$760 Dollar water bill

[rimnod]

We just got our water bill yesterday. The statement says we consumed 45,000 gallons of water in the 34 day billing period ---total bill was $760.00.

We've lived in this house 14 years and our consumption usually averages less than 5000 gallons a month and our bill is around 70 dollars or so.

I have to call the water department tomorrow to inquire about this. My first thought is that it has to be some type of decimal error in the billing. I walked the property and can't see any signs of leaks.

A couple of problem points in the back of my mind are that when we moved into the house in 2001 we were told the line in front coming in from the street had been replaced ---I believe it was polybuthlene --I always have wondered if they replaced where it ran under the driveway. Still any leak of that magnitude under the driveway would leave a pond of water in front of our house. Its like a thousand plus extra gallons a day and it has to go somewhere.

Anyway I guess the question is is there any conceivable way we could be leaking a thousand gallons a day on our half acre property and not know it?

 

[havasu]

Wow! I guess anything is possible, but my first guess is someone goofed or it is a computer error. Now that I'm intrigued, please let us know what happens!

 

[Matt30]

Check the house for running toilets.

 

[frodo]

to see if your running water.

look at your meter, their is a small red triangle under the glass. it it is moving, you are using water

make sure everything in the house is off, and look at it.

also. record the numbers. better yet, take a picture of the meter..just in case the water department says your using more than you say you are.

NO<<government officials covering up mistakes..not them!!!!!

 

[SHR]

I strongly second Matt30. You have a leaky toilet or two. Not unusual for a bill that big from toilet leaks. Makes paying a plumber to repair toilet parts look like a cheap option!

 

[Zanne]

In some ways I hope its a leak that can be fixed because if the water company made an error, you may never get them to recognize it. Hope you have better luck than this woman:
http://consumerist.com/2012/06/22/woman-hit-with-9000-water-bill-after-city-refuses-to-believe-her/

I think I would have had an apoplexy if I were her.

 

[steventheplumber]

Yep, get the problem taken care of as soon as possible before your looking at the back end of an enormous water bill.

 

[rimnod]

Thanks for the replies.

I called the County Water Department this morning. They told me to check the meter out by the street so I did when I got in from work. It has a black triangle that signals water flow and it was spinning when I looked.

I then went in the house and made sure all of the faucets were off and checked all of the toilets for leaks but found none. I then turned off the water from inside our garage by the water heater. I went back out to the water meter and the black triangle had stopped spinning. To me anyway this must mean that the leak is inside the house and not outside anywhere.

What I now think may be going on here is that there is a 20 foot line that runs under the front of this garage to an outdoor faucet on the other side. I know there was polybutlene pipe used in the old water line from the street that was replaced before we bought the house so I am guessing that polybutlene must have been used on this line to and it has sprung a leak under the garage floor. The reason that I can't tell if it did or not is that back in 2011 we did a garage conversion and laid a vapor barrier on the floor and then 10 inches above that we had a sub-floor laid and then some hardwood floor. So for me to find out for sure that this is the problem I would need to start ripping up flooring along the line of the pipe. I really don't want to do that.

I have a plumber coming over tomorrow to look this whole situation over and unless he has a better idea I'm going to suggest we find the place where the suspected bad pipe meets the main service line and just cap it off and see if that doesn't stop the leak. Not sure how hard it's going to be to get to though ---I think it must be somewhere behind our furnace and may take a lot of work to get to. I know I probably should of dealt with this 4 years ago when they were doing the garage conversion --but you know how it is when you let things slide (as my wife tells me).

I guess my question at this point relates to how most house are set-up at the main service line---is it just one hub so to speak with the different pipes going out from it? Will it all be above ground or partially under concrete? Is it easy to cap off one line if needed? Thanks for all the help.

 

[frodo]

kinda, sorta, depends on your layout

 

[Zanne]

rimnod, I hope you can sort out the leak without having to tear up the garage floor. Hopefully the plumber will be able to find the leak.

 

[rimnod]

Plumber came by yesterday and looked around for the leak. He checked everything out including the water heater. He wasn't able to pin it down but he believes it must be a slab leak in the kitchen area. He referred me to a leak detection service to get to the bottom of it all. They come tomorrow. I called two or three others to get prices but they all have the same price (around 350 bucks(. If it is a slab leak I think we will try to repipe through the wall (instead of trying to repair the bad pipe in the slab.)

I hope they find the bad pipe tomorrow. I guess the game plan would be to then find where that pipe meets the main supply and cap it off. That way we could then (I think) be able to turn the water back on so that we can have water in the rest of the house and then get with someone about the repiping. The thing is I can't tell where the pipes go after they leave the water heater - area is boarded up and cramped ---don't see how they will access it without taking out the water heater and maybe even the furnace or find another access point from outside (which won't be pretty.)

 

[phishfood]

Yup, finding where the pipe ties in can be fun. I chased down a leaking hose bib loop a couple of weeks ago, took longer to find it than it did to repipe it.

 

[Zanne]

Yikes. Hope the leak specialists can find it before your water bill goes too high again. And I hope its an easy fix.

 

[steventheplumber]

Jesus Christ... Your just looking at expense after expense.... hope you get this problem fixed soon.

 

[frodo]

depending on your soil type

i have used a 1/4'' hammer drill bit, to find leaks in concrete.

drill a hole, if water seeps up

WHOOP DEY IT IS!!!

will not work on sandy soil.

I used this technique in florida at the owner of Readers Digest's House

I looked for 2 straight days on my hands and knees, Finally found the leak in the vestibule

under terazzio tile with gold inlay between the joints.

they flew the guy and son from Italy that originaly installed the floor

I was sweating bullets,,That I was right

He cut the floor out, and BINGO...I was right above it
3/4'' hot pipe had rubbed a rock till it had a hole

I had a case of the big head for a couple of days, till I dropped a special order tank lid
then I was just another Idiot like every body else

 

[Zanne]

I just got totally distracted by the Foghorn Leghorn picture. LOL.

Crossing my fingers for you, rimnod.

 

[rimnod]

The leak detector came in on Thursday morning with his earphones and amplifier(I guess that's what they call it) --- Anyway he identified the leak as being in the cold water line that is in the slab running to the kitchen sink.

I called the plumber back over and he cut out a little bit of drywall in the garage and cut and capped the cold water line then turned the water back on---leak stopped.

RIght now we have water from the hot water line only (turned the water heater down) so we have water for all the sinks and the baths but none for the toilets. We are using the bucket method for that (when I told my kids we would have to that until we get a permanent fix they thought I was joking.....they sure have led sheltered lives).

I have a couple of repipe companies coming in on Monday to get an estimate for a fix to see if we can get the get pipes to the kitchen sink without going into the slab.

One aspect of this that my wife and I were talking about yesterday was that a lot of time, money and possible damage could have been avoided if the County Water Department had been able to alert us immediately when they got the latest reading ---instead of mailing us the bill a week and half later. I'm not blaming them for the leak but you would think that in this day and age that the person who is reading the meter is not using a clipboard but should have some type of mobile device to upload the readings and if the information is uploaded the County should have a software program that could flag a residential customer who is using TEN TIMES the amount of water they have averaged for the last 14 years and maybe send an email alert or something. At any rate ---thanks for the response on this thread--much appreciated.

 

[phishfood]

I have been called out to find leaks several times because the water company alerted the homeowner that they had a steady leak. So some utilities do have the ability to detect leaks and alert the homeowner.

 

[Zanne]

rimnod, it would have been nice if they had alerted you. Perhaps they just cared about getting more $ though.

In my area, utility companies don't give any sort of notice of extra usage. In fact, they sometimes claim people are using more than they are so they can get more money and hope the people don't notice or don't fight it.