Pete C. wrote:
Bart Byers wrote:
Pete C. wrote:
lee houston wrote:
"Bart Byers" wrote in message
...
RicodJour wrote:
In my town, water meters read like odometers. The meter reader is
competent and reliable. The retired couple across the street used about
2500 gallons per month. They were thrifty and sensible. They would not
water their lawn or even their shrubs.

One month they were billed for something like 15,000 gallons. They
couldn't account for it. They would certainly have heard that much water
running in the house, such as in a stuck toilet. It was a drought. I'd
been over there frequently and would have noticed wet ground if a hose had
been left on.

They had to pay. All bills before and after were normal. Other people in
town have had the same experience. What could cause it?
Possibly the water company was sending out estimated usage bills
which were low and then finally got around to actually reading
the meters??

lee
More likely they misread the meter. Had that happen several times on
electric meters where they would misread an upper digit. Had to call in
corrected readings. Even if I didn't call in corrected readings it would
be corrected at the next proper reading since it's a continuous count,
not a monthly reset. The bills after that 15,000 gallons were likely not
"normal", but rather "minimum" charges that showed little or no water
use, just the base charge.

In my case anything from 2,000 gal down is the base charge. I did once
blow a 3/4" fitting past the meter and it dumped about 12,000 gal before
I found and fixed it. The lawn was nice and green for a while in the
area sloping downhill from the meter pit.

Pete C.
Once a month the reader can be seen walking down the street and writing
the reading from each reader. A reading approximately 12,000 gallons
high would mean more than one digit was misread. As soon as I heard
about the high reading, I checked the meter. The usage since that
reading was consistent with historic usage.

Usage based on the quantity listed on the bill, or the meter readings?
Do the actual reported meter readings before during and after the
mystery bill "add up"? If all readings subsequent to the mystery one
show the 12,000 gal from the jump then either the water went through the
meter to somewhere, the meter had a failure or the meter was changed.

Anything like a water softener that could have a back flush valve get
temporarily stuck and dump a lot of water unnoticed? Over 30 days 12,000
gal could be as little as .27 gallons per minute. Over a 7 day period
it's like 1.2 gpm so a back flush valve stuck on a weekly cycle and
freeing the next cycle could pretty easily dump that much.

Pete C.

The meter readings I made after the high bill were consistent with the
reading on the bill and convinced me there was no continuing leak. I
wasn't shown old bills, but they said their monthly usage had always
been consistent.

They had no water softener. Their heating system used air. Indoors
they had a washing machine, a kitchen sink, and one bathroom. It's a
small, quiet house. They would have noticed running water.

The soil under the house was dry. Outside they had two taps with 1/2"
vinyl hoses for rinsing. I think I would have noticed a wet area or
lush grass if 12,000 gallons had run from a hose.

Several months earlier, the town had hired a contractor to move the
meter from the street side of the sidewalk to the yard side. I suppose
the meter reader could have supplied false readings for several months
so the shocking bill would not be associated with a meter change.

This town has about 200 voters. The bill comes early in the month. At
noon on the 25th a $65 penalty is due. The bill and penalty must be
paid in cash even if the resident has paid for 30 years without bouncing
a check. The meter reader pulls meters on unpaid accounts at noon so
people will pay immediately. With cash required and a noon deadline,
it's ideal for skimming; to determine how much cash was collected, an
auditor would have to know exactly what time each account was paid.

A neighbor didn't realize his bill was unpaid until he saw his meter
being pulled. The town clerk said they had neglected to send him a
bill, but because he was ten minutes late, he was still responsible to
pay the bill and the penalty in cash. Another time, the reader came to
his door at noon on Christmas Eve. He said they were pulling meters a
day before the deadline because it was Christmas, but my neighbor could
avoid the hassle if he paid the reader the bill and penalty in cash on
the spot.

I think officials have been robbing water customers for many years, but
I don't understand how they could pocket the money if they replaced a
meter to overbill somebody who paid by check.