lostyankee
enthusiast
Posts: 1261
Reg: 10-27-05
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08-13-11 08:39 PM - Post#136552
I almost had to dial 911 to report a heart attack when I saw my water bill. With no additional watering this month my bill almost doubled. I don't have any leaking toilets or faucets, how do I find the source of the high water usage?
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vm7mm
enthusiast
Posts: 1380
Loc: Allen Tx usa
Reg: 08-12-04
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08-14-11 08:54 AM - Post#136562
In response to lostyankee
Turn off all faucets in and outside your house and take off the meter cover in your yard, if the needle is moving at all, you most likely have a leak somewhere. If not call the water dept. and get them to do a confirmation meter reading. Also sometimes the toilet will drain from the tank to the bowl without being noticed. I had the same problem once and the needle was moving on my meter so I made sure all water faucets were turned off and hooked up an air compressor to one of the outside faucets with around 20 pounds of pressure. I walked slowly around the house and in the yard listening for water bubbles and I found a leak at our house water shut off valve that we never knew we had. The builder put it in the flower bed and covered it up with mulch.
Edited by vm7mm on 08-14-11 09:03 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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jogo
enthusiast
Posts: 1318
Reg: 08-31-05
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08-14-11 09:41 AM - Post#136566
In response to lostyankee
There could also be a leak in your sprinkler system and the ground has been so dry that you don't notice it. That has happened to us before. Since the rate increases as your usage increases, it doesn't necessarily mean you used twice as much water. Our bill was extremely high too but I have been watering alot (shame on me - I know - but I'm scared of having issues with our pool and the pipes around it).
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lostyankee
enthusiast
Posts: 1261
Reg: 10-27-05
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08-14-11 09:46 AM - Post#136567
In response to vm7mm
Thanks.... No water leak I can detect, will call the city tomorrow and have them re-read the meter.
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starrlac
enthusiast
Posts: 642
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 11-03-00
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08-15-11 12:15 PM - Post#136651
In response to lostyankee
Also, check the number of days you were billed for. One time we had one bill for about 6 weeks of service, and the next for about 2 weeks. That might have been our electric bill, though.
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vm7mm
enthusiast
Posts: 1380
Loc: Allen Tx usa
Reg: 08-12-04
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08-15-11 12:44 PM - Post#136656
In response to jogo
I don't turn the water on to our sprinkler system until I am ready to water, maybe twice a week. We do have a small leak in our system that we have not been able to find, not to much trouble.
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Pirate
enthusiast
Posts: 539
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 06-20-03
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08-29-11 12:53 PM - Post#137771
In response to vm7mm
I haven't made a change to my sprinkler system or watering schedule since before last summer but our last bill was three times higher than anything we've received this year.
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cloggergirl66
enthusiast
Posts: 406
Loc: Allen, Texas
Reg: 02-01-07
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08-29-11 09:31 PM - Post#137849
In response to Pirate
Mine was also much higher this month. I was billed for over 30,000 gallons of water and don't understand how that's possible for what's essentially a one person household. I do 3 to 4 loads of laundry a week, and run the dishwasher about once a week. The sprinkler system was running 2 to 3 times a week until the restrictions went into place. If I can use that much water by myself, I feel sorry for all of you with families because your bills must be comparable to your electric bill.
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Pirate
enthusiast
Posts: 539
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 06-20-03
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08-30-11 09:00 AM - Post#137868
In response to cloggergirl66
Does anyone know if they actually check everyone's meter every month? Or do they estimate a month or so and then true it up the following month?
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richardb
enthusiast
Posts: 392
Loc: Allen
Reg: 04-17-00
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08-31-11 10:30 PM - Post#137978
In response to Pirate
Does anyone know if they actually check everyone's meter every month? Or do they estimate a month or so and then true it up the following month?
Unfortunately they don't. August '09 and '10 my meter wasn't read. My September bill, when I watered less, was the makeup bill and my statement was over twice as much.
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ConserveNature
member
Posts: 57
Reg: 10-15-05
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09-01-11 08:57 PM - Post#138040
In response to cloggergirl66
I'm single also but maybe watered less because I used only 12,000 gallons. It's hard for me to believe that my average daily usage was 429 gallons.
Can't wait for September's bill.
On another point, I noticed that they have a small message about Stage 2, so was probably missed by people. I almost missed it but really looked hard to find it. I've seen 8-10 violators in my area. They should have made a separate notice in big letters so more people would read it.
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V-Girl
enthusiast
Posts: 2705
Loc: Allen, TX, US
Reg: 07-12-01
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09-01-11 11:05 PM - Post#138051
In response to ConserveNature
A yellow flyer came in the mail. Though I almost threw it away thinking it was junk mail.
Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it. 
Will work for shoes!  |
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SB
enthusiast
Posts: 1133
Reg: 09-07-03
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09-02-11 04:45 AM - Post#138061
In response to V-Girl
Yellow flyer from the city about water restrictions came to my home in the mail. Signs giving notice that there are water restrictions were put up all over the city along roads. I think the city did a pretty good job of getting word out so that the city could meet its goal of a 5% reduction in water usage.
Watching all the hurricane news over the past week, couldn't help but wish that some of that rain would come our way - but in a gentler manner to soak the earth and replenish the lakes.
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lostyankee
enthusiast
Posts: 1261
Reg: 10-27-05
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09-03-11 04:57 PM - Post#138179
In response to SB
I checked the meter outside for a slow leak, nothing. Called the city, they reread the meter, still no resolution. They did replace the meter, said it should have been replaced a couple years ago (?).
I did however last night realize one of our toilets was leaking a bit (kept running after being flushed). I must have been an intermittent thing, but I dyed the water in each toilet tank and sure enough, two of the toilets have a leak. New valves installed, so that should put an end to it (I hope)
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kellyf
enthusiast
Posts: 1691
Reg: 05-21-07
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09-03-11 08:04 PM - Post#138184
In response to lostyankee
One of my coworkers just got her water bill. She lives in Frisco. Showed they used 75,000 gallons. She said the mowing company they use has broken sprinkler heads before and her husband has repaired them. This time, they were out of town for 9 days and her neighbor said sprinkler heads were broken again and a geyser of water was shooting straight up into the air. I am pretty sure they had in set to run 3 evenings a week. This would have been before the Stage 2 was put into place.
Kelly
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richardb
enthusiast
Posts: 392
Loc: Allen
Reg: 04-17-00
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09-07-11 06:12 AM - Post#138394
In response to richardb
Does anyone know if they actually check everyone's meter every month? Or do they estimate a month or so and then true it up the following month?
Unfortunately they don't. August '09 and '10 my meter wasn't read. My September bill, when I watered less, was the makeup bill and my statement was over twice as much.
Well, it happened again. I watered pretty much on the same schedule in July and August. My bill for July was $142 and my bill for August is $302!
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acs815
enthusiast
Posts: 225
Reg: 06-08-07
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09-07-11 02:32 PM - Post#138421
In response to richardb
Same thing happened to me. My watering schedule has been on the same schedule all season and my bill went up from $98 to $142 (I have a small yard). My sister called me about her bill as well. Did the rates go up?? I'm calling today.
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jogo
enthusiast
Posts: 1318
Reg: 08-31-05
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09-07-11 02:39 PM - Post#138422
In response to acs815
What's with the $142? My bill, covering 7/5 - 8/3/2011, is $142.53 showing a consumption of 28,500 for 29 days of service. The previous bill was $192 however (so we did cut back on some of the watering this cycle).
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acs815
enthusiast
Posts: 225
Reg: 06-08-07
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09-07-11 02:56 PM - Post#138427
In response to jogo
Oh gosh, I didn't even notice that. That is strange. Maybe it's a keystroke error.
I called and the rates did not go up, but they're sending someone out to do a leak check.
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richardb
enthusiast
Posts: 392
Loc: Allen
Reg: 04-17-00
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09-07-11 03:21 PM - Post#138432
In response to acs815
Oh gosh, I didn't even notice that. That is strange. Maybe it's a keystroke error.
I called and the rates did not go up, but they're sending someone out to do a leak check.
They did the same for me and didn't find a leak.
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