Water Billing Issue

[JenniSam]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MI

We received an extremely high water bill for one of my rentals. The normal bill for this tenant and house is around 3 ccf's a month and on average the bill is around $90 a month. The bill we just received is for 48 ccf's and is $642.

Our first thought was there's a leak. So after talking to the tenant and confirming they had no knowledge of excessive water usage or an obvious leak, we had a plummer come out. The plummer spent almost an hour but found no leak. All this time the meter is still running and is already at 3x's the normal usage and we are only about 1/2 way through the next billing cycle. So I expect another bill similar to the last. The city adamently denies that the meter could be malfunctioning. They say it is not possible and the meter manufacturer has never had a meter malfunction this way. If it breaks it just stops but would never over calculate water that is not passing through. I have no argument because I have only general knowledge on how meters work. I think I should get an opinion from a second plummer just to be sure. Maybe plummer #1 missed something. But I am not sure where to go from there if plummer #2 finds nothing and the meter is literally running so time is of the essence.


I am posting here to solicit any ideas or input from those with experience with this kind of situation. If this is my problem I want to fix it ASAP but I have to find it first. If it is the City's issue I need help with understanding what the problem could be to push them to fix this. Thank you in advance for any input.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Meters can in fact malfunction. Usually, the malfunction is related to wear and errs against the water department. There should be a protocol for installation of a second meter or calibration verification of the first. The cost to buy and install a meter is about $300. I suggest you discuss the possibility of adding a new meter into the line and if the meter tallies differ, the water department adjusting your bill and covering the meter cost or if it tallies the same, you paying the additional $300.

 

[Zigner]

An associate of mine had a similar situation at a new home he had moved in to. He lived for for approximately 3 years, paying the water bills which were high, but he didn't know better since it was his first house and had considerable landscaping to maintain.

After he had lived there for about 3 years, the water company came out and changed the meter. His water bill dropped dramatically and the water company was actually the one to contact him. Apparently, the meter had an improper gear installed which caused it to read incorrectly (by about 3x).

In that case, the water company offered to credit his bill, or to cut him a check for what he'd overpaid since starting the account. He took the money and ran!


ETA:
For the OP - was the meter recently changed?

 

[yuppiefood]

It sounds like you need a new plumber.

Is the house on a slab?
How did the plumber check for leaks?
To much water for a toilet flapper valve. Use food coloring to die the water in the tanks, check the basin after 1 hour to see if the colored water is seeping past the flapper valve.
Hot water heater pressure/over temp valve? Most of the time they go to the floor, but some times they got to a drain. There would also be a shortage of hot water.

Get the plumber to turn off the curb stop (water valve between the main and the meter) and then pressure test from a outdoor hose valve. Use a compressor to build up 60 psi and see if it bleeds down over 30 minutes. If the pressure bleeds off have him shut off the main valve to the building and retest.

If the house is on a slab there is a good chance for a leak under the house. These are hard to find.
Most likely the line between the meter and the house has a leak. The test above will show it.

Codes in most places make you do a pressure test on the plumbing of a new house. It's been a few years, but I think it's 90 to 120 psi depending on the curb pressure for 24 hours, with less than 3 psi bleed down.

If the meter is detecting water movement and your not running water then you have a leak or there is a short.

 

[xylene]

Your plumber is incompetent.

 

[yuppiefood]

Your plumber is incompetent.

I wanted to say the complaint needs to be about the plumber not the water meter.

 

[Zigner]

It IS possible that the meter is malfunctioning

 

[LdiJ]

My mom had a similar problem and it turned out to be a leak right where the meter connected to the inflow pipe. It was an underground leak that couldn't be seen when the meter was checked. It took forever for it to be found. The frustrating thing about that one is that the water company installed that meter and should have been responsible for the repair and should have credited back the extra usage, and they flat out refused to do so.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Simple logic test. Don't turn on the water anywhere. Look at the meter. If the meter reading changes, you have a leak or something running. I'm waiting for it to come back as a lawn sprinkler system or tenants swimming pool.

 

[JenniSam]

I have not had a 2nd Plummer come back to the house. However, we have stopped by more than once. Unless we turn the water on, the meter is not running. There is no pool, hot tub or sprinkler system. According the research I've done, 48 ccf's is approx 35,000 gallons of water. My only thought at this point is that the tenant had to have done something. If there's a leak it would be moving with no water running. A leak isn't going to repair itself, correct? I could be way off here and would have to rely on a plumbing expert. I'll have another out next week. Of course the tenant swears he's done nothing different. I'm just lost on this one.

 

[FarmerJ]

At this point id say you may want to explore buying your own flow meter and hooking it up and reading it to compare what the city says you use and if you get two different readings id say to be very angry in person with your city water dept s supervisor and demand they install a new meter and credit you .