Just got my water bill for Dec thru Feb and the bill indicated that I used 30 percent more than I usually do. There is no way I used this much water in winter. Anyone else get an extra large bill? I will be calling them on Monday to check things out.

Mine was about double my last bill. Somethings up.

How many people do you have in your house?
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Dude, you have to do something right now.

Make sure you aren't running any water, just flushed a toilet, etc, and get a flashlight, go out and open up the well in which your water meter sits.

You will probably have to wipe mud off the glass face of the meter, and you will see a little red triangle on the meter face. It should not be spinning when no water is flowing. It is a microflow indicator.

If it is spinning, you have a water leak in the line between the meter and the house, and you will have to pay for all the lost water. It may have just started if your bill is only 30% higher. I have known people to get $900-1000 bills for one month.

You can cut off the water to your house in the well with a cresent wrench on the line between the meter and the street by turning it 90 degrees clockwise.

Definitely call the water company and tell them you think you have a leak if you find that the red triangle is spinning.

turn ever water outlet in or outside your house OFF. go to the street water meter (usually in front) and look at the flow rate. If the needle is moving you have a leak somewhere and could be voiding thousands of gallons a day.

This happened to me with my hot water. The pipes were all in the slab foundation. There was no other way to know they were leaking other than the poor performance of the hot water.

So, we need of open the white thing sticking out of the ground to check? Is it just a twist off cap?

There should be a metal lid, like a small manhole cover, flush with the ground out by the street. It is where the meter readers lift the lid to record water usage every quarter.

It can be pried open with a screwdriver if you can't get it with your fingers.

NO!! Never open the white thing!! It is full of shit.

There is sometimes a small lid in the middle of the larger manhole cover looking thing. You only need to open the smaller lid, not the big heavy cover.

Found it.... I always wondered what that thing was! Will pry it open in the morning to check. Thanks!

Water meter
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Another tip I've seen is to put a couple of drops of food coloring in the toilet *tank*, then wait a while and see if it shows up in the bowl. A very slow leak between the tank and the bowl will use a surprising amount of water, and this is an easy way to find it. Hint: don't use the toilet while waiting!

If you hear the sound like the flapper valve in your toilet needs replacing and you replace it but it continues to make the sound, you have the problem greybeard talks about. Made my bill go up almost that much.

They recently replaced our water meter with a "smart meter" whatever that is. Immediately I noticed that our water pressure is now much higher than it was before on the third floor, and it gushes out of the shower at an astounding force even if you use the trickle setting to slow it down from the shower head.
Without the ability to regulate how fast the water comes out of the spigots, we are forced to use 3 times the water we normally would just by turning on the spigot. Also, there is air getting into the line somehow. The pipes vibrate when turning on the bathroom spigot. I think they purposely turn up the pressure to force you to use more water than you actually need to use.

Instead of under an iron cap in the ground in my front yard, by meter is in my basement and has a wire going outside where the meter reader can scan it. It has that triangle microflow indicator.

Just FYI in case you can't find one in your yard.

SomethingH20Fishy! Wrote:
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> They recently replaced our water meter with a
> "smart meter" whatever that is. Immediately I
> noticed that our water pressure is now much higher
> than it was before on the third floor, and it
> gushes out of the shower at an astounding force
> even if you use the trickle setting to slow it
> down from the shower head.
> Without the ability to regulate how fast the
> water comes out of the spigots, we are forced to
> use 3 times the water we normally would just by
> turning on the spigot. Also, there is air getting
> into the line somehow. The pipes vibrate when
> turning on the bathroom spigot. I think they
> purposely turn up the pressure to force you to use
> more water than you actually need to use.

There's a flow controller in your basement, too. Get a plumber in to adjust it. Water pressure too high is going to cause a leak sooner or later...

Get a well. No fluoride, either.

Just got my bill yesterday. Highest it's ever been and more than double the last bill. Fairfax Water is saying I went from using 10K gallons last cycle to 24K this cycle. I called and was treated as if I was an annoying serf. I guess customer service isn't that big of a deal when you run a monopoly. What am I going to do, tell them to fuck off and I'll get my water elsewhere?

You could always go green, Get 3 or 4, 55 gallon Drums (Rain Barrels) and pipe them to your toilets, Free Water, most of your Water Charge is Sewage cost and its based on your usage, so if you water your Garden or Lawn your paying Sewage to the county. The toilets will use gravity no pressure needed unless you shit allot and cant wait for the refill. This works best for ranch style houses with basements unless you have a place to put a cistern at the highest level to allow gravity to reach 2nd floor of a house. I currently store 350 gallons of water but its pretty much just for the garden with a 1/2 h.p. sump pump for pressure.

Most summer rain storms fill the barrels after each event and I have not run out yet, you would be amazed at the amount of water a roof provides.