High Water Consumption--help me solve a mystery?

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mperrill

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Here is my problem. My water bill is double that of my neighbors. Since we have similar sized houses, families, and similar lifestyles, I think I have a leak or some other plumbing problem. My neighbors pay $40 - $45 per month. I usually pay around $90. This has been going on for a few years (but I did not know it was a problem until I asked what their bills were).

I shut off the main water supply to the house for a few hours and noted no consumption on the meter. Therefore, I do not think the line from the meter to the house is leaking. I believe the problem is inside the house.

I have tested my toilets by putting dye in the upper tank. No leaks. I was informed I could have high consumption if the float in the toilet tank was set to rise too high, letting water fall into the overflow drain. I checked. One toilet was set to let the water rise pretty high but it was below that overflow drain. I adjusted it to have the float cut the water off even lower anyway.

I have replaced the flapper and the float in both toilets.

I do not have a pool or an irrigation system. Even though something is using a lot of water, I don't hear water going thru the pipes when it shouldn't be. In other words, if water is being used, the washer is in use, the dishwasher is in use or someone flushed a toilet.

My house is 15 years old. We have all the same appliances and fixtures as when it was first built. I have a dishwasher, clothes washer, electric water heater. The fridge has an ice maker.

That's my story. Any ideas? What would you do? I am thinking of shutting down one room at a time that has some water consuming appliance to try and isolate the issue. That will take time and be a pain. Any better solutions?

Thanks for reading.
Mark
 
Maybe your meter is bad. Local municipality can swap it out - no charge. How does the gallons compare to your neighbors?
 
Why are you so certain that you have a leak somewhere? Have you seen the neighbor's bill personally? If so, how does this compare to how many persons are occupying your home compared to them? Do you shower more? Do you do more laundry than them? Is your landscaping more lush than theirs? I would first try to match apples to apples, then, contact the water department for an in home audit. Most municipalities appreciate water conserving customers, and are usually glad to come out to assist you.
 
Thanks for your replies so far.

Of course my
neighbors usage and mine will be different. Someone will shower more or less. But not enough to account for a double bill. The neighbors on either side have similar family sizes. I have 4. One has 6, the other 3. They both pay half of my bill.

No, I did not ask to see their water bills with my own eyes. That would have been incredibly rude. They have no reason to lie.

I wonder if the meter could be bad. That's a possibility. Our water authority is not very user friendly but it might be worth a shot.

Any other ideas?
 
could it be that the neighbors have low flow everything and you may not?
Do you run a water softener?
 
Odorf has the best advice. Check the meter to see if it is registering any usage when nothing is supposed to be being used.
Some meter have a little red triangle instead of the wheel.
 
No, I don't have a water softener. It's possible the neighbors both have low flow everything. I think the answer is no though.

The two best ideas I have seen so far is to actually see the consumption in gallons for my neighbors and compare it to my consumption. And the possibility that my meter is bad.

I will turn off everything in the house and check the meter sometime this coming week but, like I wrote earlier, I don't hear any water moving thru the pipes when there is not a good reason for it.
 
Thanks again to everyone who contributed something so far. I'm still open to ideas though. I don't want anyone to think the last word has been spoken.
 
In my area, the water, trash and sewer charges are combined. I hope you can see how easily these numbers could be skewed if not deciphered correctly.

I myself dealt with this same issue a few years back. On my vacation home, I noticed my meter still running after everything inside the house was shut down completely. I found a 3/4" PVC tee, leading to my rear sprinklers, had cracked. Unfortunately, this fitting was under a concrete slab. Yeah, it was alot of work and even more money to repair.

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Nope. A mobile with irrigation lines (with glued fittings!) under one of the slabs. Not no more.
 
you still be using water even tho you cant hear it
.
 
Watching the meter when nothing is on is your best bet to start but you also need to look at your appliances. Toilet volume, faucet and shower head water flow rates have changed over the years and yours are 15 years old. Your pressure may be higher also.
There are also lots of little habits that we may think everyone else does like allowing water to run continuously when brushing your teeth or filling the washing machine to the fullest level when doing a load. Your neighbors habits may be a lot different than yours.
 
I work at a large property where we have one house for girls and one house for boys.
When I get their utility bills to process, there is quiet the difference between the two identical homes.
How many females versus males, difference between you and your neighbor?
 
you can not compare your water usage to your neighbors.:rofl:
wont work, they do things different than you do.

it has been suggested that you look at your meter with all faucets closed. this is to see if there is anything running that should not be.:D

then, after we have that info, we can either offer advice or have you to start isolating systems to find the leak.

forget about the people next door, they have nothing to do with your problem:D:2cents:
 
I'm in South Florida. My water consumption and my electric bill were slowly increasing for a while. My water heater is electric. For months now I noticed that in one tiled area the flooring was warmer . With no water usage , toilets , shower etc the little wheel in the water meter was turning, quite rapidly at that. I turned off the valve to the house and the whelel stopped spinning. I turned it back on and the wheel resumed spinning. I then turned off the cold water input to the water heater and the whelel stopped spinning. I therefore concluded that I had a leak , a slab leak at that , in my hot water distribution. I searched youtube and saw a clip that was similar to my situation. The continuous flow of cold water into the water heater accounted for the electric bill being higher. I am in the planning phase for the repair and am considering using PEX tubing with a reroute through the attic. My last water bill was almost four times as much. That's a serious leak in that copper piping. For three months it was 64,000 gals of water! The bigger the leak the faster that little wheell in meter turns. In the meantime , till it is fixed, I am controlling the leak with the cold water shutoff valve to the water heater.
 
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I'm in South Florida. My water consumption and my electric bill were slowly increasing for a while. My water heater is electric. For months now I noticed that in one tiled area the flooring was warmer . With no water usage , toilets , shower etc the little wheel in the water meter was turning, quite rapidly at that. I turned off the valve to the house and the whelel stopped spinning. I turned it back on and the wheel resumed spinning. I then turned off the cold water input to the water heater and the whelel stopped spinning. I therefore concluded that I had a leak , a slab leak at that , in my hot water distribution. I searched youtube and saw a clip that was similar to my situation. The continuous flow of cold water into the water heater accounted for the electric bill being higher. I am in the planning phase for the repair and am considering using PEX tubing with a reroute through the attic. My last water bill was almost four times as much. That's a serious leak in that copper piping. For three months it was 64,000 gals of water! The bigger the leak the faster that little wheell in meter turns. In the meantime , till it is fixed, I am controlling the leak with the cold water shutoff valve to the water heater.

Welcome to the site, sounds like you have this figured out, now just to get it fixed.
 

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