My crazy crazy water bill... HELP!

[Anonymous]

UPDATE: OP here.

I checked my water meter today. Shut off the water value to the house and the meter was still turning so I do have a leak. It is leaking at roughly 541 Gal/24 hours. Ouch!! I feel so a fool. The increase was so gradual that I didn't even realize until it got rediculous.

So now I've got to get someone to find the leak between the meter and my shutoff valve. Gonna be expensive for sure. Thank you all for the responses!

[Anonymous]

It happened to me too and it took a few months before I caught on. Talk to the company and see what they can do to help you. They may write off the current bill. It seems to me they should be able to do more if something seems out of the ordinary in residential areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I 'd like to get an idea on what you're paying for your quarterly water bill? These are my quarterly bills from years past.

2008: $187, $263, $ 350 , $3xx
2009: $314, $329, $439 , $4xx
2010: $4xx for all quarters
2011: $464

Some back ground info. I live in a townhouse in Falls Church (Fairfax county). I do not water the lawn. We had a baby in Aug 2008. Laundry was once a week in 2008 but increased to twice a week since the baby arrived. We do not use a dishwasher. My wife and I do not draw baths. Our showers are 10 minutes if that long even. In 2010, we started drawing a "bath" for my toddler each night. We're talking maybe 6 inches of water in a bath tub once a day. My toilets are not leaking. My taps do not drip. We come from a place where water is scarce and we've been brought up with the mind set of saving water whenever we can. That means no tap running while brushing teeth....etc etc

I can see a gradual increase over the years which is no doubt due to increased water demands of having a child. I did not think my bill was rediculous until I saw a friends quarterly bill of $62. I was FLOORED. She too has a toddler.

Can you all give me an idea if my water bill is way out there for a family of 3? My fairfax water bill states I consumed 72x1000 gallons of water last quarter. I have not located my water meter but will try to find it tomorrow in daylight to check for underground leaks.

Please help.

Is your water supplied by the City of Falls Church? The City is going down the drain and lost a big law suit to Fairfax County Water and you should seriously look into this because you are due a refund on your water bills. I am not familiar with all the details but FCCity used the water fund for running the city, salaries, etc., and this provided no benefit to the residents of Falls Church Fairfax County and the City now has to reimburse FCWA several million dollars and Fairfax County reidents are due a refund.

[Anonymous]

OMG. My water bill shot up recently this quarter also. We must have a leak. The strange part is that we did have a leak for awhile and finally got it fixed, plus have bought all energy efficient washer/dishwasher. I kept meaning to look into this and then the whole house got sick. I'm glad you posted to remind me.

So man, now we have to figure out where the leak is....sometimes I feel like the world is just stomping on me.

[Anonymous]

We had one crazy high bill and looked high and low for leaks. Someone had turned on the spigot in the back and we didn't know about all winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I 'd like to get an idea on what you're paying for your quarterly water bill? These are my quarterly bills from years past.

2008: $187, $263, $ 350 , $3xx
2009: $314, $329, $439 , $4xx
2010: $4xx for all quarters
2011: $464

Some back ground info. I live in a townhouse in Falls Church (Fairfax county). I do not water the lawn. We had a baby in Aug 2008. Laundry was once a week in 2008 but increased to twice a week since the baby arrived. We do not use a dishwasher. My wife and I do not draw baths. Our showers are 10 minutes if that long even. In 2010, we started drawing a "bath" for my toddler each night. We're talking maybe 6 inches of water in a bath tub once a day. My toilets are not leaking. My taps do not drip. We come from a place where water is scarce and we've been brought up with the mind set of saving water whenever we can. That means no tap running while brushing teeth....etc etc

I can see a gradual increase over the years which is no doubt due to increased water demands of having a child. I did not think my bill was rediculous until I saw a friends quarterly bill of $62. I was FLOORED. She too has a toddler.

Can you all give me an idea if my water bill is way out there for a family of 3? My fairfax water bill states I consumed 72x1000 gallons of water last quarter. I have not located my water meter but will try to find it tomorrow in daylight to check for underground leaks.

Please help.

Is your water supplied by the City of Falls Church? The City is going down the drain and lost a big law suit to Fairfax County Water and you should seriously look into this because you are due a refund on your water bills. I am not familiar with all the details but FCCity used the water fund for running the city, salaries, etc., and this provided no benefit to the residents of Falls Church Fairfax County and the City now has to reimburse FCWA several million dollars and Fairfax County reidents are due a refund.

See the 738 poster and his/her link: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/providence/doc/newsletter16final.pdf
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[Anonymous]

Can you hear the water running when it isn't on? Listen all around the house.

I had a water leak in my water line to my house ( I guess if that happened the water hasn't been counted yet), but it was leaking all over my backyard of a townhouse.

Check the toilets especially.

[Anonymous]

I think you'll likely get at least a partial refund. We had this happen to an out of state home that had belonged to my mom. The water company in her town (in Tennessee) reimbursed us a large percentage of the amount, once we were able to show proof (a paid bill) that someone had repaired the leak.

[Anonymous]

I have FFX County water, 2 adults, townhome, 2500 sq ft, 1 kid - laundry a few times a week, daily showers, limited outdoor water play/yard work in the summer. The ONLY time my water bill has broke $100 is when we had extended vists from family members caring for our son right after he was born.

The NoVa area is notorious for having polybutylene lines (inside and out) and the exterior water supply lines have been known to leak and require replacement. My old rental townhome had an $70 bill that jumped to $1200 in one quarter because a leak occurred. At least it sounds like you have a slow leak. If you do get the leak validated, I think they might adjust your water bill back to a more acceptable amount, but not sure for how many quarters, but perhaps you can recoup some of the money?

[Anonymous]

Definitely apply to the water company for a refund. This happened to us and the refund saved us quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

The water company will give you a refund if you provide proof that you fixed the leak.

The bad news is that fixing a leak in the line that runs to the house costs a few grand and they have to dig a trench.

[Anonymous]

On a tip from a plumber friend, we signed up for the water line replacement insurance from Dominion Power right after Fios came through our neighborhood to install their lines. He told us they are notorious for nicking water lines when they use tunneling technology to place their lines. The bad part is, it can be a slow leak for several years before you get clued in (usually because your yard turns really soggy). A higher than normal water bill is a clue though. Add that to what a PP said about the shitty piping a lot of us in NOVA have, I think it's worth it. Doesn't add much to our monthly bill, maybe 3 bucks. To replace a water line, you are looking around 3-4K if the length of your line isn't much, to 6K plus if it is long.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

Its gonna cost $5K to run a new line into the house to replace the leaking one. Hopefully, the water company will be helpful in reimbursing the past bills. I wonder if fixing a leaking pipe is covered under homeowners insurance.

[Anonymous]

I live in the City of Falls Church in a 4,000 sq ft house and our quarterly water bill is around $170.00.

[Anonymous]

OP, make sure you sign up for that water replacement line service that Dominion Virginia Power offers. It's less than $5.00 a month and should save you in the future, should you encounter the same problem again. Sorry you're having to go through this, totally bites.