Rising cost of combined monthly Amenities/Water bill
 

I've noticed over the last 4 months my combined Amenities/Water/Sewer bill has gone up about $20 each month. In March it was $235.00 and this month it is up to $272. I was just wondering if this is normal or if it may signify a problem (and what may be the cause)? I have no problem if this is a normal occurance, maybe the time of year or something, but want to have it fixed if there is a problem. Thanks in advance. I do have tenants in my house but they have not been doing anything unusual and they checked to make sure nothing is leaking.

Irrigation for your lawn? Also, check sprinkler heads for leaks, broken, etc.

More water use = larger bill
Less water use = smaller bill

Thank you, no kidding. shouldn't have been that much larger water bill in March/April. Tenants turned the sprinkler system down so didn't go off as often. They didn't start taking 5 showers a day either.
As someone said in another post, it's no wonder people leave this forum when you ask an honest question and get answers like this?
But thanks for your brilliant logic.

Actually, though succinct, it was probably the best answer to your question.

The amenity/water/trash bill .... The only item that could/will vary greatly from month to month is your water usage. The amenity and trash fee are pretty much fixed with perhaps one small increase each year.

Take a closer look at your water usage...potable and non-potable (irrigation) and see which has increased. That will be your first clue where to investigate. If potable, you may have a leaking faucet or toilet. If non potable, either irrigation is running more often or you have a leak.

However, as I said in my other posts, my tenants checked for leaks and turned the sprinkler system down so it wouldn't run as often, but the costs are still going up by $20 a month. The best answer so far is maybe a problem with the sprinkler heads. So who can I get to check this out for me, any recommendations?

You have to check to usage recorded on your water bill to establish a baseline and then investigate.

There may be some leaks that your tenants are unable to check and need the expertise of a professional to spot. I would start by calling the folks who installed your sprinkler system. You might try Jim Baumgarter (352-504-2317). I hear he does good work.

I have a pretty accurate baseline after living here for 3 years, and my bill has actually gone down for the last 3 or 4 months. Either you have inaccurate programming in your sprinkler control panel, or there is an underground leak ( could be on either system) either way you need to have somebody check both systems and both meters.

Call the water company and explain what ever you know athe time. They will send a technician who will check if there are leaks by watching the water meter.
Takes him only a very few minutes. All water in the house must not be in use while he checks.

There are two components to the water charge...potable and irrigation. You can reach some preliminary conclusions by looking at past months water useage.

As has been stated the only variable on the bill is water useage. And it does not take much of a leak to use thousands of gallons. Or your sprinkler timer has multiple run programs that need to be verified or not.

We just purchased in The Village and my question may not pertain. Do they read the meter monthly? In PA, we frequently get estimated readings for water and then it balances out (may be higher or lower) the next month.

Thank you for your post. We've only had 3 months of bills and now know if there is an inconsistency there could be more reasons than water use.

I would guess that the problem is a leak in the water line. You can actually check it yourself. Turn off all the water inside the house, pull the cover off your water meter, and see if there is any movement on the dials. If there is, you have a leak.

You can also call The Villages Water and they will send a tech to do the same thing - for free.

Meter reading is done monthly with electronic reading devices. The readers touch a device to the round disc on the cover of your meter boxes and the reading is recorded. Watch your bills, because errors, both human and electronic, have occurred.

The brilliant logic is just that. As has been stated the only variable is usage.
What has been the usage each month? I would not do anything until I knew the usage.
Unless they know what they are doing I would not rely on renters adjusting the irrigation system.

Thank you. I do have a Management Company so I think I will have them call the water company and investigate and if that fails I will call Jim as I know he has been highly recommended on this forum.

The odds are the problem is in the sprinkler system. Give either Jim Baumgartner or Rupert Cross (352/406-8814) a call to check. However, if the variation is only about $20/month, the odds are that there is nothing wrong. More than likely, the rain sensor is adjusting as needed and watering more on dry days.

Change the flapper in the toilet tank. I had the same problem recently, toilet was running ever so slowly one could hardly notice. They wear out quickly, get soft, due to high chlorine in the water.,

That may be but it didn't have to be done so rudely. I am not an idiot and realize more consumption means more money. However, I wasn't sure what the problem was. I was asking a simple question of what could be causing the rise in cost, for all I know it didn't have anything to do with water usage, (in Massachusetts one year I was hit with an extra $800 bill at my Condo because of excessive snow removal that year, nothing to do with the water consumption) that was my point, maybe the road needed repairing, what could the causes be? And everyone after that one has given me some very good advice which is all I was asking for to begin with. I am not in Florida at the moment, in fact, I am in Africa so I can't exactly walk over and look. This didn't have to turn into a fiasco if people can just be nice to each other. I would never turn someone's question into a smarta.. answer.
Anyway, thank you everyone for your help.

Mix, I reread the couple of answers you got and I didn't see it as smarta$$, it just seemed like a reasonable answer. What Bogie said is spot on, evaluate the water usage on your bill because is is the only variable.


You can call the water company too and ask them.


That is what you get, running off to Africa and hanging out with all those pretty giraffes. :wave: This...HERE is lower Paradise. Hurry home.

I am just teasing, not aiming to be a smarta$$.

I suggest you "lighten" up. The post you are refering to was not rude.....direct and to the point... yes! People often respond, not only on this BB but many others, in short direct responses. Have you ever gotten a text message that you cannot understand what they are saying! I take every response for what it is and nothing more..some are worth while reading while others I simply dismiss. Also dont believe everything you read or hear on any BB including TOTV..... check it out and make your own decision based on other facts you can gather.

Regarding your issue, it sounds like you have a plan and a fair one at that. Since you are away you need to rely on your management company.

I just checked my bills and since the beginning of tJanuary, my feb/march and apr went up approx $10 each month but the the April bill Jumped $20 from March. I dont think your bills are that out of line considering you are not personally there to montitor water useage.

Check the water consumption
 

Just because tennants don't see signs of a leak doesn't mean there isn't one. My Amenities bill suddenly went way up. I had sprinkler company and landscaper company check for leaks, they said everything was OK. I called Jim Baumgartner 352.504.2317. He did a brilliant job of diagnosing where the problem was (some where in roots in cluster of large palm trees) and bypassed the leak. Class guy!
Ed

We had the same problem and it increased our potable use $20. Got the seal replaced and all is back to normal.

Since you are in Africa you may not have access to your bill but the important thing to look at is which water useage is up, potable or non potable.

This is a little off topic but it happened to us in a rental a few weeks ago.

We noticed the sprinklers had been running for several hours. I hate to think what the owners water bill is going to be.

I texted the management company and he came over. He said he checked the settings a few days prior to our arrival and that the settings were different.

We think the villa might have had a power surge because the garage door had to be re-programmed and the street light also went out.

Maybe the tone sum responses are because it's Friday the 13th.

:censored:

You stated tenants had adjusted the irrigation system so it wouldn't run as often.
Even experienced owners sometimes have problems adjusting their systems.
I would only allow a person that is experienced with the system to make adjustments. It can be tricky.

I assume it was the following post that you found offensive.
More water use = larger bill
Less water use = smaller bill

I didn't find it rude at all, just short and succinct.
I think the poster was just pointing out that the variables are few in the bill.
Most are fixed .. the water use being the one variable.

The only variable in the water/amenities bill is the water - except for once a year when your amenity fee goes up. On the bill is the number of gallons used each month.

I have a spreadsheet into which I put these numbers and have a formula that tells me month-to-month and year-to-year what my water usage is so I can watch for possible problems.

Without trying to upset you, why don't you take your last 5-6 months bills and make a spreadsheet to see what the difference is in your monthly usage?

If you are on south of 466 you can do both the potable water and the non-potable water separately and see if the problem is in the house or in your irrigation system.

Z

Lighten up. We are here to help.

With the amount of rain The Villages is receiving, there is no reason to be running an irrigation system at all. Tell your tenants to turn the system off and leave it off until you can have it checked out personally. And it's not even the rainy season yet.

smart answers to logic questions
 

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mixsonci: Every suggestion preceding this post was on point. However, I am probably the only resident who believes we are being overcharged for water.
The water bill is such that there is a base charge for water and irrigation. On top of that is a three tier rating system not found in other water districts in florida. There are other fixed fees in this bill that make no sense

If the water district believes that people who use more water should pay more that is fine. However then why do they still charge a base fee?

I went two months not using my irrigation with no leaks as verified by Jim B and yet had appreciable charges each month, Just like cable companies, telephone companies and the like this utility has a monopoly and it is milking it for everything it is worth. the problem is they can and they can because no one around here complains. And no one complains because if they did residents would complain about their complaining

Even though your irrigation system may have been set down if the rain sensor is not working you may be watering even when it's raining. I replaced ours and during this time year our usage has went down.

Wow ...30 replies so far...please let us know what you find to be the problem.

I'm in Lake County and I have to pay separately for trash so my bill only include water and amenities. But the water and amenities are itemized on my bill. Are the itemized on your bill? If so,you should be able to look at your last several bills and see what is going up. Also, the rate for water per gallon are on the bill. You should be able to tell if the rate went up or your usage went up.

Due to this thread, I checked our irrigation system. I don't know how or when it happened but the system had changed from 20 minutes to 31 minutes.

Thank you everyone, I got some really good advice and now have to figure out the easiest way to find the problem. Being that I am not in the US, I pay my bill electronically and the paper bill is sent to my mother's house, so I don't see them and can't compare them. I think I'll start by having my Management Company call the water department and check it out and go from there.

Probably the automatic seasonal change which is built into the controller. The newer Hunter controllers have a "Solar Synch" computer that contains both a seasonal profile and a humidity sensor. When the profile calls for more watering, the zone run times are adjusted upward. If the homeowner reduces the times, the computer bumps them back up over night. It's designed that way.

There are ways around this, including deactivating the Solar Synch, but they are not obvious. A pro would know.

Humor is great, I love it and trust me I would much rather be there with you guys than here in South Sudan where there are no exciting Safaris to go on. I hate to rush my life away, but December can't come fast enough. Maybe I overreacted a bit but at the time it just hit me the wrong way.

TOTV is a great source of information. Thank you Buzzy.

I've never heard of Solar Synch before.
How very interesting.
You say "newer" Hunter controllers have a Solar Synch computer.
Do you know what year this started?

Irrigation water is more expensive, then regular water for house.

I forgot to say to ensure the irrigation times are very early morning or very late evening to prevent evaporation loss thru wind and sun. I actually read that somewhere today too.