Water consumption??

[billethkid]

Over the past two or three years we have been having continuing spikes in our potable water. A couple of them did turn out to be leaks in outdoor faucets and a biggie was the leaking auto fill on the pool.

With those behind us we are still getting erratic useage bills. The water company says the average for two people runs about 3700 gallons per month.

Our Jan/Feb 2013 billing was over 9000 gallons!!!
What I also find as odd is when we are gone for extended periods of time is when our bulling comes in around 3000 gallons with nobody here.

I pull the cover off the meter in the yard from time to time to check to see if the meter is running when everything in the house is turned off. Meter verifies there is no flow at the time I am looking at it. So if there were an ongoing leak it would show some flow, hence I have ruled out possible non observable leaks.

I have been through the rigot in the past of calling the water company; that is how we found the leaking auto fill problem. However, since then they have been here as well confirming that when everything in the house is turned of there is no flow.

Before I enter into another round with them, I am checking with neighbors as well as here on TOTV.

What is your experience with water billing. Is the 3700 gallons your average? If higher do you know why?

Any commentary is appreciated.

btk

[CaptJohn]

Next time you leave for an extended period, turn the water off at the meter. (turn off water heater as well)
Could it be the minimum usage equates to 3000 gallons? Just guessing since I'm not there.
Also, if it is a 'smart meter', the reading device might not be so smart after all.

[beachx4me]

We are also having some large water bills and we aren't even there yet full time . One month was 47,000 gallons and we were only in the house for a few days. We made a few adjustments and are keeping an eye on things, however, I still think something is amiss because we have actually unplugged our irrigation system and it is still high. I have had the water company out once and still have them checking into this. I do not have auto fill on my pool either. I was beginning to wonder if the meter could be reading out in meters instead of gallons??? But they say it is a new meter and is reading fine. I will keep at them. Another mystery to solve.

[chuckinca]

Last summer, when we were in CA, our billed water usage here for 4 months was 0. That includes irrigation.







.

[Skybo]

I added up 15 months worth of potable water bills and they averaged out at 2604. I tried to not include any months when we had company or when we were away for any length of time. I have a rain barrel and use water from it to water my potted plants as much as possible. We eat out a lot, so that cuts back on washing dishes and we do make a conscience effort to take quick showers and not let water run any more than necessary. Other than that, I don't know why our usage is so much lower than the average. The only "spikes" we've seen is when we have company.

[saratogaman]

Our water usage (domestic, not irrigation) is always in the mid-3000s.
Two people, 3-bed, 2-bath home.

[obxgal]

Our water usage averages 2362 per month over the last 15 months.
Two people, 3-bed, 2-bath home. No pool.
Zero outdoor usage ... no grass
South of 466

[sobell]

Our water consumption was 20,070 for Jan/Feb, down from 23,250 the prior month. My bill does not show what is domestic and what is irrigation (just one amount under "Usage in Gals."). If 3,000 is the norm, something is bad wrong. We do not have a pool,either. Guess I'll have to call them out AGAIN.

[TVMayor]

Last months water consumption for one person in court yard villa with zero outside water usage 1,720 gal. At my last house my water bill was as high as $182 for one month with no sewer, no additional fees of any kind. I was about to have a forth 14.25% annual increase in a row so I moved to TV 4 months ago. My water in TV cost $8.83 last month.

My last house was on a large lot on a hill I had a special permit from St. Johns River Water Management allowing me to water 3 days a week to maintain health grass to prevent erosion.

Yesterday I figured after all fees and taxes in TV; I have all the amities TV has to offer plus $300 savings on water to squander a year things I did not have before I moved. The savings was also funded by no longer having yard maintenance.

Just say no to grass.

[skyguy79]

Over the past two or three years we have been having continuing spikes in our potable water. A couple of them did turn out to be leaks in outdoor faucets and a biggie was the leaking auto fill on the pool.

With those behind us we are still getting erratic usage bills. The water company says the average for two people runs about 3700 gallons per month.

Our Jan/Feb 2013 billing was over 9000 gallons!!!
What I also find as odd is when we are gone for extended periods of time is when our bulling comes in around 3000 gallons with nobody here.

I pull the cover off the meter in the yard from time to time to check to see if the meter is running when everything in the house is turned off. Meter verifies there is no flow at the time I am looking at it. So if there were an ongoing leak it would show some flow, hence I have ruled out possible non observable leaks.

I have been through the rigot in the past of calling the water company; that is how we found the leaking auto fill problem. However, since then they have been here as well confirming that when everything in the house is turned of there is no flow.

Before I enter into another round with them, I am checking with neighbors as well as here on TOTV.

What is your experience with water billing. Is the 3700 gallons your average? If higher do you know why?

Any commentary is appreciated.

btkThe 3700 gallons sounds pretty consistent with our usage and we do have a 11,700 gallon pool with auto fill, which of course spiked our usage for the month the pool was filled.

Anyway, when I was reading pool literature (possibly online) a while back, I read that the way to check for leaks is to place some kind of container in the pool step filled to the same level as the pool. Check back a day or two to see if the pool level has dropped and measure the difference of the drop. The auto fill might affect the measurement, but I really don't know that much about the process. If you haven't had this kind of test, you may want to contact your pool people for more information on that.

One final note... when you mentioned the 9000 gallons of water usage, I couldn't help wonder what the cost of the scotch usage that was mixed with it was! :duck:

[tom60]

Question, does that 3700 gallon a month figure include all indoor usage plus all out door irrigation? I live in santo domingo which is north of 466. There are two of us , in normal size house. No swimming pool. My usage for my last three water bills is.9850 gal, 8130 gal, and 11, 100 gal. I run my sprinklers one nite a week. Its all included with my indoor consumption. I ran my sprinklers twice the third bill thats why the usage jumped up over 11,000. Please advise. Tom

[billethkid]

we have done leak/level tets on the pool and ruled it out.
We no longer use the auto fill until such time as I get the "problem" figured out.

The month that we had potable water useage of over 9000 gallons we also had irrigation useage of 11,000 gallons (we have a very large yard with 7 zones....watering once per week) and the irrigation useage is consistent with previous months...it goes over 20,000 gallons per month when we water twice per week in the summer.

What is beginning to show a pattern is that the potable useage is the same whether we are here or not!!!!! And if the meter is showing that there is no flow when everything in the house is turned off.....it does not take a magician to figure there is something wrong in the metering. It does take a lot of perseverence with the water company as there usual position is you have a leak some where. Well we now have enough readings and observations to show the water noted is NOT being consumed by us.

I am willing to concede tha we may be above average users (just to be conservative) say another 1000 gallons to be generous in assumptions. That still leaves 4000++ gallons unaccounted for.....

We shall see.

btk

[Tellmeyourstory....]

Keep in mind that if your home is North of 466 you only have one meter...indoor and outdoor water all comes from the same water source.

If you live south of 466 you have two meters and water sources.
1. Potable, drinkable, indoor and hose line
2. Irrigation, not drinkable, sprinkler system.

[Ron1Z]

Our meeters here are in the ground. It took me three months and many phone calls to figure out that they were charging me for neighbors water usage. Make sure they are reading the right meeter.

[chuckinca]

Our water consumption was 20,070 for Jan/Feb, down from 23,250 the prior month. My bill does not show what is domestic and what is irrigation (just one amount under "Usage in Gals."). If 3,000 is the norm, something is bad wrong. We do not have a pool,either. Guess I'll have to call them out AGAIN.


I believe 3K may be the norm without irrigation.

Our usage for Jan and Feb was around 6K with irrigation on and off depending on rainfall. Nov and Dec were 20K and 16K irrigating twice a week (once a week would have been enuf).

.

[sobell]

Because of this thread I found out why my water consumption is so high (20,070 gals. last month). My sprinkler setting was set wrong. I was watering 4 sections 4 times twice a week 10 minutes each. My water consumption will decrease by 75%. So glad to get this problem solved but wonder why the utility company didn't suggest checking this when I called over a year ago

[shcisamax]

We have never come in at 3700. We do have a pool with autofill. But we are generally in the 9,000 -13,000 range. We have had the water company out but have never figured why it is so high and I have given in to paying the bill every month without fussing anymore.

[Virtual Geezer]

BTK and others, does you neighbor have a pool? And does you water usage only go up when you are gone for a few days or so?

Many years ago one of the guys at work found out that his neighbor was using his water to top off his pool when he and his family were gone for a period of time. Another neighbor ratted him out.

VG