Several of my neighbors are asking the same question on this quarters Fairfax Water Bill. The charges are higher and that is mainly due to the readings where they say the total consumption in gallons is 3000 gallons higher than the previous quarter. From a previous 8K to 11K. 87 days previous quarter verses 94 days this quarter should still not be an increase of 3000 gallons!!

Check your bill and see if you notice the same calculations. That is a huge amount of additional usage. This needs to be addressed by Fairfax Water.

Fairfax water has been sued / is being sued by people who know are being sent bills by "fairfax water" who does not supply water (in most parts of fairfax, the Potomac is the water supply and the pumps are run by a water utility IN MARYLAND).

Fairfax Water was being sued for colluding with that obama pick Rice to wrap up the Maryland water bills to let Fairfax charge money over those bills.

while a few water pipes did need maintenance there is question who did the maintenance (maryland or fairfax) and how those pepole got the contract (because they were illegals or due to proper bidding)

Summary: they are being accused of sending out billing for a service they do not provide. furthermore there is service in small parts of fairfax and they are using that as a cover to send out billing to parts of fairfax they never did service.

Fairfax Water?

I'm sorry did you install and weld water pipes from Fairfax all the way to maryland and build a immensely costly water pumping plant ?

No your just leaching off the free water as a gov worker?

No? then fuck off: your not really the water company.

Could 3vnxt and eyymn please elaborate and provide facts of their allegations?

confused water walker Wrote:
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> Could 3vnxt and eyymn please elaborate and provide
> facts of their allegations?


It's good old svennestle going on another rant

He's single

Could it be a "real read" vs. an estimated read? That happens sometimes: they estimate for a few months, then come and do an actual reading. That can lead to a surprise (in either direction).

I'd call FCWA. They've always been remarkably coherent, the few times I've had cause to call them.

Getting back to my original issue.
Unless something is drastically wrong at a residence, no way that someone can use 3000 more gallons of water in one quarter.

How can an estimated read be that far off? How?

How can an estimated read be that far off? How?

You have a leak somewhere. Problem solved.

Next?

I use about 10,000 more in the summer months

aw jeez Wrote:
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> How can an estimated read be that far off? How?
>
> You have a leak somewhere. Problem solved.
>
> Next?

No I don't have a leak because the same thing happened to 2 of my neighbors.
So, the problem is not solved. Went from 8K to 11K total consumption.

There are a few likely explanations. FW did an actual read after using estimates for a few cycles, so the surge is just them catching up, or FW did an estimate after using actual numbers, and their estimate is high. If you only recently got your bill check your water meter and compare it with FW end number. If your number is lower than theirs you know it is a bad estimate.

Another possibility is that you and your neighbors were watering your grass during the drought.

kjngb Wrote:
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> There are a few likely explanations. FW did an
> actual read after using estimates for a few
> cycles, so the surge is just them catching up, or
> FW did an estimate after using actual numbers, and
> their estimate is high. If you only recently got
> your bill check your water meter and compare it
> with FW end number. If your number is lower than
> theirs you know it is a bad estimate.
>
> Another possibility is that you and your neighbors
> were watering your grass during the drought.

Last sentence on watering the grass is a NO. Not sure I can read the water meter as it is buried under the front yard somewhere.

FairaxResident24 Wrote:
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> kjngb Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > There are a few likely explanations. FW did an
> > actual read after using estimates for a few
> > cycles, so the surge is just them catching up,
> or
> > FW did an estimate after using actual numbers,
> and
> > their estimate is high. If you only recently
> got
> > your bill check your water meter and compare it
> > with FW end number. If your number is lower
> than
> > theirs you know it is a bad estimate.
> >
> > Another possibility is that you and your
> neighbors
> > were watering your grass during the drought.
>
> Last sentence on watering the grass is a NO. Not
> sure I can read the water meter as it is buried
> under the front yard somewhere.

Your water meter is not 'buried'. It has to be accessible. It will have a manhole or concrete type cover on it.

I have a problem with my water bill, so instead of calling Fairfax Water I check with my peeps down at FFU and see if they can help.

My water meter has always been on the wall of my front porch, totally accessible. Never buried in the 20 years I have lived here.

I believe that the anomaly is due to the application of a peak use charge. See if this situation applies to your current usage. The language comes from Fairfax Water's residential rate tariff.

Peak Use Rates are applied (during billing periods ending in June through November) to water consumption that is 1.3 times the Winter Quarter Consumption or 6,000 gallons above the Winter Quarter Consumption, whichever is greater.

Well Jeez Wrote:
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> I have a problem with my water bill, so instead of
> calling Fairfax Water I check with my peeps down
> at FFU and see if they can help.


I think there's lot of gov workers trolling on this site during working hours, so likely to get a quicker response here than calling them up.

First turn off all the faucets in the house. Make sure no water is running. no washing machine or fridge ice maker. Go outside to the curb where your meter is open it up and shine a flashlight on the meter. If its moving you have a leak somewhere.

This happened to us when we lived in a home with no basement and all the pipes in the slab. Our hot water sprang a leak. I bought a new water heater because ours was 20 years old. Didnt fix the problem. Called a plumber and he showed me the test. We leaked a lot of water into the ground. We lived on an elevated lot that sloped toward the street so luckily no structural problems but I had to re run the pipes up through the attic. Plumber had no interest in that job.

kjngb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are a few likely explanations. FW did an
> actual read after using estimates for a few
> cycles, so the surge is just them catching up, or
> FW did an estimate after using actual numbers, and
> their estimate is high. If you only recently got
> your bill check your water meter and compare it
> with FW end number. If your number is lower than
> theirs you know it is a bad estimate.
>
> Another possibility is that you and your neighbors
> were watering your grass during the drought.


There were some smartass kids in the neighborhood who turned on people's outdoor water spigots on the side of their houses, but they were subtle as to let enough water drip out continuously from the garden hose without making any noise.

plumber man Wrote:
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> First turn off all the faucets in the house. Make
> sure no water is running. no washing machine or
> fridge ice maker. Go outside to the curb where
> your meter is open it up and shine a flashlight on
> the meter. If its moving you have a leak
> somewhere.
>
> This happened to us when we lived in a home with
> no basement and all the pipes in the slab. Our
> hot water sprang a leak. I bought a new water
> heater because ours was 20 years old. Didnt fix
> the problem. Called a plumber and he showed me
> the test. We leaked a lot of water into the
> ground. We lived on an elevated lot that sloped
> toward the street so luckily no structural
> problems but I had to re run the pipes up through
> the attic. Plumber had no interest in that job.

A good suggestion but then again, not only my bill but "repeat" 2 of my neighbors as well. All cited for 3K more gallons used this quarter.

Might still be early, but anyone that has forced hot air heat and humidifiers, many of the flat panel humidifiers have water washing over the panel and these waste a CRAP load of water, they do not recirculate the water, so hundreds of gallons go down the drain.

Also for anyone that has a lawn sprinkler system, they need to notify Fairfax water because 2/3 of the water bill is for sewer. If you have a lawn sprinkler system, then the water utilities will adjust the sewer fee to match up what you have from the Fall and Winter useage.

I've heard many people struggled with this problem. I've read about this on other forums too. Happily, it didn't happen to me, maybe because I have recurring invoicing software or I don't know, but still, it's unfair that people are fooled in such a way. Nothing new though, this is an old scheme that works almost all the time, so why not use it to make money on others back. Sometimes I think that all these corporations are never satisfied with the amount of money they have and they want more and more. It's sad, honestly.

JordanAvery Wrote:
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I've heard many people struggled with this problem. I've read about this on other forums too. Happily, it didn't happen to me, maybe because I have recurring invoicing software or I don't know, but still, it's unfair that people are fooled in such a way. Nothing new though, this is an old scheme that works almost all the time, so why not use it to make money on others back. Sometimes I think that all these corporations are never satisfied with the amount of money they have and they want more and more. It's sad, honestly.

Happily, I have never had to struggle with similar issues but it's sad that people have to go through such problems. This needs to stop once and for all.