[rjm1cc]

Originally Posted by My Daily Run

I had a running toilet and used 15,000 gals of water over my normal usage...I was not convinced till I had it repaired and my bill went down to normal...didn't even hear it running...it was the guest bathroom which I don't hear normally I got up and went in the kitchen in the middle of the night and heard something.

I guess maybe once a year or so one of my flappers do not close correctly and if in a bathroom you do not use it could be a big problem. The flapper not closing will use a lot more water than a small leak.

[willbush]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Some people don’t have clue how long to run irrigation system. Couple in my neighborhood run irrigation so long the most water runs down the street drain for nearly hour 3 or 4 days week. It’s waste of water and money. That would be the first place I would look HOW long each system runs and how much runoff.

Agee, I run several zones (lawn not bushes) twice on water days at 1/2 the normal rate for those zones) First run time 0530 then the 2nd run time 0630;this allows water to soak in lawn amd not run down the street;also sides require less water because it's normal for neighbors sprinklers to overspray onto your side due to the smaller width;don't forget to set winter times to less run times.

[mtdjed]

At some time in this post someone asked how to check usage and check for a leak. While there are monitors that might be hooked up, there is a simple way which is to read the meter. My neighbors most recent IRRIGATION bill was very high. We live in an area where irrigation water is separate from Potable water.
Basically, if the meter reading is high, then the water has passed through the meter and the problem is yours for either a leak or excessive usage. This assuming that the meter is not defective. If you have a leakage problem the leak would most likely be between the meter and Servo Valves that activate when commanded by your Irrigation Control in the Garage.
To check, find your irrigation meter and uncover so that you can read the meter. First look for wet spots near the meter and the servo valve or where line may have been damaged by landscaping. Then observe whether meter is moving when system is off. If meter is visibly moving when system is off, you have a leak. If you recheck 24 hrs later and see no needle movement, you have no continuous leak.
To check usage read the meter before and after a scheduled Zone Run. The difference is your usage for the run. I have checked A zone run 3 times in a row and the usage is very constant.
Following is where we found the cause of High usage -
Learn how to read and program your controller. Our controller has 3 Programs (A,B,C). Each program has 4 subprograms (A1,A2,A3,A4 etc for B and C). All should be off except for that which you want to run. Also verify that you only run on day or days you want. If you are not careful you may activate an unwanted run.
In the case I am talking about we had at least two and perhaps 3 duplicate runs on Program A. Definitely A1 and A4 were set for the same exact zones, run time and start time which was 6:45 AM. You would think that it would only start one time at 6:45 but what happened was that after the first run completed , it started all over again even though it was two hours later.
How did that duplicate schedule get turned on when it was working well for months? Well, it could have been a power surge or a mistake made while shutting water off and back on during our wet summer.

[Gary Moscowitz]

I have heard similarly. Leaks within buried irrigation systems can happen & go undetected for quite some time. I myself had a valve on the system ( within that pink rectangular box adjacent to one’s garage) not fully close. Usually that will show up as a sprinkler head always wet/leaking. Just like a leaking flush valve in ones toilet, that can result in sig water usage. I can’t speak to the potable water meters being affected by lightning but it makes perfect sense as we know all electrical devices can be affected by current surges & lightning. I think it behooves the utility co that when they see a sudden surge in usage to 1. Inspect the system, 2. Repair & 3. Average out the users past bill ( a full 12 months) and adjust the questioned bill accordingly! Irrigation systems are a different matter as we found out when having some landscaping work done we attempted to find out where our irrigation lines were. First checked with the Villages home warranty depot & they said they do not have that info. They gave us the name & ph # of the irrigation installer. When called, this company said they do not keep records of the layout grid for individual homes. So it comes down to luck when one digs or trying to find leaks... it seems to me every home should get a map, specific to their property, of the layout of the underground irrigation system!

[Toymeister]

If you are interested you can check the entire neighborhoods water consumption it's public Info. Use the bill pay on line site.

What I found is: 1. No one waters the same, not by a long shot and 2. It isn't the least bit interesting.

[Gmichell]

We received a notice from VCDD about excessive use last month. They said we used 13,000 gallons and we were away for 2 weeks with the water shut off. We requested they come out and check their meter. They took two more readings over the next two weeks and found no crazy usage. We did nothing but check for obvious leaks and found none. PS- we have no pool, hot tub, etc. After their second reading- VCDD said their was an error on their meter reading and were crediting our account. They are not sending anyone to check their meter.

[Jackie vohs]

we were hit by lightning in may and our water bills went thru the roof. we called and even visited the water District. FINALLY after much effort (screaming and kicking) the water District send someone out and sure enough, the meter had been hit. They applied a new meter and the next water bill had a credit. we have not had a problem since. 97% of the world just excepts mist answers and goes along. 3% won't be bullied nor do they except what us expected. STAND UP and fight if you think you have been wronged.

[greenhillsgirl]

We have had similar issues with the charges on the water billing, and yes, with no resolution. The office first, and foremost, always tells you to check the irrigation...And then goes on to question you. My husband is way ahead of them in that respect. They do not care. They truly either don’t care or are clueless.
That led me to tracking every item on our water bill (and usage) for the last three years. I have found that the billing cycle (there is no cycle) runs anywhere from 28 days to 35 days, which, bottom line, shows that when it cycles for 35 days, you are charged much more, because you can be over the 18,001 gallons @ 5.41$....
I have tracked when we filled the pool, when we watered in excess, and so on.
It seems to me that a per-day charge, or a 30 day charge would seem reasonable.
And by the way, they came and checked the meter.....nothing. But I knew that....start checking how many days the reading covers.

[q9272678]

What is the average water usage by gallons for most people?

Thank you!

Frank

[rjm1cc]

Originally Posted by q9272678

What is the average water usage by gallons for most people?

Thank you!

Frank

Very rough No watering (ranniy season) 2 to 3 thousand gallons. Watering 6 to 7 thousand but have gone up to 14,000 in a very dry month. I turn my system on and off manually. Best I can tell the 14,000 was actual usage and no leaks or wrong sprinkler settings.

[Toymeister]

Originally Posted by q9272678

What is the average water usage by gallons for most people?

Thank you!

Frank

Do you have a 3,300, 5,200, 8,700 or 12,000 sq ft lot? That drives the average.

Irrigation or potable? Or combined water use (northern TV). For which month? As you can see you left quite a few variables out.

In my opinion you will not get useable answers here from most people here because they only know their own bills.

I have 100 data points (months) from the 5,200 to 8,900 sq ft lots. If you are more specific I can give you some facts.

[rayBert25]

We first bought our home in TV in 2013 and we were snowbirds for the first two years. Our water bills were normal and reasonable at first, but after about 6 months our irrigation bills spiked to over $200 per month just for irrigation water. I contacted the water company and at first they told me that I was watering my lawn too much and to cut it back to twice a week for 15 minutes per zone. I knew that wasn't the problem because I had not changed my watering schedule. I insisted that they test my meter. They finally agreed after several phone calls. They sent a young man out to test the meter, which turned out to be not a very conclusive test. Their test consisted of running twenty gallon (yes, I said 20 gallons) of water through the meter to check check for accuracy. They concluded that my meter was working properly. After several more phone calls and further insisting that they perform more conclusive testing they agreed to change my meter and send it to the manufacturer for testing with the understanding that if the manufacturer found no problem with the meter I would have to pay for the replacement meter and the bills would stand as they were.

The manufacturer's test consisted of running several thousand gallons of water through the meter and testing it for accuracy. The manufacturer concluded that the meter was defective and that it was indeed recording a greater number of gallons used. than what was actually run through it The final outcome was that The Villages reimbursed me for the full three months of charges in which I was charged for excessive usage and I got the new meter for no charge.

Bottom line - TV's 20 gallon test is useless in that 20 gallons is not enough water to determine accuracy. It took many phone calls over several months of me insisting that I was not using that amount of water to finally get them to try something else. Turns out I was right. It shouldn't be this difficult, but unfortunately it was.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by rayBert25

We first bought our home in TV in 2013 and we were snowbirds for the first two years. Our water bills were normal and reasonable at first, but after about 6 months our irrigation bills spiked to over $200 per month just for irrigation water. I contacted the water company and at first they told me that I was watering my lawn too much and to cut it back to twice a week for 15 minutes per zone. I knew that wasn't the problem because I had not changed my watering schedule. I insisted that they test my meter. They finally agreed after several phone calls. They sent a young man out to test the meter, which turned out to be not a very conclusive test. Their test consisted of running twenty gallon (yes, I said 20 gallons) of water through the meter to check check for accuracy. They concluded that my meter was working properly. After several more phone calls and further insisting that they perform more conclusive testing they agreed to change my meter and send it to the manufacturer for testing with the understanding that if the manufacturer found no problem with the meter I would have to pay for the replacement meter and the bills would stand as they were.

The manufacturer's test consisted of running several thousand gallons of water through the meter and testing it for accuracy. The manufacturer concluded that the meter was defective and that it was indeed recording a greater number of gallons used. than what was actually run through it The final outcome was that The Villages reimbursed me for the full three months of charges in which I was charged for excessive usage and I got the new meter for no charge.

Bottom line - TV's 20 gallon test is useless in that 20 gallons is not enough water to determine accuracy. It took many phone calls over several months of me insisting that I was not using that amount of water to finally get them to try something else. Turns out I was right. It shouldn't be this difficult, but unfortunately it was.

WOW. Thanks for sharing!

[crash]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

Interesting, does it fell you if you have a leak? If your water has been running for an extensive time? Does it send you texts? All of these technological feats are simple to do it if is counting the gallons.

The meter on the water softener only meters the water going through the softener. If the leak is before the softener it will not get metered.

The problem is usually with irrigation water and that never gets to the water softener meter.

[Pinball wizard]

Originally Posted by crash

The meter on the water softener only meters the water going through the softener. If the leak is before the softener it will not get metered.

The problem is usually with irrigation water and that never gets to the water softener meter.

In my case and most I have seen, the whole house water softener is immediately after the water inlet to the house so I measures all water used in the home plus any leaks in the home. If the was a leak between the softener and the inlet, you would see water in the garage.