$11,000 Water Bill

[dragoneggs]

I believe that pvc piping is not designed for pressure ,,, you may have a case against the builder. I wonder if your local plumbing and/or building inspector should have signed off on the plumbing.

No disrespect... but a little friendly advice... you ought to read through the thread and get up to speed before responding.

 

[CincyFlyer]

I had a house with poly supply
Currently I work and live in the city of Cincinnati with ductile iron main and copper supply lines

When I lived in Cincinnati I had a lead pipe from meter to house, which was replaced with copper. Not much green pipe in that old city.

 

[areid]

As a home inspector I have been involved in a half dozen water line breaks under homes as a result of impacts on the plastic water lines during construction. I have several cameras that I use to locate the source of the leak. Recently I discover a 10 year old leak that I guestimate was spraying about 5 gal per min into the crushed rock weeping tile and eventually running down the sewer line via the sump. If I did my math correctly that's about 5.5 million gallons. Lucky for the sellers the leak was before the meter. The wight poly line was like a rock penetration.

 

[ultrarunner]

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.

 

[murphy1244]

I

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.

Its Déjà vu all over again...

 

[ultrarunner]

I

Its Déjà vu all over again...

Doesn’t take much of a leak to become significant over time.

Some water extremes in California are communities such as Diablo facing $600 monthly water bills.

'How did we get here?': Calif. megadevelopment runs out of water

"I can barely keep this district running."

www.sfgate.com

 

[mjonesnh]

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.

Wow!. My monthly usage is around 3500 gallons. Typical bill is 34.00 without sewer hookup. Didn't realize we have it so good in middle TN.

 

[drumminj]

Wow!. My monthly usage is around 3500 gallons. Typical bill is 34.00 without sewer hookup. Didn't realize we have it so good in middle TN.

In my experience it's the sewer/wastewater fee that's the killer, not the water. Luckily I'm on a well/septic now so don't have to deal with that (hopefully ever again!)

 

[Yander]

Yes, I know that at least two other leaks occurred at joints. I don't think those leaks were nearly as big.

This is on the builder, get an attorney. No way would you have multiple leaks on a line done properly? No way.

 

[Yander]

Oh I just realized how old this thread is. Lol

 

[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.