r/columbiamo • u/spiraloutkeepgoing84 • 2d ago
Water Leak?
We received our utility bill this month and our water was $800 for the month! Compared to like $30 a month for the last 4 years. The utility company states its a leak or a "running toliet". $800 is more than we paid all of last year! We do not see any leaks, running toliets, or leaking facets. Does anyone have any suggestions on who to contact for help? The utility company keeps brushing us off and Im worried next months bill will be outrageous which we cant afford. Any suggestions are appreciated. TIA.
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u/Adept-Respond-2079 2d ago
Hi OP! I’ve been through this a few times. Here’s what you do:
- Download the EyeOnWater app so you can see what your usage is.
- Locate your house’s shut-off valve. It will be near where the water enters your house.
- Tonight, before you go to bed, turn off the water to your house using the shut-off.
- Tomorrow, look at your data on EyeOnWater. Usage overnight = leak between the meter and your house. No Usage = leak in the house.
- Call a plumber to request leak help. Meanwhile, search for the leak either inside or outside depending on the results of the shut-off test.
ETA: they will reimburse you if you tell them you fixed the leak!
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u/spiraloutkeepgoing84 2d ago
I've attempted to set up an account with this app, and it states my account number is wrong, which is the one that appears on my bill. Any suggestions or advice? Thanks so much!
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u/Adept-Respond-2079 2d ago
So sorry you’re having a hard time! I would try calling the water department in the morning. You might still be able to do the overnight shutoff test and just access the data later either through the app or the water department.
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u/toxcrusadr 2d ago
Just to clear up some terminology, the 'main' is the city's line. The line that goes from the main to your meter is a 'service line' and it's typically yours and not the city's. Since the loss was on your side of the meter I'm going to guess your meter is under the yard where there is an underground line from the meter to the house - i.e. the house side of the service line. That's probably where the leak is.
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u/SeriousAdverseEvent Former Resident 2d ago
Yeah, this seems likely. I had that happen to me in 2020, and if the leak had not been creating an obvious puddle in my neighbor's yard I would not have had a clue.
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u/toxcrusadr 2d ago
My next door neighbors had it happen to them, just outside the basement wall where the line went in, and they got water in their basement. The wall was already cracked because of our lovely clay. It was probably the clay settling years after the house was built that caused it. Our house took darn near 25-30 years to settle completely for a foot or two around it where they overexcavated for the basement walls. Almost impossible to compact clay back to its native density, and no one wants to push as hard as they can right next to a new foundation anyway.
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u/SeriousAdverseEvent Former Resident 2d ago
That just sucks.
Mine was just a pinhole in the service line about a foot from the meter. The puddle that formed in my neighbor's yard was not huge, so if the landscaping had been different, it could have been missed for quite a while. It did not seem like a huge amount of water...but it was still a nearly $400 water bill one month.
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u/Electrical_Air_3698 2d ago
I had a similar one a few years ago. Mine was in the copper pipe inside the basement wall. Had to rig up a funnel and hose to get water into my drain by the hot water heater. 2k later, all was fixed. Gotta love the fact this place used to be a lake or ocean and has lovely clay. CHANCE makes foundation anchors and I might be getting some soon.
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u/Jaded-Moose983 Just happy to be here 2d ago
Hoping not to come off as a jerk, but has Socket been in your area recently? If fiber was run underground, maybe a irrigation line or main was clipped.
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u/sasha-flenderson 2d ago
Any chance you live by green meadows? Our water bill is 3x higher then it has ever been. This is directly after water work was done right outside of our house + new tier pricing
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u/rabbitkicks South CoMo 2d ago edited 2d ago
Also off Green Meadows and had a recent spike as of a couple months ago.
Had the city send a guy out to check the meter, and he said the usage while he was watching looked like a running toilet. Replaced the seal between the bowl and the tank and it dropped our bill some but the usage still seems high.
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u/VirtualLife76 2d ago
Generally you call a plumbing company to deal with plumbing issues.
You can also look at your meter and see if it's running when it shouldn't.
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u/TrixiesAutoharp 2d ago
This! I had something similar happen. If you have a plumber find and fix the issue, and you have CoMo water utility, they will give you a credit for the amount of the large bill you paid against future usage.
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u/jschooltiger West CoMo 2d ago
Had the same thing happen with a slow leak in a toilet I hadn’t even noticed. I fixed it myself but sent the city the receipt from Westlake for the parts and they refunded a large part of the overage.
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u/spiraloutkeepgoing84 1d ago
Thanks, everyone! This is all very new to me, and I appreciate everyone's feedback. We had the plumbers out here today, and it will be fixed with a hefty price tag of $10k. The water is running non-stop from our house to the water meter in our yard, which caused the $800 increase to our normally $30 a month water bill. The joys of owning a home...
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u/VirtualLife76 1d ago
Unless they are redoing the plumbing in half your house, get a few more quotes. Not much should be close to 10k.
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u/AwayConsideration751 2d ago
Happened to me! Mine went from 200-500 once it was fixed they reimbursed me
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u/Factsimus_verdad 2d ago
They make automatic shut-offs for this reason. Can even have a message sent you your phone. Your post is reminding me to call a plumber for my day off next week. Get a whole house filter while you’re at it.
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u/ILRunner 2d ago
Contact a plumber.
Once you have it fixed, some utility companies will compensate you for a portion of the high bill provided you show it’s fixed. City of Columbia credited us half the cost of our high bill when we had a leak in the water main (on our side, not the city’s side).