So very long story shortened my water bill is extremely high this month. We average $35.00 a month and this month it was $151.20. The jerk landlord told us in a very nasty little note to check out water leaks which we did and don't have. He claims we went through 19,500 gallons of water in April which means we used 650 gallons a day for 30 days. Not possible. We checked for leaks in the house and under it. We found nothing. We have an issue with a leaky toilet but it's been that way for 2 years and the bill is never higher than $35.00. Any ideas if this is an underground leak that has nothing to do with me or is my landlord price gouging me?
Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
15y
A running toilet can certainly jack up the bill! I had a tenant who's toilet ran for the 5 months he was there and he never said a word. I was stuck with a $1200 water bill after he was evicted.
Definitely turn off everything and check the meter, some have a sort of clockface and the little "hand" will be moving if there is any water running. Call the water company as well, they will come out to check if there is a leak or a problem in the line from the house to the water main.
Investor · Charleston, SC · Member since 2015 · 39 posts · 17 votes
4y
The owner should check his pipes and water pressure tools now days can pinpoint the leak no way you are using that kind of water use my gut says something is wrong water.... Ask tell u want to help or call a plumber as to look for the leak sure he knows the deal and he doesn't try hit you over the head with the bill.....Than if he confirms losing pressure in the water lines than grab a lawyer..
Investor · Charleston, SC · Member since 2015 · 39 posts · 17 votes
4y
Obviously lawyer last resort but water bills range but major jump something sounds wrong and Ive identified 2 different properties these problems for myself..
Rental Property Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Hi Heather, I have had similar issues in the past. If the toilets are continuously running, this will cause the water bill to skyrocket. Take a look in the back of the toilet to see if it is not continuously running. Good luck!
Rental Property Investor · Alexandria, VA · Member since 2015 · 59 posts · 24 votes
4y
@Chris Sweeney
Agree with this, had a similar experience recently with some insane readings that effectively worked out to flushing the toilet 600 times a day, every day for a month. Where I live in Virginia (I’m sure it’s similar other places, so apologies if this isn’t helpful), the water company does drive-by meter readings that are apparently prone to interference and thus bad data. Now I take an extra second each month to pay a little more attention to my water bills so we aren’t overpaying.
Flipper/Rehabber · SF Bay Area · Member since 2021 · 16 posts · 7 votes
4y
I agree with the previous comments. Go to the hardware or plumbing supply. Pickup some dye tablets to test for toilet leaks. Place one tablet in the each toilet tank and wait 15 minutes. If the tank flapper is leaking, you will see dye in the toilet bowl.
So very long story shortened my water bill is extremely high this month. We average $35.00 a month and this month it was $151.20. The jerk landlord told us in a very nasty little note to check out water leaks which we did and don't have. He claims we went through 19,500 gallons of water in April which means we used 650 gallons a day for 30 days. Not possible. We checked for leaks in the house and under it. We found nothing. We have an issue with a leaky toilet but it's been that way for 2 years and the bill is never higher than $35.00. Any ideas if this is an underground leak that has nothing to do with me or is my landlord price gouging me?
Check the outside water meter or call city utilities to inspect it.
Rental Property Investor · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 228 posts · 180 votes
4y
@Heather De lap it could be the main water line running from the street to the property…it happened to me. I bought a primary residence back in 2016, everything passed inspection, all was good. Literally one month in I get a call from the City of Eagle, who provides residential water to that part of town. The clerk told me to check for leaks cause I have a huge bill. I ask how much it said I used and she said I had used 32,000 gallons that month…I had no idea how to put that in perspective, and she told me it’s equivalent to nearly 2 standard size in-ground swimming pools. I had a local plumbing company come out and they found that the roots from the tree in the front yard over the last 20 years had wrapped the water line and broke it. They had to dig 4 feet down and 2 feet under the tree to get to the break. Cost me $2,000 with a military discount plus the water charge. This was in November, 2016…a couple months before the event in the Boise area known as “Snowmageddon”. She wasn’t joking about the amount of water in the ground in my front yard. When the deep freeze happened it literally raised half of the concrete on my 3-car driveway in front of my driveway by 4 inches….
As a warning to those who don’t know, homeowners policies do not cover the water and sewer lines from the street to the house, but you are still responsible for them. City only covers from the street on. I was told by Allstate a good way to look at it is ‘within the foundation walls it can be covered (either through the policy or added riders), outside the foundation walls, no’. You’ll want to get a separate policy for that.
Investor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2015 · 3 posts · 1 vote
4y
I know for a FACT that a running toilet can run the water bill up, I had a bad misunderstanding with a tenant about that same thing she swear the it couldn't be the toilet but in fact she had an additional 800.00 water bill that she wanted ME to pay.
ask for a copy of the water bill. contact the water department. sometimes, depending on the city, they will send someone out to look for leaks. if it is underground, it would not hit the meter, so the leak is definately after the meter or the city could not bill for it.
Rental Property Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 82 votes
4y
Maybe speak with your landlord about splitting costs to hire a professional to inspect the property? If there are no visible signs there is damage the landlord probably assumes he is not liable for the excess water being used. But if you are not using extra water a month and the bill is high I'd get a second opinion from a professional.
So very long story shortened my water bill is extremely high this month. We average $35.00 a month and this month it was $151.20. The jerk landlord told us in a very nasty little note to check out water leaks which we did and don't have. He claims we went through 19,500 gallons of water in April which means we used 650 gallons a day for 30 days. Not possible. We checked for leaks in the house and under it. We found nothing. We have an issue with a leaky toilet but it's been that way for 2 years and the bill is never higher than $35.00. Any ideas if this is an underground leak that has nothing to do with me or is my landlord price gouging me?
Sounds like Some 70's Squatters Rights type of idea. We are faced with this on occasion but if you make a trip to your local municipality (if accessible) They usually Fix the problem for you. All the Backlog In Detroit Can be unusual at times but when you walk in with your paperwork and have a seat at the inspectors desk and demand answers he's going to make them fix it. At least that's what I Do.
Residential Real Estate Broker · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2014 · 54 posts · 23 votes
4y
I had a similar situation with a water bill.. it was the leaking toilet that caused the issue... from what we could gather the rubber flap was bad. Anyway, we replaced the toilet since it was so old and the bill went back to normal after a billing cycle. Perhaps it is something similar.
Investor · Providence, RI · Member since 2016 · 142 posts · 40 votes
4y
I understand your point that the toilet has been like that for years but it is possible it's accelerated. In RI, I've had a water bill over $200 because of this, that particular house is still giving me high water bills, around $135 /mo and I really don't know why but it's consistent since the toilet repair.
Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2017 · 9 posts · 1 vote
4y
I know you said the toilet has been leaking for a long time, but is it getting worse? We had a running toilet that tripled bills over a few month time span. Bill went from $60 to $110 to $140 to $190 before it was finally resolved. My tenant is hard of hearing and couldn't hear the toilet constantly running. (Two other times we thought we found the issue - Tenant admitted to leaving the hose running.) After fixing the toilet it's back to $60. I would fix the toilet, and then check to see if meter is still running.
Specialist · Monterey, CA · Member since 2021 · 7 posts · 1 vote
4y
I'm curious as to why the leaky toilet issue hasn't been resolved. I would call the water company to check the house out for leaks. Documentation goes a long way.
Investor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 160 votes
4y
Leaky toilets can really hike up a bill I had that with a tenant in a strip mall, we had it fixed and the bill went way down. I would absolutely request that the water utility company come and check the meter, the toilets, etc, just in case there is an issue. The landlord cannot refuse this.
Shawnee Mission, KS · Member since 2016 · 719 posts · 313 votes
4y
Turn off you main water shut off going into the house .Go back to the water meter see if it is spinning if so you need to dig up the water line .Lot of the time the pit with the meter is the leak .
Well solve this riddle, or as the leak detection technician called it, “mystery”. I have a rental home out of state that is currently vacant. I received a call from our property manager that the city had called her to let her know that they were shutting g off our water. Because we had used 250,000 gallons of water and prior to them shutting it off we had used an additional 130,000 gallons of water towards our next billing . There were no visible signs of a leak or flooding anywhere in the house. It was the dead of winter and a ton of snow around the house so it was hard to tell if there was a leak outside somewhere. We just had a new yard and sprinkler system installed this summer. I had visions of my house in a swamp. Leak detection came out. Only leak they found in the house was slow residual dripping from a shower head that stopped when they turned on the hot water? They didn’t find any evidence of an underground leak. The leak detection engineer could find no leaks other than small dripping leak from shower head. The utilities tech from the city was there testing the meter and it seemed to be working fine. Anybody here ever experience something similar? Everybody involved in detecting and resolving this issue are stumped and I am on the hook for nearly $1000.00 water bill for less than a month of service. TIA for any suggestions or theories. You
So very long story shortened my water bill is extremely high this month. We average $35.00 a month and this month it was $151.20. The jerk landlord told us in a very nasty little note to check out water leaks which we did and don't have. He claims we went through 19,500 gallons of water in April which means we used 650 gallons a day for 30 days. Not possible. We checked for leaks in the house and under it. We found nothing. We have an issue with a leaky toilet but it's been that way for 2 years and the bill is never higher than $35.00. Any ideas if this is an underground leak that has nothing to do with me or is my landlord price gouging me?