Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
I'm not sure what's going on. Typically for my 2-unit buildings the quarterly water bill is around $40. Both apartments are 2 bedrooms and fully occupied for this price.
Last year, I dealt with a huge leak because of a failing supply line in the yard. Had the line replaced and a nice big credit of around $300 put on my water bill account.
Got my next bill after that and it was normal around $36. I didn't have to pay because of my $300 credit.
Now the most recent bill comes in at around $260. I call and they send someone to check the meter out. I call back days later (today) to ask about the findings. The meter reads at a consumption of 8753 (gallons?). She said they saw no sign of a leak.
I tell her we have no interior leaks. She says, "sometimes you can't see a leak. get a licensed plumber to check out the property." So I will do this and if he finds nothing wrong, what will I do?
She said I couldn't get another hearing because I had one already within a year. But if I send a repair receipt, they may adjust it. If nothing is wrong, do I just send whatever receipt for the inspection?
Also, I find it odd that the water bill for next door (who shares the same access well as my meter) constantly has a bill of $14 for the same type of property, fully occupied.
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 688 votes
11y
Hire person to inspect for leaks. Common issues are toilet flappers, faucets not turning off, hose-bib running. Less common are water line leaks. However, if you have a water line leak..you need to find it. If you don't, you need to babysit your tenant or the county needs to replace a faulty meter.
Calumet City, IL · Member since 2014 · 312 posts · 49 votes
11y
Well it has already been said. Check all of the "Toilet guts" This happened to me back in Jan/Feb of this year. Water bill was about $300 more than normal. New float and valve flapper assemblies in each unit fixed the problem right away. Plus I also put low flow shower heads in each unit. I also put in a couple low flow aerators also.
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
11y
I misspoke. My bill is $499.07. I had a credit of $264.81, which has been wiped out and now I'm left with the remainder.
When my supply line broke, it was sending a large stream (no joke) down the road for quite a while. My bill for that was about $260ish. So I have a hard time believing that a bad toilet would cause a $499 bill.
However, I will confirm again myself that the toilets are fine. Last time I checked a few weeks ago, they seemed normal.
My challenge is dealing with Baltimore water to get my money back.
Baltimore, MD · Member since 2012 · 71 posts · 18 votes
11y
Nicole, the whole billing system for City water is messed up.
I have one house that consistently bills in the $200's per quarter-I have replaced toilet guts, sink aerators and shower heads, and a plumber confirmed no leaks. I have another one a mile away that consistently bills in the $ 60's and $70's per quarter. Everyone on these blocks have similiar bills as mine.
I heard that they were going to install smart meter type of meters to get real-time billing instead of constantly estimating bills. I don't know if that's true, but maybe that would put a stop to this nonsense.
Investor · Jasper GA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
One way to find out if you have a toilet leak is to place a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If the color shows up in the bowl within 15 minutes without flushing, you have a leak. Make sure to flush immediately after this experiment to avoid staining the tank.
A "running" toilet can waste two gallons of water per minute. There are 43,200 minutes in a month and if the waste was only 1 gallon a minute then that's 43,200 gallons.
Don't forget that the water bill includes sewer which is related to the number of gallons used.
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
11y
I second what was said about leaks. I have a well. We installed a water meter to track use. One leaking faucet doubled per person/per day use in the property. I also had a tenant who said by the way the faucet is leaking for a while now. It was going on for months. Another tip is to shut off outdoor faucets to avoid car washing etc.
That being said at a leak causing increased billing I would think has to be after the meter.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
11y
Reminds me of a crazy story from my friend Ben.
He bought his house maybe 6 years ago. Always had a high water bill but just assumed that it was normal. He lives along a creek and a few years after buying his house the township or maybe insurance company approached him about "raising his home."
Long story short he had his entire home's foundation raised up about 6 feet at no cost to him. BUT in the process of disconnecting all of his plumbing, the contractors found a water pipe buried under the ground that ran from his home to a neighboring house.
They had been using his water on his dime! The contractors said that the pipe could have been there for as long as 40 years!
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
11y
I'll try the food coloring trick in the toilet, thanks. If the toilet is running, wouldn't I be able to hear it?
My plumber also asked if my meter is new or not, @Jeff K., and I don't know, so I'll take a look to see.
I still don't get how an identical property next door that's fully occupied keeps getting $14 bills. I can't help but feel these meters are jacked up. I'll let you know what I end up finding.
Real Estate Investor · Hagerstown, MD · Member since 2014 · 14 posts · 8 votes
11y
An uncommon but possible scenario is a humidifier installed in the hvac system that is malfunctioning or was turned the whole way up. This should only happen when there is a call for heat. However, a solenoid leaking by or faulty humidistat will run excessive water down the drain constantly. Even an old pad that is calcified will not allow proper moisture distribution into the airstream and waste water. I don't think most people have humidifiers on their rentals though :) would lean more towards toilet issues as even a small un noticable trickle adds up quickly.
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
11y
Update:
Got a plumbing inspection. No trouble found in the property except a minor toilet leak. The plumber left that out of his report because he agrees that a leak that small doesn't cause a $500 bill. If he puts that in the report, B'more Water will just claim the bill is warranted.
Tested the water meter and it seemed okay. But the meter right next to my meter is broken and mud is caked on the gauge's face. The mud is preventing the needle from moving, hence why that property keeps getting $14 bills.
This really frustrates me because B'more Water told me that BOTH meters are working. Perhaps I should break the glass off my meter gauge and pack it with mud too! Clearly they still consider that a "working meter". ;-)
It also bugs me that because I had a hearing to fix my bill within the past year, they say I have to wait for a year to pass to get another hearing. And I can't let my bill's balance go above $250. This is ridiculous.
I will continue fighting it, and curious to see what next quarter's bill will be.
Got a plumbing inspection. No trouble found in the property except a minor toilet leak. The plumber left that out of his report because he agrees that a leak that small doesn't cause a $500 bill. If he puts that in the report, B'more Water will just claim the bill is warranted.
Tested the water meter and it seemed okay. But the meter right next to my meter is broken and mud is caked on the gauge's face. The mud is preventing the needle from moving, hence why that property keeps getting $14 bills.
This really frustrates me because B'more Water told me that BOTH meters are working. Perhaps I should break the glass off my meter gauge and pack it with mud too! Clearly they still consider that a "working meter". ;-)
It also bugs me that because I had a hearing to fix my bill within the past year, they say I have to wait for a year to pass to get another hearing. And I can't let my bill's balance go above $250. This is ridiculous.
I will continue fighting it, and curious to see what next quarter's bill will be.
Back in the early 90's we got a real bad cold snap in Philly. My buddy's water meter in his tire shop froze and broke. There were broken pipes all over the city and he couldn't get them to come out to replace the meter. So I cut and threaded a piece of pipe to fit in the meter yoke and replaced the busted meter with a piece of pipe.
He must have called the water department 20 times over the next year telling them he needed a new meter. Finally he got sick of talking to them.
That piece of pipe was still there when he moved out 12 years later. The water department insisted that his bills were "actual readings" the whole time.
Rental Property Investor · Woodbridge, VA · Member since 2014 · 249 posts · 81 votes
11y
Any sprinkler systems that could be leaking? I have had a water leak in one and the tenants didn't catch it right away. This was a rough winter so that came to mind.
I also had a wax ring go bad recently, but I think this volume of water would be visible.
Back in the early 90's we got a real bad cold snap in Philly. My buddy's water meter in his tire shop froze and broke. There were broken pipes all over the city and he couldn't get them to come out to replace the meter. So I cut and threaded a piece of pipe to fit in the meter yoke and replaced the busted meter with a piece of pipe.
He must have called the water department 20 times over the next year telling them he needed a new meter. Finally he got sick of talking to them.
That piece of pipe was still there when he moved out 12 years later. The water department insisted that his bills were "actual readings" the whole time.
Well, they might have been relying on remote meter readings, where the meter settings are read over a wire or transmitter of some sort. And since the reading doesn't move, it is the actual reading from the meter ...
One REO I bought in the dead of winter; it had been winterized and it was left that way for a couple of months after I took over the gas bill. Did not turn on the heat, so there was no gas usage. Gas company scheduled meter replacement, probably due to the appearance of low readings :) Gas company tech that did the replacement said it happens that way a lot.
Back in the early 90's we got a real bad cold snap in Philly. My buddy's water meter in his tire shop froze and broke. There were broken pipes all over the city and he couldn't get them to come out to replace the meter. So I cut and threaded a piece of pipe to fit in the meter yoke and replaced the busted meter with a piece of pipe.
He must have called the water department 20 times over the next year telling them he needed a new meter. Finally he got sick of talking to them.
That piece of pipe was still there when he moved out 12 years later. The water department insisted that his bills were "actual readings" the whole time.
Well, they might have been relying on remote meter readings, where the meter settings are read over a wire or transmitter of some sort. And since the reading doesn't move, it is the actual reading from the meter ...
One REO I bought in the dead of winter; it had been winterized and it was left that way for a couple of months after I took over the gas bill. Did not turn on the heat, so there was no gas usage. Gas company scheduled meter replacement, probably due to the appearance of low readings :) Gas company tech that did the replacement said it happens that way a lot.
Steve, if I was hearing the story, I would think the same thing.
But I dug the trench for the plumber with my backhoe when the water service was put into that building in the late 80's. There was no other meter. and no remote reading device. Just a mechanical meter in a yoke with no wires or any other devices attached.
Rental Property Investor · Cedar Park, TX · Member since 2014 · 414 posts · 272 votes
10y
@Nicole A., did you ever resolve this? I'm thinking it's the humidifier, as @Nathan Renner suggested. I just bought a house in Colorado, which is the first I've owned that had a humidifier. This thing is ridiculous. There's a constant drip of wasted water going down a floor drain in the basement.
The house was built in 2000, but the design of the humidifier seems like something from the '50s. You would think that, long before 2000, manufacturers would have come up with a device that would consume only the water that got released into the air.
My home inspector suggested having the furnace serviced, so I had a guy here this week who was mostly sales and not much service. He turned up the humidifier from about 15% to 35%. That made the problem worse. I've turned it off for now.
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y
Hi @Bob H.. I do not have a humidifier in my buildings. I'm actually waiting now to go to a hearing. I had to wait one year from my last hearing to be able to schedule another hearing even though it was for a separate issue. Waiting on my date now. I took pictures of the meter well where my water meter and the neighbor's water meter is showing how the neighbor's meter is broken. It would explain why he always gets $14 bills for a fully occupied building that is the same as mine.
Investor · Westbury, NY · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 5 votes
10y
Hi Nicole. I have the same problem in Baltimore City. One house received a $925 water bill and the other is $650. These homes usually average $200/quarter. I called the water department and they basically said they're correct and I need to pay the bill. My plumber did not identify any leaks. I have no idea how to get these water bills down. It's ridiculous! I wish that my water bills were $14!! Good luck with the hearing.
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y
@Marie LondonI would suggest that you ask your plumber to search harder for a leak. Any leak. Something that he can fix and then write down on a receipt for you so that you can then take it with you to your water hearing.
Investor · Westbury, NY · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 5 votes
9y
Welp, I just received a water bill for $80,149 for a SFH. Where are the checks and balances before sending out such an outrageous bill??!?!?! I simply chuckled when I saw the amount.