*New update post 70* Very high water bill but no leak??

[LoveBWVVBR]

We have been dealing with this for 4 months now. Our normal water bill is around $90 including water, sewer, trash, recycling, and city tax. In May and June our bill was $147 and $168. We called and they insisted that we must have a leak, but we did all the leak detection and didn't have one. We changed out all the outside hoses and the toilet flappers just in case. Our bill in July was back to $90 so we chalked it up to a fluke. We were gone 2 weeks in July, though, so maybe this really isn't a change over the previous month when we were home all month and it was $167. Yesterday we opened the bill and it's $276.01, showing 32,900 gallons used!! We were gone one week of that month also.

Again we did all the leak detection and there is no leak. We did notice the meter "jumping" repeatedly as it spun though (the slow hand that goes around isn't smooth...it's like a gear gets stuck and it "jumps"). We are assuming that the meter is unreliable but how do we prove this to the city? Are we screwed? We are to the point where we are checking the meter repeatedly during the day and taking photos right before bed and in the morning.

Also, there is no chance someone is stealing outside water. We have cameras on our house and they would have picked that up. We also live on a busy street in a well-patrolled town. If we had a leak of the magnitude of water they have us using, we'd have a sinkhole (we live in FL)!! That's enough to fill our pool twice over. Has anyone else dealt with this, and if so, how did you resolve it? I'm calling the city as soon as they open, or maybe even going over there so they can't blow me off. This is so crazy.

Sorry this is so long!

 

[tvguy]

Most utilities will come out and check the accuracy of the meter for free. Call and ask them to check the meter.

Because of the drought, we modified out watering so we cut our water bill from about $180 every 2 months to about 90. Sewer and trash are an additional $187 every 2 months, no way to lower that, they charge a flat rate on those.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Most utilities will come out and check the accuracy of the meter for free. Call and ask them to check the meter.

Because of the drought, we modified out watering so we cut our water bill from about $180 every 2 months to about 90. Sewer and trash are an additional $187 every 2 months, no way to lower that, they charge a flat rate on those.

We are going to do that today. It seems intermittent when it jumps so I don't know if they will catch it or not. Is there any way to insist that the meter be replaced?? We would have to keep the hose going full-force all day for a month to achieve the amount of water they have us using last month, and our yard would be a sinkhole. It's nuts.

ETA - We are conservative with water use as it is as we both grew up on septic systems/wells and that's just what's normal for us. We are on town water here. Our water bill including sewer, recycling, city tax and garbage is normally only $90. UGH. This is crazy.

 

[kymom99]

I hope you are able to resolve this. Surely the water company will look at your usage history and replace the meter.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I hope you are able to resolve this. Surely the water company will look at your usage history and replace the meter.

Gosh I hope so. I'm on hold with them now, trying to get them to dispatch today instead of tomorrow. The lady did recognize that that was impossibly high useage for us. However, there is no assurance that they'll change the meter, only that they'll come out and look at it. I did insist that I be home when they come so I could meet with them.

Not sure if I'll get credit for what amounts to $180 overcharge on this bill and smaller overcharges on the May and June bills though. I'm convinced that it's the meter but getting our money back may prove impossible.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Can you set a camera to record the meter to show when it jumps? You might have to leave it recording for a few days but in the end obviously worth it.

 

[amcnj]

You don't have any neighbors who had a pool to fill while you were away do you!

Seriously, hopefully it is a meter issue and they will smooth out your bill and credit it you for the above average amounts you paid. They must have past usage records for each month. Mine goes up in the summer in months when it is also dry out and I am watering plants, but you are talking a change from $30-40 to $75 at worst I think. Are your summer bills normally higher anyway due to some increased usage?

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Can you set a camera to record the meter to show when it jumps? You might have to leave it recording for a few days but in the end obviously worth it.

Yes, I think I could! I don't think anyone would touch it. Rain might be my only issue.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

You don't have any neighbors who had a pool to fill while you were away do you!

Seriously, hopefully it is a meter issue and they will smooth out your bill and credit it you for the above average amounts you paid. They must have past usage records for each month. Mine goes up in the summer in months when it is also dry out and I am watering plants, but you are talking a change from $30-40 to $75 at worst I think. Are your summer bills normally higher anyway due to some increased usage?

No, our bills are pretty steady year-round normally. I thought about the neighbor/pool thing too, but it would have taken TWO pools being filled to account for all of that water! Also, DH was home most of the time the kids and I weren't here, so he would have noticed the water running if that had happened. On top of that, we live on a busy street in a really well-patrolled town, so I don't think anyone would get away with this anyways...and my neighbors are decent so I can't see them doing that no matter what lol.

While the water dept. lady was helpful, the meter dept. that she transferred me to sure wasn't! The person was so rude...just said she was giving it to a supervisor to have them look at it and see what they wanted to do. She wouldn't agree to dispatch anyone to even look at the meter. This is awful. My town contracts with the neighboring city for water, so my next call is to my town. I hope they will help me.

 

[kymom99]

No, our bills are pretty steady year-round normally. I thought about the neighbor/pool thing too, but it would have taken TWO pools being filled to account for all of that water! Also, DH was home most of the time the kids and I weren't here, so he would have noticed the water running if that had happened. On top of that, we live on a busy street in a really well-patrolled town, so I don't think anyone would get away with this anyways...and my neighbors are decent so I can't see them doing that no matter what lol.

While the water dept. lady was helpful, the meter dept. that she transferred me to sure wasn't! The person was so rude...just said she was giving it to a supervisor to have them look at it and see what they wanted to do. She wouldn't agree to dispatch anyone to even look at the meter. This is awful. My town contracts with the neighboring city for water, so my next call is to my town. I hope they will help me.

Call the local news if they won't help.

 

[tvguy]

We are going to do that today. It seems intermittent when it jumps so I don't know if they will catch it or not. Is there any way to insist that the meter be replaced?? We would have to keep the hose going full-force all day for a month to achieve the amount of water they have us using last month, and our yard would be a sinkhole. It's nuts.

ETA - We are conservative with water use as it is as we both grew up on septic systems/wells and that's just what's normal for us. We are on town water here. Our water bill including sewer, recycling, city tax and garbage is normally only $90. UGH. This is crazy.

I can't speak to your city, but yes, you can here. And I have no idea how they could say no.

 

[supersnoop]

The easiest thing to do is get a 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot. Shut off everything in the house and fill up the bucket from a tap outside. Check to make sure the meter registered exactly 5 gallons.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wow, what a mess OP! It sounds to me like it's time to light a fire under their rears so to speak. Stealing from customers by forcing them to use faulty technology. Now, how does meter replacement work where you are at? Is it at your cost? I say that so you are aware you could be incurring additional costs going that route, just FYI. Good luck!!

 

[kymom99]

Wow, what a mess OP! It sounds to me like it's time to light a fire under their rears so to speak. Stealing from customers by forcing them to use faulty technology. Now, how does meter replacement work where you are at? Is it at your cost? I say that so you are aware you could be incurring additional costs going that route, just FYI. Good luck!!

I'm no expert but usually utility meters are replaced at the cost of the company because the company owns them. We had a gas meter replaced which was inside our house. They sent us a card telling us it needed to be replaced and to set up an appointment.

 

[Dakota731]

We had a leak out in the street and it was a very expensive fix. The town is responsible for halfway into the road but of course the leak was on our half!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

There is no leak. We've done the 5 gallon bucket test, we've done the test where you shut everything off for 3 hours, and we've done an overnight test. For the 5 gallon test, it registered 5 gallons. That would seem accurate enough, but we did that earlier, determined that it was accurate, and after the one normal month it jumped to an impossible amount of usage again. The thing that scares me is that if the malfunction is intermittent, it may not be caught. They should just replace it at this point.

They are supposedly coming out today to check the meter. For $30 they will take it away and test it's accuracy, so we have opted for that also. In the interim, they have to install a much more sophisticated meter while the current meter is being tested. I am hoping that by doing this we can prove that we aren't using anything close to what the current meter says we are. This is beyond ridiculous. Why not just replace it with a new meter? Clearly the amount of water they are saying we used would be impossible barring someone leaving a hose on full blast for a full month...and in that case we'd have a sinkhole!

Does anyone really think they'll admit the meter is faulty even if it is? At this point I don't trust them but I feel like I have no other choice than to pay for the $30 meter test.

 

[amcnj]

Do you have some organization that has oversight of the water company, like a board of Public Utilities or its equivalent? So if the old meter checks out they will just reinstall it and take away the new more sophisticated one? That seems like a waste of the water company's time and resources. Why not just replace it? They can still test it, as I supposed that is the path to possibly getting a refund on any overcharges.

 

[barkley]

There is no leak. We've done the 5 gallon bucket test, we've done the test where you shut everything off for 3 hours, and we've done an overnight test. For the 5 gallon test, it registered 5 gallons. That would seem accurate enough, but we did that earlier, determined that it was accurate, and after the one normal month it jumped to an impossible amount of usage again. The thing that scares me is that if the malfunction is intermittent, it may not be caught. They should just replace it at this point.

They are supposedly coming out today to check the meter. For $30 they will take it away and test it's accuracy, so we have opted for that also. In the interim, they have to install a much more sophisticated meter while the current meter is being tested. I am hoping that by doing this we can prove that we aren't using anything close to what the current meter says we are. This is beyond ridiculous. Why not just replace it with a new meter? Clearly the amount of water they are saying we used would be impossible barring someone leaving a hose on full blast for a full month...and in that case we'd have a sinkhole!

Does anyone really think they'll admit the meter is faulty even if it is? At this point I don't trust them but I feel like I have no other choice than to pay for the $30 meter test.

google search the florida PSC (PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION). they are the regulatory agency over public utilities for your state-they can advise you of your rights. their website states that they regulate and you SHOULD contact them for issues with water meter accuracy and billing.

 

[smiths02]

Are they actually reading the meter each month? We had a problem like that and we disputed because it was obvious that they had not read the meter (grass was growing around the meter lid and a bunch of leaves were under the lid, blocking the meter. The meter stayed that way for a few months)

 

[Omalley]

DW is a utility attorney who normally handles large corporate rate cases, but she also does pro bono work periodically for this exact issue. Keep working to have the meter replaced and tested, but document the serial number and any identifying marks before they leave with the meter. Hopefully, the utility will leave the new (working) meter in place and you return to your $90 billings.