Our water bill went up $60!!

[Momma_Bailey]

We just moved into a cheaper, newer, and larger apartment in mid May. We have already got our first electric bill (it was pretty cheap, less than $120 for a full month!) and now today we got our first water bill. It sure wasnt cheap! I couldnt believe my eyes - it was $96! That is 11,000 GALLONS of water + sewer! We have never had a water bill more than $40-$45! There is only 3 of us (me, hubby, and our son age 5). I run the dishwasher every other day because thats about how long it takes for us to fill the sink! (I do hand-wash my pots and pans each day though.) I only do about 4 loads of laundry each week and each of us only bathe once per day. Also, My husband works 80 hr weeks, so he isnt even home 75% of the time! So, Im thinking we couldnt possibly have used THAT much water! Well, we have noticed the toilet upstairs has been running since we moved in, but we've been turning the water off to the toilet during the day since we use the bathroom downstairs the whole day. Then turning it back on and back off once we're upstairs for the night. We were hoping that would take care of the problem until it got repaired. I GUESS NOT! We should have called and tried to repair it, but my husband is at work from 2pm-4 or 6am and I do not feel comfortable letting landlord or repair people in when he's not home. So, yes I admit we have been putting off the repairs. My husband also checked underneath the kitchen sink and there was a small puddle of water and he noticed the kitchen pipes were DUCT TAPED together in one area! Obviously, there has been some plumbing problems we werent aware of! The first thing I did was called the Water Co to make sure it wasnt a mistake. They offered to have a city worker come and check our inside water meter and do a repair check our the apartment. He will be here Wednesday at 1pm. I know he will find out the toilet upstairs is running and also kitchen pipes are leaking, but it is still worth having double checked. My husband has also left 2 messages on the landlords voicemail. Im REALLY hoping he has someone repair all of this because we REALLY cannot afford another water bill like this! We have definetly learned the lesson DO NOT PUT OFF REPAIRS!

[Contrary Housewife]

Ouch! That hurts!

The toilet running is a simple repair job, I have done it myself. You can get repair kits for about $10. You'd be surprised how much water can run through it!

[frugal me]

Wow! That's a high water bill.
Hope you can get your problems fixed.

[pollypurebred39]

Oh Gosh! Momma_Bailey, that's terrible. I hope you get to the bottom of it soon.

[McD]

1,100 OR 11,000?

Toilets can let thru a TON of water. Typically, you cannot see or hear a toilet leaking. If you can see/hear it, then it's letting a TON of water through.

I work for a water utility and here is what we tell people:

-the average person uses 2,000 gallons per month for all their needs, kids typically less.

-most common household leak is a toilet. To check toilets--perform a simple dye test. Take food coloring, kool-aid pack, jello pack,even a can of pop and place into the TANK of toilet. Do not flush, just let it sit for 15 or so minutes. Then check the bowls of the toilet. If any of the color bleeds into the toilet, then it's leaking.

-read the meter last thing before you go to bed. Read it again first thing in the morning. Unless someone flushed a stool, ran a faucet, that number should not have changed.

-have you done any watering outside? Even if not, check your outside hose spigots.

-Is there a humidifier on the furnace/ac? Is there a water softener? If so, check to make sure they aren't cycling constantly.

-Compare the reading on your bill to the reading on your meter. The reading on the meter should be higher than the reading on the bill.

-Check the billing cycle. Is it a onger billing cycle than normal?

I would bet money that your toilets are causing the increased consumption. Personally, we have had a leaking toilet increase our consumption from 3-5K to 11K. Professionally, I have seen leaky toilets cause anywhere from an increase of one thousand gallons up to hundreds of thousands.

Go through the appointment and see what the utility worker tells you. See if they offer a sewer allowance that they would credit on the bill once the repairs are made. If not, see if the landlord would compensate the monies.

Good luck!

[frugalfranny]

Yeow!! Hope the repairman can give you some help and identify areas to correct. That is only slightly less than mine when I am watering a lawn.

Will be curious............keep us posted on what they found.

[alotofgooddeals]

just wondering... as we are thinking of selling and moving however that bill per month is quite alot....

[Momma_Bailey]

Thanks for all of the awesome support and tips! Im new here and really feeling the love!

I do not have a garden, but I do water 2 plants and 1 small pot of flowers at my front door. I can water them all with just filling my watering can once though. (I do this twice a day.) But I only just recently transplanted 2 "black-eyed susans" from my grandparents garden into my front flower bed. Im not sure if that would reflect that much on the water bill. We dont have outdoor spigots, thank goodness or that would be another concern of ours. MrsMcdowell, originally I posted 1,100 but I actually noticed the bill reads "11" then at the top it says per 1,000 gallons so I corrected my post to 11,000. I cant believe that # ELEVEN THOUSAND! I guess it breaks down to 75% excess water usuage thanks to "running" toilet upstairs and 25% small leak under kitchen sink?! Gosh, I dont even wanna imagine next month's bill. And to think I only budgeted $45 this month for water bill .. there goes our Utility budget for the month!

[Momma_Bailey]

alotofgooddeals, yes this bill of $96 is for one month! If you move to a place that has no leaky faucets, pipes, or "running" toilets then you should be fine. The bill date is from 05/19/10 - 06/18/10. I know next month's gonna be high too cuz there is over 2 weeks of non-repaired usage being calculated into it plus how many ever days it takes to get repairs.

[Momma_Bailey]

Just a quick update the Landlord called he will be here tomorrow 10:30-11am. I will let you guys know how it goes!

[McD]

Are the kitchen pipes leaking the pipes that bring the water to the sink or the pipes that take them down the drain? Good luck!

[Momma_Bailey]

We got to talk to the Landlord he repaired both the toilet and the kitchen sink. The toilet was overflowing in the tank he had to adjust the overflow for the water level. (Sorry, Im not 100% sure on how to word that out, lol.) He was working side of the toilet tank. The kitchen sink had a small drip at the elbow pipe. He went up and bought all new piping for under the sink though! (This was at our request.) Then today the city worker from Water Co did a reading and he said we are about 4,000 gallons and the billing cycle is up on the 19th. So, we are right at average reading so yesterday repairs must have fixed everything! He is bringing us a print-out tomorrow on each daily's usage that will break down the 11,000 gallons. Our company is "digital" they dont have a meter guy that comes to the house each month, which is an advantage in a situation like this!

[McD]

Momma_Bailey, we are also about 95% digital in terms of our meter readings, etc. It is really handy!

Glad they were able to get you squared away!!

[Momma_Bailey]

I was hoping he would tell us the 11,000 was a mistake! lol

[Nana2two]

Our water bill runs around $90 to $108 a month. Since i was gone for the whole month of June the water bill was only $76.00. But less dishes,no cleaning of pans,no bath for the dog and she is a Saint Bernard.Less laundry.No watering of anything growing out of the ground.