$11,000 Water Bill

[etpm]

The pipe is 2inch and the meter Is 1.5. The county is convinced that the reading is accurate.

On the farm water/sewer is free as water is deeded spring water gravity fed at 65 psi… quite a savings over the decades and so good it was bottled for almost a hundred ye

When I was in high school we lived in a neighborhood in Saratoga, California that was originally a huge orchard. Our neighbor behind us had a typical water tower with a well below from back when the orchard was active. The well still produced water. I asked the owner one day how the water quality was and he said it used to be great but he had not used the well for years and so couldn't say. I asked why he didn't use the water and he said the city would tax him on any water he used from the well and the cost was so high it was cheaper to buy city water. I always thought this was a shame.
Eric

 

[ultrarunner]

My boss has a residential 1960 tract home on what years ago was a vineyard before prohibition.

In her small fenced backyard is the original hand dug well that they were told about when they bought.

When the drought came I said what about your well so they bought a $65 Sears pump and dropped it in… beautiful yard and keeps the in ground pool full.

I only see water become ever more costly in the West so a good on property source is no small thing.

 

[4570Man]

No 11k water bill for me yet but I did get a 2-month $950 bill with average daily use of 500 gpd which includes sewer treatment based on gallons used.

Turns out a defective sprinkler valve was leaking about 15 gallons per hour day in and day out.

My typical 2 month bill is about $425 based on 110 gpd including sewer treatment.

On the farm water/sewer is free as water is deeded spring water gravity fed at 65 psi… quite a savings over the decades and so good it was bottled for almost a hundred years.

It’s pretty common around here to set a second meter for irrigation which doesn’t incur sewer charges. Do they not do that in California?

 

[ultrarunner]

I only know one residential with a second meter and the reason is the in ground pool…

Lawns are almost extinct around here… irrigation except drip frowned upon.

 

[lman]

When I was in high school we lived in a neighborhood in Saratoga, California that was originally a huge orchard. Our neighbor behind us had a typical water tower with a well below from back when the orchard was active. The well still produced water. I asked the owner one day how the water quality was and he said it used to be great but he had not used the well for years and so couldn't say. I asked why he didn't use the water and he said the city would tax him on any water he used from the well and the cost was so high it was cheaper to buy city water. I always thought this was a shame.
Eric

I've never lived in a city so I've never had access to city water. We only pay for the electricity used to pump water from our well. Our water is good but we do use a softener.
How would the city know how much water you are pumping out of your well?

 

[Dftodd]

I've never lived in a city so I've never had access to city water. We only pay for the electricity used to pump water from our well. Our water is good but we do use a softener.
How would the city know how much water you are pumping out of your well?

I'm on city water but not city sewer. So I just get billed for water usage.

Same with my last house out in this area.

My house because we had a washer and dryer, the water bill ranged from $25 to $40. Average was around $35 a month.

Since we've been on the property in a camper, we've only gone over the basic monthly charge of $18 + tax. We saw an increase of $0.12

Locally, your playing roulette if you have a well drilled. It's either super hard water or smells like Sulphur. Plus in certain parts of the state you run the risk of heavy metal contamination or getting acidic water from a well.

OP. Check with the city and see if they have a forgiveness policy for a line breakage.

The couple times I've been in rentals that were on city water and sewer, in Oralando FL, they had a 1 time forgiveness policy if for some reason the water line busted between the meter and the house.

Considering if that water line busted on the city side of that meter, you wouldn't be charged for it.

 

[Jstpssng]

OP. Check with the city and see if they have a forgiveness policy for a line breakage

The OP started this thread in May 2017. Hopefully he has it resolved by now.

 

[Dftodd]

The OP started this thread in May 2017. Hopefully he has it resolved by now.

Good point

 

[steve tym]

How does an 8 year old thread get revived?

 

[Cub 7275]

OP. Check with the city and see if they have a forgiveness policy for a line breakage.

Resolved see post 211

How does an 8 year old thread get revived?

Post 224

If on city water it might be worthwhile to get a wifi water monitor which will trigger an alert to unexpected usage. A friend has one that straps to the water meter and it can tell if a toilet is running. He uses it to monitor the water usage in a second home half way across the country, though if it sees a problem he has to have a neighbor investigate the cause (like the time a plastic pipe burst in the wall) and turn off the water if needed.