H2O = $

[low_delta]

Here are the quarterly water usage numbers for my property over the last two years (I don't know the unit of measurement):

16
19
17
27
38
30
25
32
35
5

Interesting, huh? It's for a duplex, both units. During this time period, one of the two tenants for one unit moved out. A little over a year ago. That should have cut water consumption a little bit. Then, during the second to last quarter, the other tenant moved out, leaving a vacant apartment. During the last quarter, Cyn moved in. And I fixed a leaky toilet.

Yes, the water consumption dropped by a factor of seven because I fixed a leaky toilet. In one quarter my water bill dropped from $209 to $53.

I had no idea it was leaking. It was a very quiet leak. So here's what I recommend to everyone who is paying a water bill: once a year, turn the water off to your toilet(s) and see if the water level drops. Watch it for several hours. If you notice any difference, there's a leak. Then fix it (or have someone else fix it).

Comments

[i.livejournal.com]

that's a lot of water!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It sure was. I've got to see what the unit of measurement is. I'm sure I was losing megagallons a month.

I'm looking forward to getting a new home and cutting down our consumption a bit more with new appliances.

[i.livejournal.com]

according to this site, a faucet that drips every second wastes 2700 gallons a year. i'm sure a leaky toilet is a lot more than a drip every second.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised if this one had been losing a gallon an hour. At least a gallon every two.

[ravenfeather.livejournal.com]

OH! Thank you! My water bill has gone from a standard 45 bucks a month to over 100 just due to add ons and raises in rates (to pay for the new water treatment plant that we were supposedly paying for with the old rate.. and have been for five years) so I need all the hints I can get to lower it. I think my daughter's toilet leaks.. I need to change the stopper in that thing.. I have a replacement, just haven't gotten around to it.

[banana.livejournal.com]

Ask Cyn why your toilet problem couldn't have happened in this country. 8~)

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

Yes, we lowly Americans bow to your porcelain god.

[roadskoller.livejournal.com]

Mike (they guy downstairs) who still pays the water bill, has always bragged about having tenents that are never there. He likes to compare water bills with other people.

[specificocean.livejournal.com]

I have a well...

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It's only five bucks for a flapper, or maybe it only needs adjustment, and you still have to buy electricity to pay for the pumping. And maintenance on the pump. I assume you don't have a holding tank? That would get expensive really quick.

[specificocean.livejournal.com]

The flapper and everything else has been replaced with Fluidmaster components...

I do have a holding tank (also replaced). THAT was the major problem...

[marswalker.livejournal.com]

The last place I rented was a leak. It didn't just have one, it was one. Both toilets, kitchen and bathroom sinks, upstairs shower all leaked. Sometimes just a dribble (each), sometimes much worse. After harassing the landlord for months, he came out to check it. One of his comments was "you didn't tell me it was THIS bad." (I had, but he was usually asleep when i left for work and drunk when i got home.)

One of my friends has a big ranch up north. The main house has something like an 8,000 gallon tank. One of the sinks was left at a dribble for a couple of weeks one summer (not a continuous flow, just about a drip every second or so). It took something like 3 weeks to empty out the water tank, and being summer the spring was down to a trickle - the tank didn't get full to overflow until well after the first rain, several months later.