DS left garden hose on for 36 hours, how much water bill are we looking at?

[Anonymous]

Needless to say, DH was FURIOUS this morning when he found out. DS (6.5) thought he has turned off the water, but rather he turned the wrong way and had it on in full the whole time. The hose was pointing at the bushes at the back of our yard, so we didn't notice any water ...

[Anonymous]

Less than what the bill will be to repair the leak in the foundation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Less than what the bill will be to repair the leak in the foundation.

that doesn't make sense. Hopefully you have interior exterior weeping system or maybe you are in an old home?

[Anonymous]

I'll assume a garden hose can spit out about 10 gallons per minute. That's 21,600 gallons in 36 hours. Arlington County charges $13.27 per 1000 gallons, so that's $286.63. Test your hose by timing how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket and adjust accordingly. And check your water bill for the rates.

And is your yard or neighbor's yard flooded? That's a lot of water.

[Anonymous]

This has happened to us more times than I care to remember (usually MY fault, and the fault of my single thirsty hydrangea). I don't think we ever even noticed it on the water bill. Not sure what that says about our normal usage...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll assume a garden hose can spit out about 10 gallons per minute. That's 21,600 gallons in 36 hours. Arlington County charges $13.27 per 1000 gallons, so that's $286.63. Test your hose by timing how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket and adjust accordingly. And check your water bill for the rates.

And is your yard or neighbor's yard flooded? That's a lot of water.

This happened to a neighbor once, but it was only about 12 hours and was about $400 extra, also in Arlington. Depends on where you live and how much the volume of water was, OP.

[Anonymous]

Someone left the hose on at a rental property I own and I got stuck paying about $500, but this was in another state. So sorry OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll assume a garden hose can spit out about 10 gallons per minute. That's 21,600 gallons in 36 hours. Arlington County charges $13.27 per 1000 gallons, so that's $286.63. Test your hose by timing how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket and adjust accordingly. And check your water bill for the rates.

And is your yard or neighbor's yard flooded? That's a lot of water.

This happened to a neighbor once, but it was only about 12 hours and was about $400 extra, also in Arlington. Depends on where you live and how much the volume of water was, OP.

Oh wow. So if OP lives in Arlington she would be looking at a $1200 bill??! OMG. Iam not op but my hear sinks just thinking of getting a bill like this.

[Anonymous]

P.S. Goes without saying that your DH needs to tone it down. You can't expect a 6 year-old to be the last one to check things like if external water is shut off. I think your DH or you needs to take responsibility and realize it was your job to check that everything was turned off and put away properly. At about 8/9 kids can be trusted with that, but 6? They can still have huge lapses in judgment and should be double-checked when they are in charge. That's like leaving open paint cans around a 3-year-old: not his fault, yours!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll assume a garden hose can spit out about 10 gallons per minute. That's 21,600 gallons in 36 hours. Arlington County charges $13.27 per 1000 gallons, so that's $286.63. Test your hose by timing how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket and adjust accordingly. And check your water bill for the rates.

And is your yard or neighbor's yard flooded? That's a lot of water.

This happened to a neighbor once, but it was only about 12 hours and was about $400 extra, also in Arlington. Depends on where you live and how much the volume of water was, OP.

Oh wow. So if OP lives in Arlington she would be looking at a $1200 bill??! OMG. Iam not op but my hear sinks just thinking of getting a bill like this.

If she's in Arlington she could call the county and ask them to read the meter so she knows what to expect. It's such a small county I'm sure they'd do it.

[Anonymous]

Don't be too hard on DC. Kids and crazy things come together.

[Anonymous]

well, we ran the taps frequently this winter due to pipes freezing and it added a couple hundred overall.

Luckily you're not in California.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:P.S. Goes without saying that your DH needs to tone it down. You can't expect a 6 year-old to be the last one to check things like if external water is shut off. I think your DH or you needs to take responsibility and realize it was your job to check that everything was turned off and put away properly. At about 8/9 kids can be trusted with that, but 6? They can still have huge lapses in judgment and should be double-checked when they are in charge. That's like leaving open paint cans around a 3-year-old: not his fault, yours!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll assume a garden hose can spit out about 10 gallons per minute. That's 21,600 gallons in 36 hours. Arlington County charges $13.27 per 1000 gallons, so that's $286.63. Test your hose by timing how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket and adjust accordingly. And check your water bill for the rates.

And is your yard or neighbor's yard flooded? That's a lot of water.

I love you, you crazy meticulous math wizard.

[Anonymous]

36 hours is a long time but I leave mine on all the time and it's never all that much