Hey guys....20 year electrician here with what is, most likely, a 1st year plumbing question.
I live in an apartment and our water bill has recently been on a steady increase. We had contacted the water company and were advised the rates had gone up and we had a larger consumption than we had previously. We didn't think much about it until we received a $180 water bill for the last 2 months (3x the norm). We then contacted the emergency line for the water company and they had someone out later that evening. The technician checked our meter which was spinning like crazy with no water running anywhere within the apartment. He told us we were losing anywhere from 2-3 gallons a minute and that we had a leak somewhere past the meter. He also stated that other peoples' water consumption in the building (24 apartments total) was having a direct relation to ours (i.e. when other people were using water our consumption went down and visa versa). The "maintenance man" was called and eventually the problem (according to him) was traced back to my closet where the water enters our apartment. He came the next morning and removed (not replaced) a part in the incoming line with a cap. This is what it looks like now:
The part he removed and capped (on the right hand side of the bottom picture) looked similar (but definitely not the same) to the part on the left hand side of the bottom picture. This part also had a tube running to the floor drain and water was pouring out of it the night before. I'm assuming that it was some sort of relief valve (there was no manual shut off on it).
I have several questions regarding this (we live in North Carolina):
1) If possible from my hazy description - what was the part he removed?
2) If that part was the problem, shouldn't it have been replaced instead of removed entirely (I assume, at one point, it was a code required installation)?
3) If that part was bad, is it possible that my meter was taking the overage of pressure supplying my entire building by draining the excess through it and into my drain?
4) If the answer to question #3 is "Yes" then, is it possible that someone else had this problem prior to me and, as a result of removing their part, the problem was transferred to me?
Thank you in advance for any light you can shed on this problem. I've just got a sneaky suspicion that our "maintenance man" just fixed a gaping head wound with a band aid.
Thanks,
Jon
I live in an apartment and our water bill has recently been on a steady increase. We had contacted the water company and were advised the rates had gone up and we had a larger consumption than we had previously. We didn't think much about it until we received a $180 water bill for the last 2 months (3x the norm). We then contacted the emergency line for the water company and they had someone out later that evening. The technician checked our meter which was spinning like crazy with no water running anywhere within the apartment. He told us we were losing anywhere from 2-3 gallons a minute and that we had a leak somewhere past the meter. He also stated that other peoples' water consumption in the building (24 apartments total) was having a direct relation to ours (i.e. when other people were using water our consumption went down and visa versa). The "maintenance man" was called and eventually the problem (according to him) was traced back to my closet where the water enters our apartment. He came the next morning and removed (not replaced) a part in the incoming line with a cap. This is what it looks like now:
The part he removed and capped (on the right hand side of the bottom picture) looked similar (but definitely not the same) to the part on the left hand side of the bottom picture. This part also had a tube running to the floor drain and water was pouring out of it the night before. I'm assuming that it was some sort of relief valve (there was no manual shut off on it).
I have several questions regarding this (we live in North Carolina):
1) If possible from my hazy description - what was the part he removed?
2) If that part was the problem, shouldn't it have been replaced instead of removed entirely (I assume, at one point, it was a code required installation)?
3) If that part was bad, is it possible that my meter was taking the overage of pressure supplying my entire building by draining the excess through it and into my drain?
4) If the answer to question #3 is "Yes" then, is it possible that someone else had this problem prior to me and, as a result of removing their part, the problem was transferred to me?
Thank you in advance for any light you can shed on this problem. I've just got a sneaky suspicion that our "maintenance man" just fixed a gaping head wound with a band aid.
Thanks,
Jon