Water Bill creeping up for the last 2 months

Hi everyone
Our water bill has been suddenly very high over the last 2 billing cycles. No increase in usage and no running toilets etc. We called DEP and they sent over an inspector who found nothing wrong even with the meter. The house next door has been having ongoing construction. Could it be possible we are paying for the water next door. Any advice who to call next a plumber?
Thank you!

Guest User | 6 years ago

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Lurker | 6 years ago

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A single seeping toilet, where they gently hiss, can drain dozens to hundreds of extra gallons per day, and thousands per month. when we bought our place, the house had been emptied with a leaking toilet and sink for a month or so, and the bill was like 8-900!

Putnamdenizen | 6 years ago

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For me (this summer) it was an old toilet that never really flushed so tenants kept flushing it again and again. I replaced the toilet and voila! I got rid of the tenants as well, but that is another story…

BKALLDAY | 6 years ago

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Is your building owner occupied? If not, you may need to inspect the apartment(s) to make sure none of the tenants have added a washing machine or dishwasher. That could be one reason for the spike. Good luck.

Guest User | 6 years ago

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Thank you to everyone lots of good advice!

stevecym | 6 years ago

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so this is what building geeks do on rainy days. we listen to water pipes.

i know some of you do not appreciate my stories but others do as they tell me so. so here i go:

years ago, i was working for a building and we had a shared sewer main with another building. a certain law enforcement agency approached us about using the sewer main to listen in on certain conversations taking place in the building next door. we told them no we did not want to be involved (this could have been dangerous to us). but we shut the conversation down so fast that i never got to learn how they were going to do that and i thought they were going to put a bug or wire into the sewer pipe and get it near the subject party. turns out it is not necessary; i just put a radio in my upstairs bathroom and put my listening device to the sewer main in the basement and i could hear the radio through the device. i could make out the conversation. this all with a 1970’s listening device. i cannot imagine what modern stuff can do. and through the poo pipe?

stevecym | 6 years ago

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i never used this device to listen to pipes before, but just did. i ran the faucet in the basement on low and went to the main; it was so sensitive that not only was it picking up the running water through the pips, but also the sound of it landing in the sink. so i turned that faucet off and turned the kitchen faucet on low and went back to the basement. again, not only did i hear the running water, but i could hear the sound of the water dripping in the sink as the pipes carried it back to me. this was a little drip i allowed and it was loud. so next i turned if off and listened again and all was quiet.

the device i have is made by a company called Steelman. it is older. i would lay money the amazon device is better and easier to use as that is they way these things have gone. mine is from the ’70’s.

stevecym | 6 years ago

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for $50 you can by an electric stethoscope on amazon and apply it to the pipe to hear if any water is running. i have one of these here, an older commercial unit used to listen to the insides of engines and a number of years back, our neighbor suspected someone had a water leak as there was a wet spot in the road. he took this device and listened to all of our water mains on this side of the street and was able to hear the noise and pinpoint it to his own water main.

before doing this, i would turn my water off during the day and see if those contractors begin making other arrangements for water. like 5 gallon pails.

in the meantime, on this rainy day, i might get my electric stethoscope out and see if i can hear a slow running faucet via the water main into my house and i will come back on here to report.

orrsuz | 6 years ago

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Check the toilets we had a constantly running toilet cause this due to bad seal in the tank

helen40

in General Discussion 6 years ago

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If the meter is working and it shows increased usage, then someone or something is using more water. As @johnhancock suggests, check the meter when all of your fixtures are off. I bet you have a leak somewhere.

Unless the contractor next door somehow has access to a water source on the “house side” of your meter, it seems unlikely they are the culprit. I guess shared piping with the neighbor is possible, but then you should be able to trace a connection in the basement, past the meter that doesnt lead to any of your supply pipes. If its upstairs behind the walls, that seems like a giant pain to find.

Good luck

Arkady | 6 years ago

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Please follow up with what you find out.

resident2 | 6 years ago

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Do you have a hose or spigot to the front of your house? I once had a rental building where the builders next door would use my hose pipe all day! My tenants did not say anything to me, they thought they were being neighborly!
Check that there are no pipes in the basement/cellar going through the wall to next door. It is not uncommon that if there was prior common ownership in the history of the properties, utilities were often shared.
Do an inspection of all your tenants apartments, to make sure they do not have a “portable” washing machine or some other water using appliance. I once had a tenant that would regularly invite friends to play Tennis in Fort Greene Park, they would all take showers afterwords in the apartment before going out to Brunch!

JohnHancock | 6 years ago

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Look at your water meter in the basement, if the little dial isnt spinning when you’re not using any water anywhere in your house then you know . Look closely because it doesn’t spin very fast with little use