[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]

Originally Posted by Sabella

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[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.