, my guess would be a leaky toilet - something that can waste water unnoticed for a long time (until you get the bill). I can't think of anywhere else where the water can get used without being noticed.

[Rose Ann Vinci Igoe]

We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking and looked under each sink. I called TV utility and they said they had checked the water meter twice and the reading was accurate. I don't know what else to do as I told the person from the utility company. I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off. I don't have a pool. I haven't had any guests or any reason why the water bill would be so high. The bad thing is I have automatic payment set up and it pulled more than $500 out of my checking account. I asked the person if they could pull my typical payment until we could determine what the problem was but they don't do that.

Has anyone had this situation occur? Do I need to get a lawyer? I am at a loss. Maybe the meter malfunctioned? At this point the people who work at the utility company are done with me but I still have a huge bill and they have taken the money from my bank account..... HELP PLEASE.

Ok... have had 3x the water pipes leading in from the street, broke... the water department can come out FREE and with a meter walk over your property to find a leak. Keep in mind. 3x the under ground water pipe broke in different sections. All on my part of the property, but it got fixed. Also for the record, I am now hearing from neighbors and friends, this is also happening to them. Just have your pipes coming into your property checked... you also could have a broken pipe with your sprinkler system. But my vote... underground pipes... customer service should acknowledge a big difference in your water usage, that should be a heads up something is wrong and we are in the rainy season... we don't need to water the grass... so your water bill should be lower during this time...

[Velvet]

45,000 gallons "extra" is one gallon (toilet flush) a minute more than usual. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 30 +/- days a month = 45,000. When you see 45,000 that sounds like a lot. When you're the water department, you see a different perspective.

Especially since they are not paying for it. Personally, no matter how “regulated” I like independent verification and transparency. Too many “oops”.

[sjweigand]

I had the same thing happen at my house. I received a bill for 54,000 gallons of potable water and I was only home for 5 of those days. I contacted the utility company, they sent somebody out who determined it was the meter and they replaced the meter. I only had to pay my regular potable water bill. Have the meter checked.

[Jake18]

If you have a pool check your overflow valve. Could be stuck open

[Hirams1202]

Ask them if they have been reading or estimating every month. Estimating over several months can cause a big bill when they finally read it.

[Jaydancer]

If you only have one meter, I can almost guarantee the problem is with the irrigation system. Very few things can use that much water without you noticing it. It's usually a broken sprinkler head or a pipe underground that has cracked. However, when I had the same problem last year, it was a faulty irrigation timer, (the box on the wall in the garage that controls the irrigation system). The sprinklers would run every day, twice a day. With the help of the water company we figured it out. They can get a readout of how much water I used and at what time of the day by reading my meter data. Then after I got it fixed I gave them the receipt from the company that replaced my timer and the water company gave me a substantial rebate because they realized I shouldn't have been charged for sewer for all that wasted water.

I have a similar frustrating problem, but with my irrigation water. My water bill comes in on one bill with all the other things like amenity fee etc. The water is split, one total for potable water and one for irrigation. The irrigation settings are never changed, but the bill for the sprinklers is quite often considerably more in one month than is usual. I'll have 3 months at the normal rate and then a much larger one, next month back to normal. Again the system is not changed. Anyone have any ideas about this?

[Bruce3055]

It's interesting that it appears that most folks would rather pay higher water bills to help a customer with an unusually high water bill. Of course that's assuming that the water company has costs to cover in providing water.

On a more serious note, if the leakage was isolated to irrigation and it was fixed and the water usage returned to normal, then you could make a legitimate argument that the water didn't go down the sewer and you should get a one time sewer usage credit. (Even clean water has to get treated once in goes in the sewer.

But imagine if everybody with irrigation leaks filed for adjjustments. That's why the water provider doesn't like to give adjustments.
And in reading the comments, many customers don't catch the leak in irrigation for a very long time. At what point should leaks be the customer's responsibility to pay for wasted water. Or should all customers chip in a little with higher water fees to help the poor customer with the high water bill due to wasted water?

So often though, the customer will fix an irrigation leak or other leak and claim they never had a leak and the bill will majically go back to normal. That defies the principle of how a water meter works. Usually old meters may stick or slow down but very rarely skip forward and then return to normal

there is a potential solution though. You can buy a FLUME water usage meter on amazon for about $200 and never have a surprise bill again. You can set it to give you notices of high water usage and it tracks hourly usage. So if the meter is running when you're away, yoiu know there's a problem immediately.

And there might be another solution also. When you look on Amazon you'll notice there's another water meter app that's only good for certain areas of the country. I think this hints that the water provider has worked a deal to lower the cost of a personal meter for their customers.

[Catalina36]

I am not familiar with TV water meters. Are you able to visually look at the water meter numbers or dials when the water is on??
You stated " I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off." From what you are saying on a 31 day month that's like 1677 gals of water a day or 70 gals a hour?? This might be something to do If you know where your water shut off is to the house close the valve and see if the meter is still turning. If you have a leak in the pipe going to the outside hose valve then you would still see the meter moving?? But you did say the meter is not moving?? Someone else also suggested make sure you are looking at the correct meter?? The inside water meter not the irrigation meter!!

[nn0wheremann]

We have lived in our home for years and our potable water usage is very stable. A little above or below 5,000 gallons a month. I got the shock of my life today when I looked at my water bill and it showed we used more than 52,000 gallons of potable water this month. I immediately checked all the faucets, spigots, toilets to see if they were running as well as hot water heater to see if it was leaking and looked under each sink. I called TV utility and they said they had checked the water meter twice and the reading was accurate. I don't know what else to do as I told the person from the utility company. I looked at the meter outside and it is not moving so I know there isn't a leak or it would keep moving despite all my faucets turned off. I don't have a pool. I haven't had any guests or any reason why the water bill would be so high. The bad thing is I have automatic payment set up and it pulled more than $500 out of my checking account. I asked the person if they could pull my typical payment until we could determine what the problem was but they don't do that.

Has anyone had this situation occur? Do I need to get a lawyer? I am at a loss. Maybe the meter malfunctioned? At this point the people who work at the utility company are done with me but I still have a huge bill and they have taken the money from my bank account..... HELP PLEASE.
Run your irrigation system manually, walk around the house and look for broken sprinkler heads. One of those will leak 10,000 gallons a month. Also lift the manifold cover next to your garage and see if you have a leak there. Be careful lifting that cover, varmints like that spot, especially if it is leaking.

[Barborv]

Several years ago, Had a $600.00 bill. It wasn't the irrigation usage, it was the water usage. Found out the toilet was running and my tenant didn't notify me for several weeks. The utility company did give me a one time price reduction. I think it might of been $200.00 off.

[Djean1981]

We have the flume. You can monitor usage with an app..
It's awesome..

[laboutj]

We have the flume. You can monitor usage with an app..
It's awesome..

Do you need two Flumes, one for the irrigation water and one for the water coming into the house? If you are monitoring irrigation, does it connect outside where the meter is?

[Velvet]

Set your payment up using Bill Pay with your checking account. You receive the Water Bill, go into Bill Pay on your checking account & pay the amount on your Water Bill. If it’s EXCESSIVE & you have checked everything on your part, I would pay the normal amount you use, and begin disputes with the Water Company. Perhaps their meter is not working or the hand held reader. When I can’t get cooperation from a company that deserves a second look, I call the Media to do a story using all your facts. You’ll get satisfaction from said Company immediately 😇

Definitely not. It’s a little more work each month to pay the bill. It is a LOT of possible work to correct over whithdrawl.