Terribly high water bills, no leaks found…arrrggg!

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Soletsgo

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No advice here, but sending plenty of empathy. I just had the same issue—unexpected increase in water bill from $50 to $120 over a 5-wk period for my two-story end unit condo on a slab in GA. No signs of interior water damage. I did all the YouTube DYI tests. Plumber verified integrity of toilets, water heater, drain lines, outdoor spigot etc. He probed the landscaping but came up dry. No sprinkler system. County water crew came out twice to check the meter integrity. “Big mystery”they all said, until Wed 1/3 when water started bubbling up through the seam where the sidewalk curb cement meets the parking space asphalt, 12 ft from my front door.
County came out twice in 14 hrs and said it was a water line break ”on the condo side, maybe under the slab or the front landscaping”. They shut off my water because it was now gushing out. I had no choice but to hire a leak detection company and they put an X over the break. Condo property management (gleefully) declared I am responsible for all repair costs. Six days later I’m still without water, waiting for plumber, and facing a 5K+ repair not covered by homeowner insurance <sigh>. Like Nonna says,
Whadyagonna do? yagodda fahgeddabahdda.
 

Jeff H Young

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2300 gph comes to over 38 gpm. AFAIK, no toilet or hose bib or even bathtub can approach that flow rate.
I think i mentioned this but yea they aint using 3000 gallons in a half hour on a slab leak and then it stops. So Mod rob getting some wrong info or something just aint making sence to me.
 

Modrob

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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.
But…if there was a leak in the ground, AFTER the meter, then it would be constant, and the little dial indicator would be spinning. And the meter would be registering with the digits. Of all the time periods and all the pics we’ve snapped of the meter readings, they all seem to read what I’d call “normal”. Example: sis did a load of laundry and the before/after readings showed 46 gallons used. (Might have been a toilet flush and some dish water run too)
I spoke last week with a tech at a company that specializes in leak detection. Bless his heart, he stayed on the line with me, and learned all about it. His opinion is there is no leak in the ground. But they can come out anyway if we choose…
I spoke with the tech that handles issues with meters and he graciously spent an hour with me as he looked over sis’ meter info on his tablet. He agreed that something is way off—but he holds strongly that a toilet can do that…he’s seen a bunch of them, and oddly, they seem to have gotten to the point where they’re near impossible to hear. I still don’t believe it but I have the parts to redo the toilet. He said that’s good, since we can use the receipt and our conversation to verify our actions and get the bill reduced…
Hoping to weather let’s up in next day or so and I can get to it…
 

Modrob

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Update: (well, sort-of)
On hold right now, due to this friggin snow and cold, and more problems at home…
More to tell soon…
 

Modrob

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BREAKING NEWS: (read this first )
Well…finally got back up to Sis’ place after the snows had died down…I ended up having to drag a broom handle through the snow to find that danged water meter and clear around it for them to get me more pics…
I’m still printing 24 Hour and 30 Days Usage reports, and STILL, we’re getting crazy figures at crazy times of day. BUT, I feel like I’ve been seeing a trend in the last couple of weeks, as if it’s changing for the better. Still though, the crazy one and two hour periods are showing up—example on evening, a 1 hour period the graph showed about 3,700 gallons!
I’ve been getting them to try and get me more meter readings—especially before and after uses.
Doing a load of laundry on one occasion the meter showed 46 gallons used. Another laundry period this past week was 26 gallons. Again, these were calculated with meter readings. They gave me a bath reading and it came out to 25 gallons. They even changed out the toilet tank parts, and nothing has changed so far…
NOW FOR THE BREAKING NEWS…
Sis called and was rather perplexed—her recent bill was 57 dollars!! I’m trying to get to the bottom of this (since I’ve paid the last two bills of over 500 dollars) but I have a feeling that the water company will stick to their story…I think I have enough printed proof now to make a good case to them, however, it’ll have to wait until the following week—this coming week the wife and I are headed on a train trip to FL to see the grandbaby, AND build her a swing set…
More to come, and thanks again for all of you who’ve been with me through this…
 

Modrob

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Here’s a real stunner for you:
 

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Modrob

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Miraculously, suddenly the bills went back to normal. And remain that way to this day in August.
 
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