[walterray1]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Stumped on what to do/check next. Sorry about Title above, meant to type "Ideas", not "Ideals"... LOL. Here's the summary

. current water bill (not irrigation portion) showed 5 times the usage of the last 26 months of bills
. of those bills, the usage never varied by even a few gallon
. sewer usage was also a shocking amount of course
. started with checking toilets for constant running (no malfunctions)
. went on to all sinks, laundry included, bath, showers, etc. (no drips)
. checked under cabinets, outside hose connection, garage, everything we knew of connected to water use, no signs of dampness, nothing !
. finally called plumber who was the sub on building our home since he knew it and we have the original building specs
. he did a visual only (didn't run actual tests through all pipe in the walls since he said usage of that magnitude into the dry wall would show some signs of what was going on) and didn't charge us as he saw no signs of a possible reason

Where do we go from here ? Called to see if Village water department ever had an error when they read the meter, or had to replace a faulty meter. Lady said "NEVER, I can assure you you need to find the leak in your home", so end of that conversation. What to do ?

We do and had a similar issue. Turns out the auto refill was stuck and continually running which caused a very high water bill. Replaced it and eliminated the problem.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Stumped on what to do/check next. Sorry about Title above, meant to type "Ideas", not "Ideals"... LOL. Here's the summary

. current water bill (not irrigation portion) showed 5 times the usage of the last 26 months of bills
. of those bills, the usage never varied by even a few gallon
. sewer usage was also a shocking amount of course
. started with checking toilets for constant running (no malfunctions)
. went on to all sinks, laundry included, bath, showers, etc. (no drips)
. checked under cabinets, outside hose connection, garage, everything we knew of connected to water use, no signs of dampness, nothing !
. finally called plumber who was the sub on building our home since he knew it and we have the original building specs
. he did a visual only (didn't run actual tests through all pipe in the walls since he said usage of that magnitude into the dry wall would show some signs of what was going on) and didn't charge us as he saw no signs of a possible reason

Where do we go from here ? Called to see if Village water department ever had an error when they read the meter, or had to replace a faulty meter. Lady said "NEVER, I can assure you you need to find the leak in your home", so end of that conversation. What to do ?

A couple of years ago this happened to us. Went thru all the recommended steps to locate on our side of meter. Everything checked out fine. Several calls we finally got V water to send out a tech. Surprise, the meter was just out of "tolerance" and we were being over charged so tech replaced the meter. Did we ever get anything back for that one time outrageous bill? No. Not even an apology. Nothing. So, the lady who told you "NO" when you asked if they ever had to replace a faulty meter plainly LIED. People are reluctant to challenge those who seem aggressive, so by shutting down folks like us with questions like " could the problem be on your side" is standard practice in many places. Old days techs had to read and write the meter numbers. Lots of human error from beginning to end of billing process. Now, electronic billing should improve the accuracy, but there is ALWAYS a chance of a glitch somewhere in the process. Not just V water, but quite likely with any utility or service entity. Tell the complaining customer it HAS to be on their end (stone wall) so they will just pay and go away.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by Brad-tv

Look at the meter and verify the numbers match the bill
Write down the numbers weekly see if it makes sense.
On average most homes ( 2- people) in the villages use 2-3000 gallons a month sometimes 5k depends on many factors and lifestyle.
Showers, laundry, dishwasher, hoses usage etc. and very possible a bad meter ( or neighbors/ contractors using your hose)

Really? My usage is about 14,000 gallons a month, every month. I assumed that was due to watering, as I don’t use much in the house, and it didn’t go down when I was out of town for a couple months. Is 2-3,000 gallons for people without lawns?

[Catalina36]

You cannot be using house water with the main shut off valve closed. If the bill indicates usage of 60,000 gallons then there must be a break between the water meter and your house shut off valve. In addition you must be getting a sewer usage bill even when no one is there?? Ok, I am a snow bird and I just found out that your outside water garden hose connection is connected to your inside water meter so possibly your neighbor is using your garden hose connection when your not there to wash his car, driveway or house or what ever??? Something to think about?????? In addition your sewer usage bill is based on your household water usage because using the shower, faucets, toilet the water goes down the drain that's understandable. Now the outside water hose connection is connected to your in house water but that water does not go down the drain but yet your sewer bill is based on your in house water usage so you are being billed for water supposedly going down the drain but really your hose water is not!!!

[Luggage]

Demand a new meter . Period . Especially if you turn off the water in the front and your meter keeps turning or as the other person suggested you get your own flow meter and it's telling you different than what the outside meter is

[NoMo50]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

Really? My usage is about 14,000 gallons a month, every month. I assumed that was due to watering, as I don’t use much in the house, and it didn’t go down when I was out of town for a couple months. Is 2-3,000 gallons for people without lawns?

Homes in the older parts of TV have one water meter that covers potable and irrigation water. Most homes now have separate meters for potable (house) water, and irrigation water. Sewer charges are based on usage of potable water. We are two people, here full time, and our house water usage averages about 2,100 gallons per month. A few hundred gallons more in the summer (more showering), a little less in the winter. Your exterior hose bibs are part of the potable water system as well.

[La lamy]

Meters fail and meter readers fail. It happened at my villa last winter. It's so disappointing when some workers easily deny their responsibility for their mistakes.

[The Caretaker]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Stumped on what to do/check next. Sorry about Title above, meant to type "Ideas", not "Ideals"... LOL. Here's the summary

. current water bill (not irrigation portion) showed 5 times the usage of the last 26 months of bills
. of those bills, the usage never varied by even a few gallon
. sewer usage was also a shocking amount of course
. started with checking toilets for constant running (no malfunctions)
. went on to all sinks, laundry included, bath, showers, etc. (no drips)
. checked under cabinets, outside hose connection, garage, everything we knew of connected to water use, no signs of dampness, nothing !
. finally called plumber who was the sub on building our home since he knew it and we have the original building specs
. he did a visual only (didn't run actual tests through all pipe in the walls since he said usage of that magnitude into the dry wall would show some signs of what was going on) and didn't charge us as he saw no signs of a possible reason

Where do we go from here ? Called to see if Village water department ever had an error when they read the meter, or had to replace a faulty meter. Lady said "NEVER, I can assure you you need to find the leak in your home", so end of that conversation. What to do ?

They lied to you!! We had a problem and did all the things you did. No problems. Then we decided to have a plumber look at the water meter. Yep there was the problem!! BAD METER. Took 2 mo and a good fight but they finally fixed it!!! For those looking at the word (fight) NOT PHYSICAL. Our house was on Sunflower St in Liberty Park. HAVE YOUR METER CHECKED.

[sjweigand]

In another local city I had the smart meter fail (50,000 gallons potable water and I was only home for 5 days). A person from the water department came out and determined the meter was bad. I was told that my old water department was replacing about 10 smart meters a month. Smart meters can and will fail.

[Garylj24]

Check your water meter to see if water is flowing through meter. If you have flow you may have a under slab leak. You can also check your temperature and pressure relief valve on your water heater

[Fltpkr]

Originally Posted by OpusX1

Turn all the water off. Check the meter if it’s running you have a leak. If it’s not turning the meter may be bad.

Huh?

[Brad-tv]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

Really? My usage is about 14,000 gallons a month, every month. I assumed that was due to watering, as I don’t use much in the house, and it didn’t go down when I was out of town for a couple months. Is 2-3,000 gallons for people without lawns?

All the home built south of 466 have two water bills. 1- for the home ( city water) and 1 for the irrigation ( repurposed water) .So if your north of 466 you have 1 bill combined total usage. A 14k gallons a month must be a total combined bill. And from what I’ve seen is about average for a combined bill.

[trippond]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Stumped on what to do/check next. Sorry about Title above, meant to type "Ideas", not "Ideals"... LOL. Here's the summary

. current water bill (not irrigation portion) showed 5 times the usage of the last 26 months of bills
. of those bills, the usage never varied by even a few gallon
. sewer usage was also a shocking amount of course
. started with checking toilets for constant running (no malfunctions)
. went on to all sinks, laundry included, bath, showers, etc. (no drips)
. checked under cabinets, outside hose connection, garage, everything we knew of connected to water use, no signs of dampness, nothing !
. finally called plumber who was the sub on building our home since he knew it and we have the original building specs
. he did a visual only (didn't run actual tests through all pipe in the walls since he said usage of that magnitude into the dry wall would show some signs of what was going on) and didn't charge us as he saw no signs of a possible reason

Where do we go from here ? Called to see if Village water department ever had an error when they read the meter, or had to replace a faulty meter. Lady said "NEVER, I can assure you you need to find the leak in your home", so end of that conversation. What to do ?

You haven’t mentioned whether or not you have a pool but if you do, check the auto fill hardware (just like a toilet valve) to ensure it isn’t stuck on. I had that problem and it cost me an additional 15,000 gallons before we realized it.

[biker1]

...

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by trippond

You haven’t mentioned whether or not you have a pool but if you do, check the auto fill hardware (just like a toilet valve) to ensure it isn’t stuck on. I had that problem and it cost me an additional 15,000 gallons before we realized it.

If that was a problem, you would notice a constant trickle of water coming out the overfill drainage line from the pool. Also, if it’s a salt water pool, you would notice that the salt level in the pool would rapidly decline as the constant filling and dumping of water would dilute the salt level.