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: