Your Water Bill Went Up. Here Are Four Places to Check
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Your water bill just came in higher than last month. You check the house. The ceilings are dry, the cabinets under the sinks show no sign of leaking and the shower pressure seems normal.
Is the water department overcharging you, or is something wrong that you can't see? Despite your diligence, an undetected leak can continue to run through your meter. And sometimes the bill is the only clue you get.
Getting to the bottom of a bigger bill
If your habits haven't changed and you’ve checked the obvious places, the extra water is leaking from somewhere else. Winter is the best time of year to do a comparison since the hose and sprinklers are off. The EPA recommends reviewing your water use each winter to check for leaks. Its WaterSense program warns that a family of four using more than 12,000 gallons in a winter month probably has a serious leak.
And the waste adds up. Household leaks can account for nearly 10,000 gallons of wasted water a year, according to Michigan EGLE. The EPA says fixing them can save households nearly 10 percent on water and sewer bills.
Checking the water meter to determine if you have a leak
If you suspect a leak, you don't have to wait for the next bill to settle the question. Start by finding your water meter. Michigan winters are hard on exposed pipes, so very few homes here keep the meter outside.
Look in the basement first. No basement? Homes built on a crawl space or a concrete slab may keep the meter in a utility or laundry room, or inside the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
Once you find it, use these three steps to check for a leak:
1. Do your best to turn off everything in the house that uses water.
Faucets, toilets, the dishwasher, and the washing machine all stay off.
2. Write down the reading.
Note every number on the dial or display.
3. Wait two hours and read it again.
If the meter changed at all, you probably have a leak, according to Michigan EGLE.
If the reading holds steady, nothing leaked while you waited. Run the toilet check below anyway, since some leaks come and go. If everything there checks out as well, call your water department and ask them to review the bill.
If your meter moved while the water was off, then it's likely water is leaking somewhere. The next four checks can help you identify where.
Four individual checks to identify the culprit
These four checks cover the most common causes and none of them requires a wrench to check.
Check #1: Test every toilet.
Michigan EGLE names a worn toilet flapper as a common household leak. Put a drop of food coloring in the tank and wait 10 minutes. Color in the bowl indicates a leak.
Check #2: Inspect your faucets and fittings.
Double check for water on the outside of faucet gaskets and pipe fittings. Our article on hidden leaks walks through what to look for under the sink.
Check #3: Look at your water softener.
A softener that never finishes cycling keeps flushing water down the drain, and the meter counts every gallon.
Check #4: Walk out to your hose bibbs.
Check the hose connection at the spigot for leaks. Carefully inspect where the pipe enters the house. A hard freeze can crack the pipe inside that wall, and water runs into your framing every time you use the hose. If it sounds like water is running even when the spigot is off, there may be a leak in the wall.
Found something? Consider stopping there. Avoid taking connections apart yourself. A licensed plumber can tell you quickly whether the leak is a simple fix or more complex pipe replacement.
What if the meter moves and you can't find the leak?
Water lines run under concrete slabs, behind finished walls, and underground outside the house. If the meter changes while everything is turned off and your checks don’t resolve the source, the leak is likely somewhere you can't reach.
Fixing leaks is our expertise. Suburban Plumbing Services handles leak detection and repair, slab leak detection, and outdoor water line repair and replacement. If aging pipe keeps springing new leaks, whole-home repiping fixes the problem at the source. And when a smaller fix will do, that's the one you get.
But, who pays for a leak outside the house? The truth is, it depends on your water provider. Detroit's water department, for example, maintains the line up to the curb stop, the shutoff valve near the sidewalk. Everything from there into the house is the property owner's responsibility, and a repair requires a licensed plumber and a city permit. Call your water department to confirm where your responsibility starts.
Shirley Minnick's kitchen faucet needed a new part in the mechanism that turns the water on and off. She assumed she'd have to buy a new faucet, and she liked the one she had. We replaced the part instead. "It was a lot less expensive than buying a new one," she said. "I got exactly what I wanted."
That's how Suburban Plumbing Services has worked since 2004. We're a local, family-owned and operated business led by a master plumber. Our company is BBB A+ Accredited. You can trust us to explain the problem and give you an exact price before we start.
When should you call a master plumber?
Call Suburban Plumbing Services if you notice any of these:
Your meter moves while every fixture is off
Food coloring from the tank shows up in the toilet bowl
A winter month tops 12,000 gallons for a family of four
Your water softener never seems to stop cycling
Take action
Did your water bill jump with no explanation? Schedule leak detection and repair on our website or call 586-215-1721. We'll respond the same day, find the leak, and give you an exact price on any necessary repairs before starting. No guessing. No surprises.
Interested in having a licensed plumber check your whole home annually? Become a Peace of Mind Protection Plan member for just $180 a year. We’ll do a whole-home inspection with a written report, so small leaks get caught early.