Water bill

[ROCKETMAN]

WHEN I GOT MY WATER BILL YESTERDAY I WAS IN FOR A BIG SHOCK. MY WATER BILL HAS BEEN THE SAME FOR 7 YEARS. IT MORE THAN DOUBLED AND IT WAS FOR POTABLE WATER, NOT IRRIGATION WATER. CALLED WATER DEPT. AND THEY ARE SENDING SOMEONE OUT ASAP BUT THEY ARE CURRENTLY SWAMPED. I KNOW OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM. IF YOU HAVE LET ME KNOW.:shrug:

[billethkid]

you no doubt have checked the obvious like running toilets (some are very small and quiet ) or leaking faucets inside the house.

Do you have a pool? If yes does it have auto fill? If yes check it as they do get stuck from time to time and no way to find out until the big bill arrives.

Have you checked the outside spigots? The ones the builder puts in are terrible quality. We have had leaks develop in 2 of our 3 outside faucets.

When the water person comes, do try to be there. They are very helpful in helping one think of other "stuff" like the above. You can also verify for him that you have everything that flows water in the house turned off, so he can determine if the meter still runs with everything shut down.

Any contractors working at your house or nearby? They sometimes forget and leave water running.

And of course the ultimate four letter work L E A K some where in/under/to the slab your house sits upon. It happens more than we would like to think.

Electrical surges/lightning will also affect meter performance....not that often but it does happen. The water company will not acknowledge this problem. In past years we have had several neighbors with spiking water bills who did in fact recieve refunds for unexplained spiking, with an assignable storm occirance and more than one house hold.

Good luck.

btk

[jnieman]

when our bill went up we had two broken sprinkler heads

[ROCKETMAN]

you no doubt have checked the obvious like running toilets (some are very small and quiet ) or leaking faucets inside the house.

Do you have a pool? If yes does it have auto fill? If yes check it as they do get stuck from time to time and no way to find out until the big bill arrives.

Have you checked the outside spigots? The ones the builder puts in are terrible quality. We have had leaks develop in 2 of our 3 outside faucets.

When the water person comes, do try to be there. They are very helpful in helping one think of other "stuff" like the above. You can also verify for him that you have everything that flows water in the house turned off, so he can determine if the meter still runs with everything shut down.

Any contractors working at your house or nearby? They sometimes forget and leave water running.

And of course the ultimate four letter work l e a k some where in/under/to the slab your house sits upon. It happens more than we would like to think.

Electrical surges/lightning will also affect meter performance....not that often but it does happen. The water company will not acknowledge this problem. In past years we have had several neighbors with spiking water bills who did in fact recieve refunds for unexplained spiking, with an assignable storm occirance and more than one house hold.

Good luck.

Btk

thanks for the info. No pool, no contractors. Will make sure i am home when they come.

[JoeC1947]

Locate the two boxes in your front lawn. One will be irrigation water and one will be potable water. Pull the covers and see if either meter wheel is spinning. Determine which meter is for which water supply. Neither wheel should be spinning if no water is being used. My guess is that your potable meter will be spinning which would mean you have a leak.

[ROCKETMAN]

Checked it this morning 2 or 3 times and it hasn't moved. Hope it't just a bad meter

[blueash]

I know you are angry but please, no need for YELLING WITH ALL CAPS for every word. When you checked your meter, did you note whether the actual reading related to the charges you had? I had a whopper of a bill and the next reading was lower than the elevated bill. Just had been misread, no excess use. It happens

[ROCKETMAN]

I know you are angry but please, no need for YELLING WITH ALL CAPS for every word. When you checked your meter, did you note whether the actual reading related to the charges you had? I had a whopper of a bill and the next reading was lower than the elevated bill. Just had been misread, no excess use. It happens

sorry about the all caps. i am new to this. thanks for the info

[gatherer47]

We had a leak from the box in the front yard-actually for patio villas the box is in the house next door's front yard.

[JoeC1947]

I know you are angry but please, no need for YELLING WITH ALL CAPS for every word. When you checked your meter, did you note whether the actual reading related to the charges you had? I had a whopper of a bill and the next reading was lower than the elevated bill. Just had been misread, no excess use. It happens

I'm hard of reading so I don't mind the caps!

[ROCKETMAN]

The guy from the water dept. just left. Was a bad reading, said they have been having problems with the wands they use to read them. i actually went out and checked it myself before he came and i could see the reading on the bill was incorreect.

[rubicon]

I'm hard of reading so I don't mind the caps!

Very clever:coolsmiley:

[skyguy79]

I'm hard of reading so I don't mind the caps!Do you use <ctrl>+ when you need a larger font? To return to the default size, use <ctrl>0.

[villages07]

The guy from the water dept. just left. Was a bad reading, said they have been having problems with the wands they use to read them. i actually went out and checked it myself before he came and i could see the reading on the bill was incorreect.

Very interesting.... my irrigation usage more than doubled this past month, from 4,020 gallons to 10,410 gallons with no changes in the settings. Looking at the calendar...8 watering cycles last period and 9 this time. Might be worth a call. It would be no big deal if it self corrected next month, but, with our tiered pricing that extra 6K gallons get pretty expensive and won't be made up for by a lower reading next month.

Another thing I just discovered.... the meter box on my neighbor's property says "irrigation" and the one on my property says "potable". I believe each box has meters for two houses (this is a designer neighborhood) so it is possible that one's potable reading is correct and irrigation is incorrect (or vice versa).

Was talking with a friend from next village over and his irrigation usage was also way off. These houses are 6 years old so in the same general area as Rocketman, the OP.

OK, now the fun of prying off the cover to get to the meter....or, just calling the water company.

Thanks for starting this thread, Rocketman, and for reporting the results.

[uujudy]

Do you use <ctrl>+ when you need a larger font? To return to the default size, use <ctrl>0.

Skyguy, I never knew I could do that. Thanks so much for the tip!

[LynnDeb]

:pepper2:
Glad to see it was found

[createquilts]

so what is normal water usage here for a designer house on a normal plot? I imagine with a pool or hot tub it is higher, but we have no way of knowing what an average bill is for the average house and did not have a frame of reference when we got our bill.

we water once a week per the county gardening talks and have checked our sprinklers to make sure none are wacky.

[mulligan]

The next logical step would be to check the reading on the meter. Pry the top off the box with a large screwdriver, wipe the dirt off, and there lies the culprit. Black box for potable water, lavender or purple for irrigation water.

[asianthree]

I'm hard of reading so I don't mind the caps!

Funny

[cathyw]

so what is normal water usage here for a designer house on a normal plot? I imagine with a pool or hot tub it is higher, but we have no way of knowing what an average bill is for the average house and did not have a frame of reference when we got our bill.

we water once a week per the county gardening talks and have checked our sprinklers to make sure none are wacky.

According to this link, a designer home south of 466 with 2 residents,should average 10,900 gallons per month.

http://www.thevillageswaterwisdom.com/content/HowMuch1109.pdf

[createquilts]

Cathyw, thanks so much. We got so much info at closing I must have missed this.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

According to this link, a designer home south of 466 with 2 residents,should average 10,900 gallons per month.

http://www.thevillageswaterwisdom.com/content/HowMuch1109.pdf

Includes both irrigation usage (7,200 gallons) and indoor/potable water as well (3,700 gallons).

Bill :)

[ROCKETMAN]

Meter was read wrong. It is done with a wand but water dept. employee stated they have had some problems. Mine was obvious so if you think your bill is a little high, let them know so they can reread your meter.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Skyguy, I never knew I could do that. Thanks so much for the tip!

If you have a Mac, it's "command +"

Great tip