Help me read my water meter! (El Dorado Hills: 2013, house, living)

[Mig1980]

Good day. I think the house I just bought may have a water leak but I am trying to figure out if it is with the irrigation system. The house is in El Dorado Hills. I took a look at the water meter on 10/25/2013 and it read 367600, today it read 367737.

That is 137 more units but not sure if that is gallons or what that is? Is that I a huge change in water used for a house that we are not living yet and have only used a bit here and there for the past 14 days?

[VictorValdez]

It depends on the units on the meter. Usually units in red at the far right are tiny, and you can see the digits change pretty fast. But regardless of that, I'd be on the phone to your supplier immediately to verify the situation. It can be hard to avoid big bills once the water is already gone.....

[Hemlock140]

That's 137 cubic feet, they bill in hundreds of cubic feet (CCF) so you would be charged for 1.37 CCF so far. That translates to 1,025 gallons, or about 73 gallons a day. That's far less than average for even 1 person living there, but for a place that's vacant, it sounds like a minor leak. Most likely a toilet valve proble, running into the overflow, or the flapper not sealing so it keeps running low in the tank and refilling. With all of the faucets off, watch the sweep hand or small red triangle on the meter(most makes have one or the other, tenths of a cubic foot) for 30 minutes and see if it moves. You can mark it's position by laying a paper clip over it. If it moves and you have not turned on anything, there is a leak of some sort.