Why is my water bill high?

If you receive an unusually high water/sewer bill, there are generally four possible reasons:

  • A change in water use. This is the most common reason for high water consumption. Visitors, new babies, new appliances, or regular watering of a garden can substantially affect your bill. Ways to conserve.
  • A leak on your side of the water meter. Many buildings have some kind of plumbing leak, which can waste a surprising amount of water. For example, a continuously running toilet can waste between 100 and 400 gallons of water per day and potentially increase your bill substantially. A single faucet that drips just once every second wastes 8.6 gallons per day, or almost 800 gallons per quarter. Toilets, hot water heaters, in-line humidifiers, and irrigations systems are common sources of leaks.

How can you test for leaks? While many leaks can only be detected by plumbers, common leaks can be detected with simple tests.

One type of leak that you can check for is a silent toilet leak. To perform this test, simply drop some non-permanent food coloring into your toilet tank and do not flush the toilet for at least an hour. Check the bowl after the hour elapses, if the coloring shows up in your toilet bowl, you likely have this type of leak. These leaks can often be repaired by changing the flapper.

Another common culprit—dripping faucets—can be detected by drying the sink thoroughly and placing a paper towel under the faucet. Check back periodically to see if the paper town is wet. Leaks like this can typically be repaired by replacing the rubber O-ring or washer inside the valve.

To find a sneakier water leak stop all water use (turn off the dishwasher, etc) before you go to bed and read your meter, writing down what it says. First thing in the morning, before you flush the toilet or run water read the meter again. The readings should be the same if no one used any water over the course of the night. If they are different you may have a leak.

Other causes:

  • A misread meter. Even the most experienced and well-trained meter readers occasionally make mistakes.
  • A faulty meter. Occasionally our water meters do not accurately measure a property’s water consumption. In most of these cases, our meters “fail slow.” That is, they register less water consumption than actually occurred.

If you have a high bill that you cannot explain with any of the above:

Contact us to have us review your account. If needed, we will monitor your water use over two weeks to look for anything unusual.