Water consumption?

[DarrickJ2]

Originally Posted by TiredOfyycCold

Wow! You would think it would be obvious to the city that that kind of water usage is impossible... unless you are filling a neighborhood lake!

When we bought our house last July the irrigation system was set to go off 3 times a day for 20 minutes EVERY DAY. When we finally arrived in Phoenix to physically take possession of our house - it was apparent that the irrigation system was set incorrectly as the grassed area in the backyard was spongy it was so saturated (and the grass was 12 inches long).

Our usage for last July was approximately 4000 gallons - and all of that went through the irrigation system. 99,000 gallons??? I can't even imagine....

Good luck with the city water department - hopefully you can find someone to speak with that has some common sense.

I have a similar situation in Tempe. I just received a water bill saying that we used 110,000 gallons last month. This is insane. We have no leaks inside the house and their isn't any swamp outside. Our normal consumption is around 8,000 gallons per month. I called the City of Tempe and they said the meter is correct. The problem is that our consumption has been the same month by month.

[Az_Mitch]

Have you gone out and read your meter to make sure they read it correctly? There is also a leak indicator on your meter. If you make sure you aren't using any water in your house or yard, look at your meter and it should show no water flowing through it. Do you have an irrigation system? Hare you turned it on and checked your yard? You can have an underground leak that wastes a ton of water and you won't know it until you specifically look for it. Walk around your yard and look for wet spots on the ground. Do you have a pool? Have you turned off the automatic pool filler to see if you have a leak somewhere?

That is a ton of water lost somewhere if the reading is accurate. Start with the meter and work your way around from there.

[Voebe]

The city water department may be able to help you figure out if you have a leak. Mine was very helpful.

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by observer53

Go look at your meter when you are SURE there are no taps on/dishwasher running, toilets flushing, etc. There should be a little triangular-shaped dial that is a leak indicator. If it is rotating, you have a leak somewhere. Unfortunately, I have way too much experience with that thing. If you have a sprinkler system, that is a likely culprit. If the dial is turning, shut off the main valve to the sprinkler system. If the dial stops turning, you know where the leak is.

Excellent advice. I do this test periodically also.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Az_Mitch

Have you gone out and read your meter to make sure they read it correctly? There is also a leak indicator on your meter. If you make sure you aren't using any water in your house or yard, look at your meter and it should show no water flowing through it. Do you have an irrigation system? Hare you turned it on and checked your yard? You can have an underground leak that wastes a ton of water and you won't know it until you specifically look for it. Walk around your yard and look for wet spots on the ground. Do you have a pool? Have you turned off the automatic pool filler to see if you have a leak somewhere?

That is a ton of water lost somewhere if the reading is accurate. Start with the meter and work your way around from there.

Goodyear uses electronically read meters and the valve box is locked. You have to get them to open it for you or use a screwdriver and bust the key tab off. You can also buy a tool at HD for opening them. The meter has an analog disply too so you can verify the numbers.

I used about 25K gallons one month in the middle of winter when my sissoo busted the line leading to the pool auto fill. I never saw a thing on the surface.

[MalteseJane]

110,000 gallons a month, that's insane. That cannot be correct. We have a big yard and a lot of plants and we used 25,000 gallons in the last 2 months.

[FloppyRunner]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Goodyear uses electronically read meters and the valve box is locked. You have to get them to open it for you or use a screwdriver and bust the key tab off. You can also buy a tool at HD for opening them. The meter has an analog disply too so you can verify the numbers.

I used about 25K gallons one month in the middle of winter when my sissoo busted the line leading to the pool auto fill. I never saw a thing on the surface.

How'd you end up finding it?

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by FloppyRunner

How'd you end up finding it?

Using the low flow indicator on the meter. I turned off outside water and isolated it to one area. From there I figured it out. Put a block under the pool fill float to jam it off. Process of elimination I guess. When I started to dig back from the pool, it was very wet right under the gravel, but you couldn't really see it in the gravel.

A few years ago, almost everyone in my subdivison had the service line to the house go out over a period of a couple months. They put in poly pipe when they built the development and it split. With some people, it bubbled up but others never saw much but noticed a drop in water pressure. It can leak under the driveway and you would never know it. That one is easy to check. Shut off your water where it goes into the house. If the leak indicator still spins that is it.

Leaks at the meter fitting are common too. You should be able to see a wet mess when you pull the cover off if that is the case.