[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Altavia

The Flume while a great tool for monitoring water usage is not fool proof or intended as a calibrated measurement device.

I've had instances when it failed to record when the sensor stopped transmitting because the meter pit filled with water.

https://fccid.io/2AOX8-F1100/User-Ma...al-3757797.pdf

Does it stop recording and therefore indicates a lower overall usage or does it delay sending and shows erroneous hourly usage but an accurate overall usage?

In the case of the OP the difference is 12,500 gallons. For me, that is two month's worth of usage. For the OP, I assume he was billed for the equivalent of three month's of water while the Flume showed the normal amount for a single month.

Since the Flume can show hourly amounts, that can be used to look at the issue as well. Did the Flume show larger than normal amounts for several hours which could lead to the pit filling with water?

I just remembered this: The documentation for the water meter at my home claims it saves hourly data that can be retrieved. The OP may want to contact the District and demand those hourly readings. If the utility meter is correct then the hourly readings will support the increased usage. If the meter glitched then there will be one or two hours that indicate a volume of water that is impossible given the size of the utility's lines and water pressure.

[LeRoySmith]

Originally Posted by Jakester

You forgot the other culprit resulting in high water bills is a faulty water sofner on the domestic side (customer's responsibility).

The small town I worked in softened all the water at the water plant so there were few if any customer owned water softeners. I can see where a backwashing softener could get stuck in the backwash cycle or the softener head could develop a leak and drain off the leaking water to the drain.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Does it stop recording and therefore indicates a lower overall usage or does it delay sending and shows erroneous hourly usage but an accurate overall usage?

In the case of the OP the difference is 12,500 gallons. For me, that is two month's worth of usage. For the OP, I assume he was billed for the equivalent of three month's of water while the Flume showed the normal amount for a single month.

Since the Flume can show hourly amounts, that can be used to look at the issue as well. Did the Flume show larger than normal amounts for several hours which could lead to the pit filling with water?

I just remembered this: The documentation for the water meter at my home claims it saves hourly data that can be retrieved. The OP may want to contact the District and demand those hourly readings. If the utility meter is correct then the hourly readings will support the increased usage. If the meter glitched then there will be one or two hours that indicate a volume of water that is impossible given the size of the utility's lines and water pressure.

Flume buffers data and retransmits once reconnected but I don't know how many days before the buffer fills.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by LeRoySmith

When you say it happens only a few times I wonder if it happens to the same small group of meters each year or a completely different group. If its an electronic glitch it seems like it would be more prone to infect the same meter multiple times rather than once and never again. I'd liken it to something in your car or dishwasher, if there's a gremlin in the wires it rarely happens once and often become a routine failure.

We shut our water off in the garage when we leave, that takes care of the vast majority of the possible leak sites but it does leave the pipe between the meter and the house shutoff in question. You could go a step further and shut it off in the meter pit, its not as easy but not difficult to pop the lid off and give the valve a half turn with an adjustable wrench. No need to call the utility to do this is you're the slightest bit handy (or I'd be happy to stop by and shut it off for you).

First, thank you for the offer, I appreciate it.

This won't solve the problem, here's why.
Some have reported that they have turned the water off inside their homes so there is no way they could have used it. The District points to their meter, insists it does not fail, and says the water went through the meter. Their position is maybe the water was not completely turned off, maybe the homeowner made a mistake, maybe this, that, or the other but the meter indicates the water went through it.

If you or I turned off the water before the meter and it glitched then we would hear these things:
1. The homeowner is not authorized to tamper with the meter or anything before the meter
2. The District does not even know that the homeowner actually turned off the valve, they could have operated it incorrectly or they could have made a mistake when they thought they had turned it off
3. In any case, the meter indicates that water went through the meter, the meter does not fail, and the homeowner has to pay.

I agree that it must be exceedingly rare that a glitch like this could occur. On the other hand, I cannot disregard the multiple separate reports from people experiencing a single occurrence of a 12,500gal or 25,000gal excessive reading when they were away from the house, when they had the water turned off, and in the case of irrigation, without anyone noticing two or three month's of water running down the road. Again, the one-time forgiveness seems like the perfect compromise for this situation.

[LeRoySmith]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

First, thank you for the offer, I appreciate it.

a single occurrence of a 12,500gal or 25,000gal

You're most welcome.

When you say 12500 or 25000, are those exact number or are you rounding. If exact number that seems very suspect.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by LeRoySmith

You're most welcome.

When you say 12500 or 25000, are those exact number or are you rounding. If exact number that seems very suspect.

Those are the numbers that I have heard stated by those who came to the board meetings. I haven't seen the bills myself so I don't know how accurate the statements were.

And yes, the same numbers coming up sounds suspicious in several ways including that they are close to 4096+8192 and 8192+16,384.

[PoolBrews]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

My Flume water monitor catches a 12,500 gallon irrigation excessive bill.

Monitor helps pay for itself. No this is not a difference in billing cycles. No the monitor is not malfuctioning. The system is off and there are no leaks as the monitor reads the water meter for activity.

Available on Amazon for 249.00. It also sends alerts when there are leaks.

Is this easy to install? Where do you install it?

[sallyg]

We have always been suspicious of over-charges. When we'd leave for a month or six weeks our "usage" would not change a drop. We always turned our water off. Imagine just a few dollars a month x 70,000 homes x 12 months. It is a bunch of money.

[Justputt]

Turn the water off at the house or after the meter, take a photo that has a timestamp. If you have a high meter reading when you can prove it was off, appeal it and if necessary, look into filing a Florida consumer fraud report.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by PoolBrews

Is this easy to install? Where do you install it?

Flume Water | Smart Home Water Monitor | Water Leak Detector

[Bealman]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

My Flume water monitor catches a 12,500 gallon irrigation excessive bill.

Monitor helps pay for itself. No this is not a difference in billing cycles. No the monitor is not malfuctioning. The system is off and there are no leaks as the monitor reads the water meter for activity.

Available on Amazon for 249.00. It also sends alerts when there are leaks.

I had an issue with a read of 12,240ish over a month on the irrigation side. The district provides one data download a year and if you dispute and want a refund, if you win, then you get your money back. Only problem is, when you read the small print about getting a refund, you are only allowed to do this one time only per account. So, dispute and get paid out is only good once in an account lifecycle. If I wanted to dispute this one time only, I would have to go to the meeting of the board and get the ruling overturned that the board voted in. A lot of B$ in my opinion. Just makes you make sure you have a big amount to refute before throwing all your cards out over a little amount. PITA is all I can say!

[lawgolfer]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

My Flume water monitor catches a 12,500 gallon irrigation excessive bill.

Monitor helps pay for itself. No this is not a difference in billing cycles. No the monitor is not malfuctioning. The system is off and there are no leaks as the monitor reads the water meter for activity.

Available on Amazon for 249.00. It also sends alerts when there are leaks.

My experience with the District regarding an unusually high meter reading is different. One month, our bill was nearly three times the usual amount. I pulled the cover on the meter in the front yard and found that the numbers on the meter were much lower than the numbers on the bill. I called the District to complain and was told that their computer had already "flagged" my account to determine why there was such a difference in the water usage from month to month. I don't see that there is anything wrong with having a Flume, but it seems to me to be an unnecessary expense that can be avoided by reading your monthly bill to see if there is an unusual difference in usage from previous months.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by lawgolfer

I don't see that there is anything wrong with having a Flume, but it seems to me to be an unnecessary expense that can be avoided by reading your monthly bill to see if there is an unusual difference in usage from previous months.

One example: You can easily burn through more than $250 irrigation water before noticing a broken spray head. Flume will detect a broken spray head almost instantly.

[NoMoSno]

Originally Posted by Altavia

One example: You can easily burn through more than $250 irrigation water before noticing a broken spray head. Flume will detect a broken spray head almost instantly.

A broken spray head won't leak any water until your controller opens a zone valve. The Flume will just read it as the normal irrigation cycle.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by NoMoSno

A broken spray head won't leak any water until your controller opens a zone valve. The Flume will just read it as the normal irrigation cycle.

The Flume will note that significantly more water was used during that particular irrigation cycle indicating a broken head. You will see it the first day water goes through the broken head rather than six weeks later when a large bill arrives.