Terribly high water bills, no leaks found…arrrggg!
- Thread starter Modrob
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Modrob
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I went ahead and made a call to the company with a general question about reading their graphs online…the lady told me, yes, each of those segments would be added together! Yikes!
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Chucky_ott
Active Member
Any chance the scale of the graph is wrong? So not in "hundreds", but rather "x10". Or even no scaling?
If I were to troubleshoot this, I'd shut off the valves at all the toilets for 4 hours, make sure I don't use any water anywhere else, and during the middle of that time frame, fill a tub with a known amount of water (50 gallons?). And then check the portal to see what you get in water use. That information will at least tell you if the gallon scale and time are correct.
If I were to troubleshoot this, I'd shut off the valves at all the toilets for 4 hours, make sure I don't use any water anywhere else, and during the middle of that time frame, fill a tub with a known amount of water (50 gallons?). And then check the portal to see what you get in water use. That information will at least tell you if the gallon scale and time are correct.
Modrob
Member
Funny, but at this very moment I was wondering if I’m reading the scale wrong? It says “gallons (in hundreds)” and then 0–10–20–30.
Yes, I like your idea of testing. Except the portal doesn’t show same day info or maybe a couple days—right now the latest info is 11pm on Dec 31…
We got another meter reading this afternoon at 4:05pm. From last night at 9:30pm until today at 4:05, the meter reading shows a 41 gallon difference. The girls had work and school today…
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Modrob
Member
Funny, but at this very moment I was wondering if I’m reading the scale wrong? It says “gallons (in hundreds)” and then 0–10–20–30.
Yes, I like your idea of testing.
We got another meter reading this afternoon at 4:05pm. From last night at 9:30pm until today at 4:05, the meter reading shows a 41 gallon difference. The girls had work and school today…
Chucky_ott
Active Member
The way it's written means the 10 represents 1000 gallons, 20 is 2000 gallons, and so on. Ultimately, what the portal says is irrelevant. The important thing is what your bill shows and what you're paying for.
Chucky_ott
Active Member
The first post shows a picture of a meter. Is that the one at the house? If it is, you can look at the numbers before and after the test to see if they match your water use. Filling a 5-gallon pail 10 times will give you 50 gallons. You should be able to register that on the meter and it should match what you see on the portal.
Modrob
Member
Yes, that’s what I thought too, and the lady at the company phone yesterday said same…
The portal is our way of monitoring what is going on daily, and is relevant because the figures it’s showing are more in line with the billing—the meter is not. (according to my understanding of it—seems pretty simple, take a reading, and at some point later take another one. Subtract the first from the last, and there is our actual gallon amount that has passed through the meter.) Unless I’m missing something, there is clearly a disconnect from what the meter digits read/show compared to what the portal/billing show…
Modrob
Member
I think this image will load here…this is the latest available from the portal site, the 24hr period of Jan. 1. The girls were at my house up until getting home around 6pm, where you can see the usage start. The way I read this: 7 to 8pm 1700 gal. 8-9pm 1000 gal. 9-10pm 1700 gal. That’s 4400 gal during the period of 7 to 10pm. (I’m just focusing on the larger amounts) Both mom and daughter from getting home point were readying themselves for work and school the next morning, and sleep.
I believe tomorrow we are arranging a conference call to the water company and start to get some clear answers…
I believe tomorrow we are arranging a conference call to the water company and start to get some clear answers…
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Chucky_ott
Active Member
Hence why you need to do the 50-gallon test to see if the meter is measuring accurately. Just look at the meter reading, fill a 5-gallon bucket 10 times, and read the meter again. You should see a 50 gallon difference as you stated. If the portal is giving different numbers, your water company will need to fix that.
Modrob
Member
John Gayewski
In the Trades
Forget the portal. See what the meter says. Did the actual meter show that you used 1700 (or whatever) in one hour's time? Or did it show 170? Or 17? First check that. Then do a measurement.
GReynolds929
Active Member
I agree with chucky and John. Figure out the meter usage and see if I is the same as the portal. I'm wondering if the multiplier for the meter is wrong, ie 10x instead of 1x.
Modrob
Member
Sorry I’ve been (am being ) all over the spectrum here—I have so many irons in the fire with fixes, my aging brain has me scattered a lot…
Yes, we need to take you guys’ advice and get a test measurement. I have sis slated to do the five gallons thing hopefully tonight (Friday)…
And, I can’t help but believe there is something amiss with the meter and the info it sends back to billing. The meter definitely says GALLONS under the digits, and there just has to be a miscalculation going on, even though a visiting tech on Dec. 29 said the meter was good.
I was there again last night, for about a 2 hour period. During that 2 hours I took a pic of the meter reading at the beginning, and I took one at the end of the two hour period. During this time the water spigots in the tub I turned on about 4-5 times for only a brief second each time. At the end of my time the meter registered 2 gallons used. My use might have actually been pretty close to that—close enough I think. But yes.l, we will do the 5 gallon test and see what we get…
Thanks again guys for the interest and great hints.
Yes, we need to take you guys’ advice and get a test measurement. I have sis slated to do the five gallons thing hopefully tonight (Friday)…
And, I can’t help but believe there is something amiss with the meter and the info it sends back to billing. The meter definitely says GALLONS under the digits, and there just has to be a miscalculation going on, even though a visiting tech on Dec. 29 said the meter was good.
I was there again last night, for about a 2 hour period. During that 2 hours I took a pic of the meter reading at the beginning, and I took one at the end of the two hour period. During this time the water spigots in the tub I turned on about 4-5 times for only a brief second each time. At the end of my time the meter registered 2 gallons used. My use might have actually been pretty close to that—close enough I think. But yes.l, we will do the 5 gallon test and see what we get…
Thanks again guys for the interest and great hints.
That sounds like at least 4X the amount of water you intentionally drew. Seems either the meter is wrong or there's a sneak leak.
Did you try monitoring the meter during the time when no water was intentionally being drawn?
John
Modrob
Member
Ok. She did the 5 gallon test yesterday. Turns out her 5 gallons registered about 5.2 on the meter.
Another interesting graph finally came up for another 24 hour period. And once again, between 1 and 3 pm, they weren’t home. Not to mention the other hours— constant, but little measured. I really wish the website portal offered more up-to-the-minute monitoring, so I could try and match with the meter…
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Chucky_ott
Active Member
That's why I suggested doing your 5-gallon test (actually I suggested 50) in the middle of a long period where no water is used. That way, you'll be able to pinpoint the time as well. It's possible the time is off on the chart due to time zones and daylight saving time corrections.
Maybe two 10-gallon tests exactly 1 hour apart. And to make sure you don't record any leaking toilets, turn off the valves to the toilets during your test.
What you're trying to do here is confirm the readings in your meter (which appears you did) and the online portal (which seem to be way off).
WorthFlorida
Clinical Trail 5th session completed 4/24/24.
Time to get a leak detector company to scope for a leak. Where Is the meter? If it's outside near the curb, there is a leak between the meter and home. Very common in Florida where PVC is used from the meter to the home before switching to copper or CPVC.
GReynolds929
Active Member
Turn the water off and see if any neighbors start complaining...lol
Jeff H Young
In the Trades
I thought I mentioned days ago I dont think you can get thousands of gallons out on the ground in an hour? Ive never had a bad meter . it cant be a leaK that leaks for awhile and just stops on its own in this case water is blasting out like crazy some kind of valve or pipe is wide open . I suypose a bad t and p might spill a lot of water and then stop (never seen one dump thousands of gallons) there is no reason water company cant get involved and comment on this you need to talk to a man there in field operations not just a honey at a desk.
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