High water bills?

[Karen G]

Just got this via email: Jennifer and Jim kept getting huge water bills. They knew beyond a doubt that the bills weren't representative of their actual usage, and no matter how they tried to conserve, the high bills continued. Although they could see nothing wrong, they had everything checked for leaks or problems: the water meter, outdoor pipes, indoor pipes, underground pipes, faucets, toilets, washer, ice maker, etc., all to no avail.

One day Jim was sick and stayed home in bed, but kept hearing water running down stairs. He finally got out of his sick bed to investigate, and stumbled onto the cause of the bills. Apparently this was happening all day long when they were not at home.

Knowing that few would believe him, he taped a segment of the
'problem' for posterity:

http://www.dnaco.net/~vogelke/pictures/water-leak/water-leak.wmv

 

[Kay H]

Another reason to keep the lid down. That is a riot.

 

[DeniseM]

When I click on the link, I get some kind of a "binary file" download?

 

[dougp26364]

One more reason why we're dog people.

 

[Karen G]

When I click on the link, I get some kind of a "binary file" download?

That's weird. It is a video of a cat who has learned to flush the toilet and apparently was flushing all day long when his owners were out of the house.

 

[DeniseM]

Then it opens it as an excel file and all I see is the binary code - weird!

 

[pranas]

I think the video is cute.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Really cute, and so like a cat to be that ornery.

 

[Htoo0]

Is this where one of us is supposed to say, "Holy Cat"???

 

[Egret1986]

I loved it! Thanks for sharing!!

However, no insight to my most recent water bill that was $70 more than the last one.

 

[Don]

Then it opens it as an excel file and all I see is the binary code - weird!

Your computer is probably set to try to open it with Excel instead of a video player. Try opening it with Windows Media Player.

 

[DeniseM]

Your computer is probably set to try to open it with Excel instead of a video player. Try opening it with Windows Media Player.

I have a Mac....

 

[AwayWeGo]

Sorry, Wrong Meter.

My nephew's water bills starting running lots higher ever since the water company replaced all the neighborhood meters last July. Then recently his water bill got really high -- $600 or so. The water company said he had a 1 gallon per minute leak somewhere.

That sounded doubtful, because nothing was dripping or leaking inside the house & there were no signs of leaks on the ground outside. So he called a plumber.

The plumber shut off the valve where the water line enters the house. Then he opened up the meter enclosure out at the street & had a look. Sure enough, the dials were spinning like slot machine reels even though the main water inlet valve at the house was closed.

Then the plumber turned the water off at the meter & turned the water on again at the house -- & with the valves set like that, the house still had running water with good pressure at all the sinks & tubs & toilets.

In replacing everybody's meter back in July, the utility contractor mislabeled the meters. My nephew's meter was connected to his neighbors house & vice versa -- & therefore my nephew's high water bills over the past several months had been caused by his neighbor's leak.

The water company acknowledged the mistake & said it will go back over the water bills & payments from the time the meters were replaced & adjust both customers' accounts accordingly -- good news for my nephew & not such good news for his neighbor.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Icc5]

Problems with water bills

However, no insight to my most recent water bill that was $70 more than the last one.

We had a huge jump in our water bill twice (huge yard and only get billed every 2 months). Had water company out and found no leakes. This was during the winter when we don't water things outside. It turned our a faucet WAS leaking in the farthest part of the yard. When we went to check all the faucets after no rain for awhile the ground was ready to fall in. Somehow it didn't show up when they checked but my normal winter bill of aprox $140 for 2 months was $670.
Bart