Totally stumped on high water bills!! Need advice!!

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DebbieB

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Hi,

I really need help!! I'm a female and I don't understand plumbing.

I am single and no one lives with me. The square footage of my home is 1,612. I bought my house in September 2004. My lot size is 8,400 square feet (.1928 acres...it's a small lot). My water bills have always been high but I chalked it up to my sprinkler system because I have never owned a home with a sprinkler system before. For some stupid reason, I've never really paid much attention to my water bill until yesterday. I have done some indepth analysis and what I find does not make any sense!!

My first water bill, in September 2004 (15 days worth) showed that I had used approximately 6,733 gallons of water. Take that times 2 (for 30 days) and that would come out to 12,466 gallons for the month.

I'm missing some of my bills but here's a layout of my analysis (the figures are in gallons)...I live in South Central Texas:

9/1/2004 (15 days) 6,733
10/1/04 12,718
11/1/04 14,214
12/1/04 17,206
1/1/05 1,496
2/5/05 1,496
3/1/05 1,496
4/1/05 4,489
5/1/05 8,977
6/1/05 13,466
7/1/05 4,489
8/1/05 11,222
9/1/05 11,222
10/1/05 5,985
11/1/05 5,985
1/1/06 4,489
2/1/06 5,985
3/1/06 3,741
5/1/06 19,451
6/1/06 17,954
7/1/05 13,466
8/1/06 19,451
9/1/06 8,229
10/6/06 14,214
11/1/06 14,962
12/6/06 11,970
5/8/07 10,473
6/7/07 5,237
7/9/07 1,496
8/7/07 2,244
9/6/07 1,496
10/5/07 748
11/5/07 17,954
12/6/07 22,443
1/9/08 23,191
2/8/08 17,954
3/7/08 17,954
4/7/08 11,222
5/6/08 18,703

About my sprinkler system - on this small lot, I have six small zones (it includes flower beds) and I've got it set to water once a week for 15 minutes in each zone.

I am not a water hog. I run my dishwasher about once a month. I wash clothes every 3 weeks. I don't wash my car at home. I take 3-5 minute showers.

I have checked my sprinkler system and there are no broken heads.
I have walked my lot - there are no spongy/wet places in the yard.
I have checked inside and there are no leaks.
I had both toilets replaced in March of this year with the low water toilets.
I have looked at both my water softener and water heater - no leaks.

In June 2005 I asked my water board to come out to check my meter. The only thing they said was that there was "no flow on the meter".

I took several meter readings late yesterday afternoon and then again this afternoon (which confirms that there is "no flow on the meter" for 2.5 hours):

Date Time Reading
12-May 3:47PM 2,298.45
4:17 2,298.45
4:47 2,298.45
5:17 2,298.45
5:47 2,298.45
6:17 2,298.45
13-May 2:15PM 2,303.00
5:30 2,303.00
6:35 2,303.00
8:45 2,303.00


According to these meter readings I used 3,740 gallons overnight when all I did was flush the toilet a few times. If my meter didn't register a "flow on the meter" in 2005 and during my testing yesterday during a 2.5 hour time frame how could it have jumped by 3,740 gallons over night???????????

Will some kind person please evaluate this and give me some direction?

I've contacted my water board and I will be getting a meter test on Friday and then someone is supposed to call me tomorrow to set up a home audit. I don't feel real comfortable with this home audit as I have already checked everything out. Furthermore, I don't feel comfortable dealing with a city organization and what they might tell me.

Maybe it's just me, but you would think that water conservation is important to water boards. If you look at my gallons per month for 10/2007 with gallons used of 748 compared to the next month of 17,954 (24 times the previous month... but I've had similar usage in previous months), I would like to think that they'd be contacting me. Nope...it never triggered a flag for them. I am the worst idiot of all for never thinking about or paying attention to my water bill.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you very much,
Debbie
 

Jimbo

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Hard to explain the wide swings in your usage, unless you sprinkler has leaks and or has wildly varying program swings.

I think I would start by finding how to completely shut off your sprinklers for about a week, and take daily meter readings.

Your personal usage might average out over time to something like 125 gallons per day ,varying on a daily basis according to washing machine, dishwasher, etc. That would account for 3750 gallons per month. Your chart swings from 1100 to 12,000+.

One thing.....does your water company for sure READ the meter every month, or do they sometimes ESTIMATE the reading? They do that here, and it does cause some fluctuations in billing.

I am betting that this will end up related to the sprinklers, and some detective work will sort that out.
 

Gary Swart

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My guess is you have a leak. Here's how you can check it. Make sure no water is being used in your house including your toilets. Then go to your meter and see if the dial is turning. If it is, then you have a leak in your supply line. A leak will often show up with soggy ground, but it is possible if your line is buried deep in soil that drain really well a leak might not show up on the surface. Even if the city sometimes estimates usage, it will average out over time. I do not know if it is possible that your meter is defective, but perhaps one of the more experienced pros can comment on that.
 

Mikebarone

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Just some thoughts...

Hey Debbie,

I am also single and no one lives with me….any possibilities? (Just kidding).
I’m a little confused on the study that you did on May 12th. and May 13th. I came up with a difference of 4.55 gallons not the 3740 gallons you mentioned. I might have read something wrong from your post….it’s midnight here…LOL.
I would first try to see if you meter is correct, (before the city swaps it out, for a new one, if you can) and they get rid of any evidence of the old meter was bad all along. Depending on your finances, you could go out and buy a water meter. (I get the ones I need from my local well company). They are around $185.00 plus tax for a ¾†meter. If you go this rout, you could get the correct fittings to hook up this meter to a hose bib on your house, (after making sure that the existing meter is not running and getting a meter reading on both meters). Then I would water all of your grass, and after using the first 100 gallons, (approximately) take a reading of both meters, and after the second 100 gallons take a reading on both meters, and so on. This would be the best way to test the existing meter, (in my opinion) because your meter could be faulty, let’s say, at the 100 gallon increments.
If the above is too far fetched, if you could get a hold of a large container, (like a 55 gallon drum) you could fill it up a few times and check out the meter that way. If you have a nice neighbor, you could fill the drum at their house and calibrate the drum volume by their water meter.
You could also, (after make sure you existing meter is not turning) get a meter reading off of it, and then run each of you irrigation zones for 15 minutes. After each zone runs, getting a meter reading. That would tell you how much water is going to each zone. Then you could add up all of the types of sprinkler heads you have, (¼ heads, ½ heads, ¾ heads, and full heads). Depending on the manufacture of your sprinkler heads, and the water pressure going the heads, you can get a close estimate of how much water you should be using to each zone, if you have no leaks in the system. (I still favor the idea of getting another water meter).
As far as walking your yard for soft spots; if your soil that has a lot of clay in it, you will probably be able to find soft spots if you have a leak, but if you have sandy soil, or fractured rock type soil, the water could be going down, and not coming up to the surface.
Well, I hope I’ve giving you a good idea or two, and I’m starting to fall asleep so good luck, and keep us posted.

Mike
 

Billy_Bob

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Try switching your sprinkler system to manual or off and water manually. Electronic things can go haywire.

Also sometimes there are particles (crud) in water. Automatic watering systems have electric valves. It is possible that a particle is getting stuck in a valve keeping the water flowing. So your sprinklers may try to turn off, but remain flowing. Then next time they turn on, the valve opens, and the particle is washed away. This time the valve closes completely. So this could explain the sometimes high water use. With this situation you would have a "sometimes" leak.

Another thing is hot water heaters have a high pressure release valve for safety. This opens if the water pressure gets to be too high. Sometimes the drain pipe from this valve is run into a drain or into a crawl space and you can't see if water has been leaking out of the valve. If this is the case with your valve, have a plumber reroute the drain pipe to a location where you will see it daily and will be able to instantly see if water is leaking from this valve.

Sticking out of your front wall on your front porch would be ideal. Then as you leave and return to your home, you would see any water leaking from this pipe.

City water pressure can go up and down. It is possible the water pressure goes up sometimes and makes this valve leak. Then other times when the water pressure is lower, it would not leak.
 
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Jimbo

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Hey Debbie,

).
I’m a little confused on the study that you did on May 12th. and May 13th. I came up with a difference of 4.55 gallons not the 3740 gallons you mentioned. Mike


As is common, her meter reads in HCF ( hundred cubic feet). So a usage of 1.00 on the meter is 748 gallons.
 

Mikebarone

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Thanks for pointing that out.

As is common, her meter reads in HCF ( hundred cubic feet). So a usage of 1.00 on the meter is 748 gallons.

Thanks for that info. Damn...if she it using almost 4000 gals over night, you would think that a leak of that size would be easy to zone into. I wonder if the irrigation system ran in that time period. I still bet that meter has a broken cog or something.
 

DebbieB

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Thanks Guys!

Thank you for educating me on what I need to do. The local water board is coming to test the meter and do an audit of my home which includes the sprinkler system.

DebbieB
 

Mikebarone

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Thank you for educating me on what I need to do. The local water board is coming to test the meter and do an audit of my home which includes the sprinkler system.

DebbieB


I hate to say this, (and sound cynical) but if your local water board find that your meter has been bad all along, (and they realize that they should give you a credit back based on you history) they might give you the, “old shell game†and blame it on something else. Make sure you walk with them, and even take notes of what they are doing and what they find as they go along.

Best of luck,

Mike
 
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