Typical Water Bill in N Admiral?

[seaspades]

Moved into N Admiral in Oct – thanks for the help so far!

My first water bill was really high, but blamed it on summer rates, water irrigation and a couple of sprinkler system leaks. Latest bill for November didn’t really change much – 33 CCF, for a whopping $450 including the proportional sewer.

We have a typical SFR here – a bungalow type house, only 2 adults living in it, not a very major drain. Is this just the price to live in paradise or do I have a leak? My last property in WI, had a 30k gallon pool, half an acre of landscaped land, and if never broke $100/mo.

Will check with utilities on Monday; tried to find an on-line source to do statistical review of the property and could not find anything on the seattle.gov web site that would give me the history. Any help/comparisons appreciated.

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[JanS]

does your bill include any comparisons to last year at the same time?

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[jissy]

seaspades: Look carefully at the bill, it might be one of the “estimated” ones (my last electric bill was) which means it should all come out in the wash with the next one b/c they always estimate too high.

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[seaspades]

no comparisons to last year on the bill. I assume that’s because it’s a new account.

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[CeeBee]

Holy moly! I consumed 6 CCF this year, 5 CCF last year for this same billing period. Total water was 61.03. But I’m one adult, with not much yard. So that’s one comparison for you, but I do also think they have you on some estimated program until you have been there for some time. Was that the answer?

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[seaspades]

Unfortunately I see no asterisks on my meter reads for the bills, so I assume this is accurate. And when I start to do the math about consuming 440 gallons of water per day, it just boggles the mind.

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[kgdlg]

Seaspades check for a leak. SPU should be able to help with this. But please know we have the most expensive water and sewer in the country here (and some of cheapest electricity) due to a variety of reasons. If you are new construction you are probably also paying sewer capacity charges.

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[seaspades]

Thanks kgdlg;will be contacting SPU when they open in the morning. Understand the water’s not cheap, but the consumption is just defying logic unless my dogs are flushing the toilets while I’m out. Built in 1928, so was actually thinking other issues.

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[amtrakster]

It is likely something is leaking. Go to the water meter (usually out front), lift the metal lid. Write down the reading after ENSURING all water is turned off in the house, and all outside faucets are also turned off. Wait half an hour.

Re-check the reading at the meter. If it increases, there is a leak. If you are relatively certain the toilets are NOT running and the faucets are not dripping inside and outside, there very well may be a leak between the meter and your house.

Hope this helps. It is easy to do, and takes less than 45 minutes. The drawback is spider webs in the water meter out front…

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[seaspades]

Thx amtrakster – am suspecting this is the issue and know that I will find it is leaking between the house shut-off valve and the meter. Problem is there’s an irrigation system there as well.

Any recommendations on competent people to detect and fix the leak?

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[amtrakster]

Yes. My house also has an irrigation system. It has a shut-off valve. Your irrigation system must be controlled by a control panel. Where do those wires lead? I imagine you have a shut-off valve either under the house (crawl space, basement) or just outside the foundation. If you cannot find it, call Joe the Plumber (seriously) to locate it for you. I do NOT recommend calling SW Plumbing or Beacon…There are previous threads on this blog about REPUTABLE plumbers. Joe is one, I believe O’Neill is another.

Good luck…this is fixable, for certain…

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[seaspades]

So no “cracks” about Joe the Plumber? Sorry – couldn’t resist. Will search the threads elsewhere. What’s the read on Fox? They apparently did previous work.

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[Diana]

Yikes! You’ve got a leak. Amtrakster’s advice is good. If you need a plumber I recommend O’Neill. If you need irrigation assistance I recommend Mist’R Rain. As an example: North Admiral built in 1924,1 person, energy efficient everything, no irrigation (drought tolerant garden) usage is <80 gallons per day. These old houses are notorious for leaks between the meter and the house. Been there…done that.

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[squareeyes]

In case your search doesn’t come up with previous plumbing recommendations please know that Joe the Plumber Seattle has a ton of rave reviews here. Website: http://joetheplumberseattle.com/ He’s a one-man outfit and just the nicest guy. I’ve used both Joe and O’Neill and wouldn’t use anyone else after the quality service I’ve received from both.

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