I took this photo of our pool. I got in and kicked because it was too hot for even a short walk!
I had a shocker the other day. The utility bill came in and it was higher then normal. I mean really high. Our utilities include trash and water. It’s normally under $150 per month. This bill was close to $800!
I called the city and asked if they could access my water meter from their office. This was something we had in Palm Springs. The nice clerk said, “No, Smart Water hasn’t reached your area yet. But we did send out a meter reader because your bill was so high. He said your meter wasn’t moving.”
“We had a shower that sprayed out the handle when it was turned on,” I said. “But we hired a plumber and got that fixed. What date did the meter reader come out?”
We figured out that the meter reader came out a day after the plumber fixed the leak.
The nice lady told me to send in the plumber’s bill and proof of payment. We would get a $550 credit to our bill. But she warned me it was a once every five years credit. Did I want to use it?
“YES!”
I talked to a few friends in the neighborhood and others had extraordinary bills, too. Not quite as high as ours, but high. I gave one friend the email and phone number to call and get her credit. She wasn’t offered one, because your bill has to be four times the average bill. Hers was just under that.
Anyway, I learned about FLUME, a device that connects to your water meter and has an app on your phone. It lets you know if you have a leak or if something unusual is happening with your water.
It’s a “smart” app which means it gets better with the more data it collects. The first two days I was ready to throw my phone in the pool with all the leak alerts I was getting. I was freaking out that we had leaks. But it was turning on the dishwasher or taking a shower that would spark an alert. Now it gets it and I’m not getting alerts.
I am nervous to see the next month’s bill. Maybe there’s something we’re missing like a leak in the pool (which has autofill when the water gets low). Or our gardener is over watering our yard. Only time will tell.
When have you had unusual bills? Were you able to solve the issue?
All this talk about water reminded me of this song from when I was a child:
I might have been on the floor in tears if my bill came in that high! Wow!
The bill comes in by email. It was shocking!
Interesting. That’s a helluva increase on your bill. Not that it’s a good thing this happened to you, but nice to know about how you handled it. I’d take the 5-year credit opportunity too. It’s always something, isn’t it?
It is always something. I was so thankful for how the woman in the city office informed me of the ability to get a credit and that they had already sent a meter reader out.
Yowza! That’s a crazy increase.
Living in a desert state like you do, I think everyone should have a leak meter app.
Arizona is really good about water management. I think that’s why they give a credit if you get an issue corrected.
Leak fixed, credit applied, new app. Sounds like you’re ready for the next thing.
Please tell me there isn’t a next thing!
Our electricity bills are high in summer because of the air conditioning.
We have solar, so the bills aren’t as bad as at our Palm Springs home. Our bills monthly for ac were more than a thousand dollars a month! It was a house built in the 1930s with single paned windows. This house is 20 years old and heavily insulated.
Though we also have solar but our government has decided that the consumer should still pay a higher price for the electricity that we produce ourselves 🥲
That’s terrible. We sell our solar back to the electric company, but it’s at a fraction of what they charge us for what we use.
It’s the same here.
What a shame.
Very much so.
Relatable! And although I’m sorry for the crazy high bill, look at you and your resourcefulness. “There’s an app for that”, LOL. There’s an app for everything, right?
When you wrote:
“The first two days I was ready to throw my phone in the pool with all the leak alerts I was getting” I really did laugh out loud. I feel that way about a couple of alarm-y things in our house. Too many bells and whistles. But…having said all of that…hope you figure it out and please don’t toss your phone into the pool. xo! 😜
The constant alarms going off on my phone were driving me crazy. The gardener came yesterday and has dialed back the watering schedule. We should be okay moving forward!
Yay! Glad to hear it. Sending hugs! 🥰
What a relief! I’m still curious to see the next bill!
Or maybe that crocodile is splashing water out of your pool. 🙂 Glad you were able to get that water bill taken care of. What a shock!
Too funny! I was so thankful the clerk at the city was so helpful and gave me all the information about getting a credit. It also gave me an article to put in my HOA newsletter!
I’m with Wynne, I blame the crocodile. Our electricity bill was high this month too, but fortunately not as much as yours. Fingers crossed it goes back to normal. Ha, ha.
That darn croc! Our summer electric bill in Palm Springs was $1200 a month! I would tell my husband it was cheaper to rent a house at the beach! My friends in the neighborhood that had crazy bills for water too, think there is something wrong with the city’s billing system.
Yes, sounds fishy. Ha, ha.
😉
Had a similar issue many years ago. Our meter stopped working so the city billed us based on our average water usage and sent someone to replace our meter. Our next bill was sky high. Much much more than a leak. Come to find out when the next billing cycle came around the compared the reading on the new meter to the old one. Which was way way off. It took a conversation with a department supervisor to get it adjusted.
That is awful! I’m glad they worked with you. I heard from our HOA president that our tiny community park had a broken meter. The city replaced the meter with a 1 inch one, but the pipes were 1 1/2 inches! The meter was spinning with all that water going through. They ended up with a $37,000 adjustment from the city.
Wow!
That bill would have shocked me as well—yikes. I’m glad you can get part of it taken care of, and hopefully once your app is acclimated to your home, you’ll figure out what is happening. Can you turn off the autofill on the pool for a few days? We have that feature at our new place.
We have the water app at our place in GA, which is great since we’re not there often. Once, while it town I got a notice that we had a leak and sure enough, one of the landscapers had left a hose running—that could have been costly. Good luck!
Wow! How lucky you were to find the hose turned on! I asked the pool man to check the auto fill. Also the gardener showed up while we were investigating possible causes. He said he’d turn watering off to every other day. I’ll watch Flume and see what happens. I’m so curious about what our next water bill will be.
We’re fortunate not to have a water/sewer/trash bill. Glad you were able to get a credit, because my eyes would pop out at a charge like that for a month of service!
We were approved for a $550 credit because the bill was four times more than our average. Also, we found a leak and hired a plumber. Our neighbors who found a leak and got if fixed didn’t get an adjustment because their bill was 3.75 x higher than their average.
We had a really high water bill once but found that it was because of a meter reader error so we had it adjusted no problem. I passed on the Flume info to my husband, thanks! Best to discover any leak early.
All my friends and neighbors with high bills also think it’s an error by the city of Scottsdale. We all installed Flume. I’m happy with the adjustment. I had a bigger bill in Palm Springs which was due to a broken valve in underground in the backyard. The city gave me time to pay it off, but no adjustments.
WOW!! Can’t imagine our water bill being that high! My heart would have jumped out of my chest! So glad you got it worked out! But yes, understand your worry about the next bill. I sure hope its OK and more back to normal!
The app that was supposed to make it all better made it worse for two days. I had my husband on his hands and knees on the gravel on two days staring at the meter!
UGH!!!
Pool man just came and there is no pool leak. Gardener said no landscaping leak. Hmmm.
That’s a high bill, Elizabeth, so it’s good that you’re getting a credit. Who cares about 5 years from now? 🙂 We haven’t had a high bill like yours before, but it wouldn’t wake us up too. Enjoy that pool! I’m so envious!
The pool helps with PT. Kicking is a nice way to get exercise!
Yes, swimming is good for the body!
It’s been really hot here. Our electric bill was insane
We’ve been extra hot this year too!I’m thankful to be out of California where the bills are higher.
😉