Big jump in water bill?

**drala** · 11-21-2012, 05:06 PM

Did anyone else in the neighborhood notice a dramatic increase in water bill this month? I'm not talking about the stormwater charge, but rather the usage (ccf). I called the water company and they said last 2 months were "estimated." They offered to transfer me to billing dispute, but I was on hold forever and gave up for today. There is no evidence of a leak but I'm afraid it just might not be visible, so wondering if others had a similar strange bill ?

**Titus** · 11-22-2012, 12:12 PM

This has happened to me a couple of times and each time there was a leak or a toilet running that was undetected.

**the mule** · 11-22-2012, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by drala

Did anyone else in the neighborhood notice a dramatic increase in water bill this month? I'm not talking about the stormwater charge, but rather the usage (ccf). I called the water company and they said last 2 months were "estimated." They offered to transfer me to billing dispute, but I was on hold forever and gave up for today. There is no evidence of a leak but I'm afraid it just might not be visible, so wondering if others had a similar strange bill ?

If it's estimated, that usually means they had a problem getting a reading from your meter for whatever reason. Of course their estimates always err on the high side. It could be the battery in your meter has died or some other malfunction, but you'll have to badger them to fix it, get an actual reading, and then they'll credit you based on the actual usage amount on the meter.

**drala** · 11-23-2012, 02:34 PM

Thanks for the thoughts about what it could be. I was on hold for 45" but finally did get to speak to someone at the water department today. It looks like I was double-billed for an overlapping period of time. The woman I finally spoke with was helpful, but I would encourage anyone with similar issue with water bill to be persistent.

**yardbird** · 11-24-2012, 07:55 AM

I found this post and the responses helpful and enlightening. At first I thought I had forgotten to pay last month's bill it was so high. Now I will investigate the possibilities offered. Thanks!