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35,360 gallons
- Thread starter Blitzkrieg
- Start date
Went by mom's yesterday and checked the meter again and it was only reading a couple of gallons usage since Friday. I looked at the last bill she received and the 30 day cycle according to the bill was from 5/18/21 - 6/18/21. Yesterday being 7/18 I was curious to see what that 30 days usage was.
It was 17 gallons. That's not a typo, 17 gallons. So according to the water company she used 35,360 gallons in the previous billing period but only used 17 gallons in the period that ended yesterday. WTH
?
When she called about the bill 10-12 days ago she asked was the bill estimated and they assured her that it was not.
It was 17 gallons. That's not a typo, 17 gallons. So according to the water company she used 35,360 gallons in the previous billing period but only used 17 gallons in the period that ended yesterday. WTH
?When she called about the bill 10-12 days ago she asked was the bill estimated and they assured her that it was not.
They are supposed to be sending someone out to check it this week.Something just ain't right with that meter
I have an irrigation system with far more than 12 heads that I run three days a week for 10 minutes per zone and my bills have Never been anything close to that high...if she did not have a running toilet (which is a distinct possibility but would have to be running almost non-stop) then I would question the bill...I would ask for the water company to explain how a discrepancy of that magnitude considering that the average person uses about 3K gallons/month
I have had sprikler heads bust and leak and it is obvious when you mow b/c it is wet as heck...if the line bursts it is also obvious as a geyser will appear
Just for comparison...my water bill is about $160/month and if she is running the sprinklers at the rate your state maybe it would be higher but not 3x (IMO)
I have had sprikler heads bust and leak and it is obvious when you mow b/c it is wet as heck...if the line bursts it is also obvious as a geyser will appear
Just for comparison...my water bill is about $160/month and if she is running the sprinklers at the rate your state maybe it would be higher but not 3x (IMO)
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It sounds like maybe your mom has a leak in one or more of the sprinkler lines if the flow dial and usage are normal.
I talked to a plumber a couple of years ago who works in Columbia and he said they have been busy repairing lines in homes with concrete pads built during the housing boom in the 1990s and early 2000s. They have to pull up the carpet or wood flooring and jackhammer the pad to make the repairs. No kidding. Glad my home has a crawl space.
We had a problem around December here where there was something going on with the meter reader(s) and they skipped a billing cycle on the bills and I got a $400 utility bill (minor since it's only me in the home but bills for others were much worse). Everything went up, not just the water usage, in that occurrence. They fired somebody over it and it hasn't happened since.
Despite doing all of that it still ran up my water usage to 18K gallons from normally 2-3K for a normal billing cycle. I would use that number as a rule of thumb. The sharp one-time billing spike would synch it up with her extended sprinkler usage.
The local utility company here will adjust the bill if you provide proof of a leak repair like a receipt or canceled check or a credit if you need to pay the bill before you can find the leak.
I would run the sprinklers again and look for wet spots/puddles along the route of the underground lines. It may just be one leak. That would be all it takes to run her usage up that much if the gas or electric never spiked due to a billing cycle error. It would also make sense if this past time was the first time she used the sprinklers since recently moving in. Not sure if a home inspector would necessarily check for a leak like that, either. Maybe they just verify the system actually works and that's it.
Hope this helps.
I talked to a plumber a couple of years ago who works in Columbia and he said they have been busy repairing lines in homes with concrete pads built during the housing boom in the 1990s and early 2000s. They have to pull up the carpet or wood flooring and jackhammer the pad to make the repairs. No kidding. Glad my home has a crawl space.
We had a problem around December here where there was something going on with the meter reader(s) and they skipped a billing cycle on the bills and I got a $400 utility bill (minor since it's only me in the home but bills for others were much worse). Everything went up, not just the water usage, in that occurrence. They fired somebody over it and it hasn't happened since.
SA is absolutely correct about this. Coincidentally I had a cracked water line close to the house after a cold snap last fall before the December issue. I just happened to notice the pooling water when I was walking to the back yard one day. I have one of those metal tools to turn off the water at the street, so I was able to turn it off while I was at work, then back on for dinner, off again before I went to sleep, on for the morning shower, then off again before I left for work. I did this for about a week or so before the guy I use could come fix the line.
Despite doing all of that it still ran up my water usage to 18K gallons from normally 2-3K for a normal billing cycle. I would use that number as a rule of thumb. The sharp one-time billing spike would synch it up with her extended sprinkler usage.
The local utility company here will adjust the bill if you provide proof of a leak repair like a receipt or canceled check or a credit if you need to pay the bill before you can find the leak.
I would run the sprinklers again and look for wet spots/puddles along the route of the underground lines. It may just be one leak. That would be all it takes to run her usage up that much if the gas or electric never spiked due to a billing cycle error. It would also make sense if this past time was the first time she used the sprinklers since recently moving in. Not sure if a home inspector would necessarily check for a leak like that, either. Maybe they just verify the system actually works and that's it.
Hope this helps.
Would running them when the inspector was there show an abnormally high output at the meter that he might see?
I think it would be impossible to gauge the flow or usage unless he had info from the seller.
My leak made the flow meter spin slowly. Unless a dishwasher is running or a toilet is refilling after a flush, the needle really shouldn't move at all.
They also appear to round to the nearest thousand on our bills here.
OK the water company came yesterday afternoon and checked the meter. They attached a flow meter to the outside faucet, recorded the reading on the meter in the yard and ran 50 gallons through the front faucet. We checked the meter in the yard and it was reading 50 gallons. They repeated the process a second time and we got the same result.
Next we checked the irrigation system, they recorded the number on the meter in the yard and I turned on the sprinklers and let them run for 5 minutes. Holy crap...102 gallons of water in 5 minutes! I think we've found the problem.
When my mother got the notice from the HOA she had parts of the yard sodded (by her grandaughter's husband who does landscaping work) and he set the sprinklers to come on 7 days a week, twice a day for 20 minutes each session. So the bottom line is apparently she did use that much water. The water company employee said that she does this kind of check 2-3 times a week and the culprit is almost always the irrigation system.
Next we checked the irrigation system, they recorded the number on the meter in the yard and I turned on the sprinklers and let them run for 5 minutes. Holy crap...102 gallons of water in 5 minutes! I think we've found the problem.
When my mother got the notice from the HOA she had parts of the yard sodded (by her grandaughter's husband who does landscaping work) and he set the sprinklers to come on 7 days a week, twice a day for 20 minutes each session. So the bottom line is apparently she did use that much water. The water company employee said that she does this kind of check 2-3 times a week and the culprit is almost always the irrigation system.
that makes sense...sorry to hear the bill was legit...that is way too much water IMO...if I watered my yard that much and that often I would not be able to mow the grass b/c it would be too swampy
You won't see puddles from a cracked water line in the short amount of time the sprinklers are being used. You would have to let it run at least an hour or so.
I have been laying sod to repair my yard since June and I am using one of those multi-pattern nozzles with a regular water hose. Using a vertical pattern 2 to 3 times a day at times. It seems to be much more efficient than just letting a regular sprinkle run for 30 minutes.
It has increased my water usage by 1000 gallons the last two billing cycles. That would be similar to having someone in the house with me who was taking the extra baths/showers. Not that much as far as I am concerned.
You might able to see darker green spots in the grass along the path of the sprinkler lines if there was a leak during the normal watering cycles.
Sprinkler systems are also frowned upon by the local water department here because of their high water usage. Some ho
ners here have drilled wells to use as a separate water source, but that seems a bit extreme. Having a good fertilization routine seems a way to counteract some of the die-back issues. An iron deficiency in the soil can also cause die-back in centipede grass.
I am assuming that water pressure is what provides the energy that runs the sprinkler heads and that the lines would remain charged with water in fall and winter and therefore at risk of cracking during periods when the outside temperature is below freezing.
At least your mom knows where the high usage is coming from now.
I have been laying sod to repair my yard since June and I am using one of those multi-pattern nozzles with a regular water hose. Using a vertical pattern 2 to 3 times a day at times. It seems to be much more efficient than just letting a regular sprinkle run for 30 minutes.
It has increased my water usage by 1000 gallons the last two billing cycles. That would be similar to having someone in the house with me who was taking the extra baths/showers. Not that much as far as I am concerned.
You might able to see darker green spots in the grass along the path of the sprinkler lines if there was a leak during the normal watering cycles.
Sprinkler systems are also frowned upon by the local water department here because of their high water usage. Some ho
ners here have drilled wells to use as a separate water source, but that seems a bit extreme. Having a good fertilization routine seems a way to counteract some of the die-back issues. An iron deficiency in the soil can also cause die-back in centipede grass.I am assuming that water pressure is what provides the energy that runs the sprinkler heads and that the lines would remain charged with water in fall and winter and therefore at risk of cracking during periods when the outside temperature is below freezing.
At least your mom knows where the high usage is coming from now.