So we just moved to a new place here recently (from townhome to townhome) and we got our first water bill. They claim we use 430 gallons a day between the two of us. For the past couple years we've consistently used an average of ~80 gallons a day. Apparently a new meter was installed a week before we moved in, and i've had someone from the city verify that we don't have a leak. I have someone coming to recheck the meter, but i'm looking for recommendations here....please!

Our water consumption habits are unchanged.....despite this, 430 gallons a day between 2 people is absurd!

8/31/2010 12:39:45 AM

high water pressure + running toilet?

8/31/2010 12:44:37 AM

sprinklers

checked your toilets ?



[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 1:09 AM. Reason : x]

8/31/2010 1:08:42 AM

i meant to add: low water pressure, no sprinkler system, the one running toilet would drain its tank in about 24 hrs (1.6 gpf = ~100 gallons in a 2 month time frame)....the water to this one has been shut off until it the flapper is replaced

[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 1:19 AM. Reason : ]

8/31/2010 1:11:53 AM

here's a decent estimator
http://www.csgnetwork.com/waterusagecalc.html

And if you're in the 80 gal/day category you're really, really frugal. 430 does seem high though.

8/31/2010 4:35:07 AM

i just wanted to say that my water bill last month was less than $13.00

8/31/2010 7:58:54 AM

^^ I don't think 80 is super frugal. I think my wife and I have averaged about 90 per day since we moved into our house awhile back.

8/31/2010 8:21:00 AM

^yeah...but all accounts, you are super frugal.

8/31/2010 8:22:43 AM

Turn off everything then go look at the water meter. If everything is indeed off then the little dial shouldn't be moving at all. If it is still then an appliance (dishwasher/washing machine/etc.) may be using more water than it is supposed to.

8/31/2010 9:05:01 AM

if the dial is spinning out of control while the water to your house is shut off, you have a leak

and if your water pressure is low (as you say), that can also be a sign of a leak

any weird wet patches of ground between your meter and your house?

[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 9:25 AM. Reason : .]

8/31/2010 9:23:35 AM

That is very high consumption. My wife and I average 151 gallons a day on our regular water line and 352 gallons a day on the irrigation meter that I run 3-4 days a week (Raleigh water).

As someone suggested, you need to find the meter, and learn how to read the dials. Something is amiss.

8/31/2010 9:35:10 AM

Yeah, you probably have a leak in the water line to the house. This happened to me very recently. My meter box was flooded. I was so fucking pissed—how could the meter reader miss that?

Anyway, I had to have the fucking pipe excavated and replaced. It cost me, like, $1,800. So brace yourself for the worst.

The city will adjust the bill if you send them a copy of your invoice from the plumber. They take the average of the past year of consumption or something like that. Your leak may span billing periods (mine did), so don't be surprised if your next bill is high, too.

[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 9:49 AM. Reason : ...]

8/31/2010 9:48:40 AM

mine was 142 for last month and I was only there for 2 weeks. I know my roomate didn't use that much.

I have had them check the meter.

I know we must have a leak somewhere, but we figured it was cheaper to pay the extra water bill then dig up the yard with a back hoe.

8/31/2010 9:49:52 AM

It's probably not going to be cheaper to pay the bill in the long term, you know. The leak's not gonna just disappear.

8/31/2010 9:50:51 AM

5k-10k to tear up yard, vs 240$ a year. I will probably not own it by the time it evens out. plus we can't figure out were the leak is. We have looked everywhere and even had a plumber look too.

8/31/2010 10:13:41 AM

That sounds like a really high estimate. How far from the house is your meter?

8/31/2010 10:29:30 AM

50 yards? plus there is a creek over it too.

8/31/2010 10:39:26 AM

jesus christ

8/31/2010 11:04:51 AM

I had a similar issue that Frosh did. When I moved into my house the first water bill was like $400. I had a plumber look and he said that although he couldn't locate any leaks in the house, there had to be one between the meter and the house. He did end up digging up my yard and replacing the pipe, but it was only around $900 total. The thing that really pissed me off though was that before I bought the house, as per usual, I had a home inspector go through and look at everything and he missed this leak which was pretty obvious after just looking at the water meter. At least the utilities company paid me back a good amount. Still a pain though.

8/31/2010 11:42:36 AM

Quote :

"50 yards? plus there is a creek over it too. "

that's probably where your leak is.

8/31/2010 1:25:36 PM

well water ftw

8/31/2010 1:59:23 PM

G.O.D., you should try to concentrate your efforts in the few yards around the creek and see if you can't fix it easily. beyond the fee you pay to the city for treating the water, it still isn't a limitless resource. if there is another drought in the short term, the city could hike the water rates for all consumers over a certain level- could be painful to the pocket. Or you might have a sudden breach of the pipe in the creek due to erosive forces. Plus treated water isn't good for the creek it is leaking into- it's got forms of chlorine and fluorine, among other things.

8/31/2010 2:38:53 PM

My 2 roommates and I use about 140 gallons a day, and 2 of us usually take at least 2 showers a day and I often wash my car. 80 gal/day for 2 people doesn't sound that frugal if with our usage we're getting 140/day.

8/31/2010 4:21:37 PM

Maybe a migrant family has a laundromat in your basement.

8/31/2010 4:24:04 PM

I use 100 gallons myself. 80 gallons for 2 people is nothing. I bet y'all only flush after shits.

8/31/2010 5:04:54 PM

Quote :

"5k-10k to tear up yard, vs 240$ a year. I will probably not own it by the time it evens out. plus we can't figure out were the leak is. We have looked everywhere and even had a plumber look too."

If you own it now, you could have the future buyer's find it during a home inspection and then you'd have to get it fixed then.

8/31/2010 5:58:46 PM

i love being on a well

8/31/2010 8:25:28 PM

Do you have a second water bill showing the same elevated rate? Here just north of Charlotte they have been known to do a tiered rate system where they just know what kind of home or apartment size and location it is and just bill you an average cost. Then when they come to measure the real reading after 6 months or so they bill you any true additional overage costs. My water bill was never over $15 bucks/mo for two years (1BR apt.) and all of a sudden I get a $90 charge out of nowhere with the title of "adjustment charge" or some crap. This is how they told me it worked at least. I'm fighting it since the "charge" appeared to occur in December and I distinctly remember a lot of standing water in the main breezeway of my building for almost a solid week.

Also, there is the possibility the new meter is fucked up. It's currently being fought up in the Mooresville/Cornelius area, they are claiming a lot of the newer style meters have been faulty and erroneously giving ridiculous readings leading to $1000+ water bills each month in some neighborhoods.

8/31/2010 10:00:36 PM

I have gone out to look at the meter...it doesn't move at all when everything is off. There is only pavement between the townhouse and the meter so i can't really check for wet spots.

I had someone come out and recheck the meter today and didn't get a leak notification hanger on the door so i guess i don't have a leak....where do i go from here? This is Raleigh btw. I am standing firm that this is an artificially high meter reading....

8/31/2010 10:58:51 PM

Quote :

"i love being on a well"

until a hurricane comes through and you lose power for two weeks.

9/1/2010 12:13:16 AM

you could have the future buyer's find it during a home inspection and then you'd have to get it fixed then knock a few grand off of the sale price

9/1/2010 12:47:04 AM

Quote :

"I have gone out to look at the meter...it doesn't move at all when everything is off. There is only pavement between the townhouse and the meter so i can't really check for wet spots. I had someone come out and recheck the meter today and didn't get a leak notification hanger on the door so i guess i don't have a leak....where do i go from here? This is Raleigh btw. I am standing firm that this is an artificially high meter reading...."

You should attempt to measure the accuracy of your meter, then. You need to get a 5 gallon bucket, fill and empty a few times, and check the meter to make sure it matches up.

9/1/2010 9:34:31 AM

Quote :

"until a hurricane comes through and you lose power for two weeks."

that's what the generator is for

9/1/2010 4:04:41 PM

Got the next bill - 70 gallons a day down from 430. No change in water usage habits during this time. The city is still convinced they're right and they refused to look at usage history. They gave us the run around with who to speak to and would never let me speak to a supervisor, even when we went downtown to their office.

Someone at Raleigh Utility Billing got a raise on our dime.....

11/18/2010 12:56:07 AM

your leaking toilet could have easily been responsible for the bulk of your 430 gallons per day, I'm guessing you finally fixed it and that is why your consumption is down.

You admitted your toilet was running, there is really no mystery here.

Quote :

"the one running toilet would drain its tank in about 24 hrs (1.6 gpf = ~100 gallons in a 2 month time frame"

not how it works if the flapper is leaking. If your flapper doesn't seal the toilet will constantly flow. 430 gallons in a day is less than a third of a gpm.

[Edited on November 18, 2010 at 1:25 AM. Reason : .]

11/18/2010 1:20:38 AM

I know some folks who had a pipe burst, and they got a $900+ water bill. The water company should have caught it. The water company also refused to adjust the bill, but they did agree to a payment plan.

The only reason I know this is because I happened to be house sitting/dog sitting when the water folks decided to renege on the payment agreement and cut the water off entirely.

It was a horrible feeling.

11/18/2010 2:26:08 AM

Quote :

"your leaking toilet could have easily been responsible for the bulk of your 430 gallons per day, I'm guessing you finally fixed it and that is why your consumption is down. You admitted your toilet was running, there is really no mystery here. "

The toilet was barely leaking, similar to a leaky faucet, but not that many gallons per day. Both the meter man and professional plumber that looked at the place agreed the small leak in the flapper valve wouldn't account for more than 10-20 gallons a day.

I did find it ironic that when the city checks their equipment, they charge you to make sure it's working.

11/18/2010 10:56:06 AM

Quote :

"Both the meter man and professional plumber that looked at the place agreed the small leak in the flapper valve wouldn't account for more than 10-20 gallons a day."

you misunderstood them, you made this up, or they are wrong. the slowest leak can easily be 100 gallons in a day. If the math is not clear try this:


Silent toilets leaks can account for up to 300 gallons of day of lost water without anybody noticing the leakage
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/do-you-have-a-water-leak.html

Leaking Toliet 1/2 GPM
http://www.twp.cranberry.pa.us/index.aspx?NID=1294

11/18/2010 11:10:28 AM

We had something like this happen to us. Our toilet developed a leak convienently on a friday before we went out of town. Came back home on sunday and saw it was running and fixed the leak but not before being hit with a 210$ water bill. Thankfully our landlord was reasonable about it since it was an old toilet and he gave us a refund of half the bill.

11/18/2010 11:21:18 AM

The city will not issue an adjustment for a water leak without a paid repair bill from a plumber.

11/22/2010 12:47:15 AM

I know builders are required to put low-flow aerators in sink faucets to be up to code and reduce water consumption. If the "new" home was previously owned maybe the faucets in the sinks and shower heads had these screens on the aerators removed?

I recently had mine removed b/c the water flow was just so slow, and it made a big difference...I haven't gotten my first bill since removing them though.

[Edited on November 22, 2010 at 1:36 AM. Reason : screens]

11/22/2010 1:28:26 AM

.

[Edited on November 22, 2010 at 4:08 AM. Reason : .]

11/22/2010 4:04:01 AM

some water wasters itt

11/22/2010 8:03:52 AM

Was the place vacant prior to you living there?

Utility departments do not necessarily read the meters prior to initializing service, they just base the start point off of the last billed quantity on the address.

if they did not lock out the meter, the water was on while the place was vacant and therefore the running toilet could have had a couple of months to rack up charges on an address that is not being billed.

11/22/2010 10:28:21 AM