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Dan693

Any Plumbers Out There !

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Dan693

Had my first heart attack the other day when I looked at my water/sewer bill........double the amount from normal!

I'm good with plumbing but this one has me scratching my head........obviously a pretty big leak somewhere.

 

Water meter pit at the street is filled up with water above the meter. The city replaced it a year ago.

I did a full inspection of the crawl (dry), all water appliances inside including outside spigots but no leaks that I could find. The volume of water usage increase was like thousands of extra gallons.

 

Gonna watch the pit for a day or so to see if it drains. We have had some rain lately and the sump pump runs as normal but then stops after a day or so which tells me no active leak from the house.

My initial feeling is either a break in the line from the meter to the house (no wet spots or bumps in the lawn) or the meter at the street is leaking.

 

Any thoughts as to what might be the problem would be appreciated.

 

 

 

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RandyLittrell

Probably the line in between the meter and your house, which you are responsible for. When we bought our house many years ago, the water line broke out in the yard just a month after we bought it! 

 

Turn off all your faucets inside the house and you should be able to hear the water if its a line in the yard. Listen at the meter, also you may be able to see the meter move if it still has that style. 

 

 

 

 

Randy

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Lane Ranger

Don't forget meter readers can read them wrong !    Call the city!

Edited by Lane Ranger
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rmaynard

Water in the pit is the biggest clue. With everything in the house turned off, look at the meter and see if it's moving. If that's not the problem, I'd aim for the humidifier. My son had a humidifier on his heat pump that ran all the time in the winter when the fan was running. The water cascaded over the water pad and down the drain. What a waste. Thousands of gallons. Put a different humidifier in and problem was solved. Have had multiple customers who had the same problem. If it's not your meter, or the line from the meter to the house, look at your humidifier if you have one.

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953 nut

Your meter should have a valve on the inlet and outlet, if you close the outlet valve and record the reading then check it a few hours later you will know if it is the meter. the old galvanized steel water lines are susceptible to leaking at the joints because the threaded portion has no protection. Look for a Green spot in the yard along the run of the line to the house, that is how I found mine a few years back.

A thousand gallons a month is only 0.023 gallons per minute so it isn't going to be too evident like a huge wet spot. 

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Dan693

I actually checked the meter from the last reading until today and it added up. I'm on the way to another huge bill.

I set up a supervisor to come out and inspect the meter. They will be here tomorrow. 

We'll see.....

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rmaynard

Just remember the saying, "we're from the government and we are here to help" 

 

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buckrancher

did you check all toilets to be sure one is not leaking by the flopper valve in the bottom of the storage tank

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squonk
2 hours ago, buckrancher said:

did you check all toilets to be sure one is not leaking by the flopper valve in the bottom of the storage tank

"Lady you're toilet is running"!

 

"Well can you catch it and bring it back?  I may need to use it soon"! plumber-smiley-emoticon.gif.6ed507bc6e293a964ef1c57e14429975.gif

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KC9KAS

I read water meters for over 17 years, and yes, meter readers can read or write the numbers wrong. Sometimes I transposed number.

My advantage was the clerk treasure that figured the bills would see right away if someone's usage was above normal and contact me to "re-read" the meter to see what might have happened.

Meters also go bad and the really old ones were mechanical and "jump" numbers.

Sometimes, meter readings were estimated when weather wasn't cooperative.

Check the reading and compare it to the reading on the bill. There should be a date when the meter was last read and you can figure how many days have passed and how much the meter has moved.

Your meter could be reading in cubic feet too. That is another bag of worms!

I was asked MANY time to read a meter when the household was empty and read it again before they came home to see it there was usage.

Contact your water utility. If you do have a leak outside, they should give you credit on the sewer bill!

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ztnoo

Where I live, anything on the property owner's side of the meter is his responsibility.

I had a leak in my soft copper supply line to the house 10 years ago or so, 30 years after the house was built.

Excavation around the meter pit revealed the conduit housing around the meter had settled and slightly kinked the copper and a very small pin hole eventually opened in the kink.

It happened in early spring after it warmed up and I suddenly noticed a wet area around the meter pit.

I don't think it leaked very many days.....maybe 3 or 4 at most, and wasn't leaking a volume to make a huge difference in the monthly bill.

The excavation and plumbing bill was all on my dime.

I was fortunate to catch it early.

Edited by ztnoo
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