Holy water bill! (Austin, Cedar Park: renting, appliances, house)

[famv5]

We just moved to Cedar Park last month and received our first water bill of over $200. Does this sound right?

It's baffling to us because in PA we always used between 5,000-6,000 gallons each month. They are showing that we used 38,000 gallons here. What???? The only difference here is we have a sprinkler system that waters twice a week, well, once a week now. Could that really use that much more water? Again, in PA, we would water our yard with sprinklers and it would only show by a cost of a few more dollars each month.

I'm wondering if there may be a leak of some sort. We are renting a house and there is a service receipt that we found in a drawer where a plumber came out in November last year to look for a possible slab leak but nothing was found. Makes me wonder why they had someone come out.

Just wondering if this water usage sounds normal to you or should we investigate for a possible leak. 38,000 gallons of water being used in one month's time is just shocking.

If it is the norm, than it is what it is.

Thank you!

[CarnivalGal]

Spinklers twice a month can make a HUGE difference. I am from PA as well, and our grass didn't require nearly as much water, and it actually rains there quite a lot. So very little (if any) water went on our yard. We currently have a 1/3 acre lot that we water once a week. Our water bill last month was $150.

To check for a leak, simply turn off all faucets and other sources of water in the house and check the meter. If it's moving, you've got a leak.

[penecow290]

That seems possible. How big is your family? I found this information: "Average monthly water consumption: 18,000 gallons of water"
The easiest way to check for a leak is to check your water meter, if the little disk is spinning when you are not using any water then your probably have a leak.

[centralaustinite]

Unless you have an enormous yard, a leak is likely! My family of 5+pets uses about 5000 gallons a month, 18,000 would be more typical with yard watering and no water-efficient appliances.

If you do not have a leak (call the water dept, in Austin they will come out and check for a leak not sure about CP) then the sprinkler system could be going off in the middle of the night (every night -- power outages can reset the system to default to everyday watering and to long default cycles sometimes in the middle of the night) you could also have a broken sprinkler head or buried head that is pouring out water underground.

[G Grasshopper]

You can, however, have leaks in the sprinkler system that don't show up on the meter because the leak is only there when the sprinklers are running. We have recently had capped one sprinkler head that was under the wood deck stairs, and one that was under landscape cloth and rocks, and we had three underground leaks repaired, one from a landscaper pounding in metal edging on top of a pipe, and two from shovels breaking pipes while digging. Only two of these problems were found immediately, so resulted in no water loss. At this point, the water portion of our bill is about $20-$30 per month, and we hope even that will go down, as we have recently had 4 of our 6 sprinkler stations converted to drip. With stage 3 restrictions on the horizon, it is really important to work out all the bugs and make your water usage as efficient as possible. We have a small yard, by the way, just 1/3 acre.

[famv5]

Thank you for all your responses.

We will try turning things off and then look at the meter to see if it's going. I completely shut off our sprinkler system because I was concerned that it might be going off at times we are not aware of, however, I don't think it has.

Our lot size is 8,464 sq ft.

That's interesting about the sprinkler heads leaking, too. Never thought of that.

We are a family of five, no pets and our lifestyle hasn't changed any from living in PA. I think we drink more water here and shower more (haha...from the hot weather) but the only difference would be the sprinkler system.

We'll investigate further and see if we come up with anything. With the Stage 3 in effect now, I hate the thought of water being wasted.

[EzPeterson]

Definitely have a leak. No way you should be north of 25K.

[JackGriffin]

Originally Posted by EzPeterson

Definitely have a leak. No way you should be north of 25K.

Agreed.

[clarksvillemom]

I don't know - our bill was huge this month. I called and they tried to explain something about the averaging they do? Honestly I don't get it

[sxrckr]

Seems a little high. Though if all 5 take semi-long showers once a day, that adds up. Turn everything off, then go look at your meter. Are you in a MUD?