Warsaw, IN · Member since 2018 · 33 posts · 8 votes
Hello all, I'm wondering if anyone has came across this issue before. I called our local water company (Indiana american water) in order to get a quote to install a 2nd water meter at one of my properties and according to the rep, they no longer allow this? Her statement was that in order to do this, the apartments have to be separated, and not in 1 building.
This just doesn't make sense to me. If anyone has ran into a similar issue please let me know! Thanks.
@Diego Lopez. When I don't get the answer i'm looking for from a Utilities provider, I'll just call back until I do. Here in Fort Wayne, as long as we tap into the main at the street, and have an outside/ underground shutoff installed, they will provide another meter. Best of luck.
@Diego Lopez. When I don't get the answer i'm looking for from a Utilities provider, I'll just call back until I do. Here in Fort Wayne, as long as we tap into the main at the street, and have an outside/ underground shutoff installed, they will provide another meter. Best of luck.
The response you are getting from Indiana American Water is correct as it is the company policy to have 1 meter per building per owner. Feel free to PM me to discuss in more detail.
Hey guys. I have had several different water utility companies tell me the same thing here recently, with American Water being one of them. Ie: they'll only set one meter in the pit per building regardless of the number of units inside. How we've been addressing it is installing a manifold in the main mechanical room for the building and then installing our own meters for each unit.
It's a little laborious tracking each unit's water consumption and then billing the tenant a month later, so we're building it into the rent (bump the monthly rent up $50-$75) with a clause saying we can bill the tenant for overages on a quarterly basis. Having the separate meters inside the building and at your control also allows you to shut water off to the individual tenant spaces if needed.
There's plenty of discussion on the forums that contradicts our procedure, but we've found that including utilities in the rent is attractive to the majority of tenants; they'd rather pay a premium (because you know we're padding the averages and covering our rear ends) than have to mess with setting accounts up and worrying about scratching three to four additional checks a month.