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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
 
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This seems like the most obvious solution. Even if there isn't a leaky faucet, replacing the flaps at least every other year is a simple maintenance task that will invariably save money long term. They cost ~$6 each, so how much money could this be??
Posted on: 2016/3/10 18:26
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Newbie
 
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Don't even need the microphone, thanks!!!!
Posted on: 2016/3/10 16:50
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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Why not just pay a plumber or handyman to replace the flaps on all the toilets in the building. It'll be cheaper than the next bill and will not create hostilities since it won't point fingers.
I don't understand the need for microphones and going straight to installing meters for what is a simple problem. Do you have a Facebook Group or email list used to communicate to owners?
Posted on: 2016/3/10 16:50
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Newbie
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Based on what you all said it sounds like a leaky toilet. We had asked people to check a year back and everyone reported it to be fine. SO.....again based on your suggestions, we are going to use a microphone to 'listen' for water flowing through the pipes down in the basement, and determine which unit is at fault. If that fails, it would be worth it to have meters put on each unit, since this leak costs us about $7,000 a year, and then split accordingly. I'll keep you guys posted! Thanks
Posted on: 2016/3/10 16:35
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
Joined:
2012/9/18 3:58 Last Login : 2021/9/23 15:07 From Between Thought and Expression
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907
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Quote:
Interesting that you assumed that usage remained the same and rates increased 5x. The "town" doesn't have answers because water is handled by Suez -http://www.mysuezwater.com/jersey-city-mua/standard-home If you contact the MUA http://www.jcmua.com/ they will likely refer you back to Suez It could be a faulty meter, but unlikely. Good luck getting the other units to cooperate so the problem can be solved. If one of the condo owners is at fault - someone that let their toilet run or whatever, how do you intend to handle that?
Posted on: 2016/3/10 15:47
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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1 - look at the leak detector/lowest dial on your main meter.
2 - turn off the water to each condo unit until the dial stops. 3 - investigate that condo. http://www.slvwd.com/_MeterInfo.htm
Posted on: 2016/3/10 10:19
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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You're right. I made a stupid mistake. That's easily a running toilet then.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 18:17
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
Joined:
2010/5/26 20:32 Last Login : 2023/9/14 15:34 From Hamilton Park
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Registered Users
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214
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We do about 33/day per person in a 2 family with 4 adults and two kids. Less if you include the kids.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 18:15
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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I'd question your arithmetic. I get total usage at 1.8 gal/minute 155k/60/24/60
Posted on: 2016/3/9 17:29
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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A running toilet would be the most obvious suspect, but that's equivalent to over 100 gallons per minute for two months straight. I'd question the numbers.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 17:24
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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You got heap big waste problem. I just looked at one of my places, it's using 34 gal/day/person, and that's not counting frequent overnight stays of my tenants partners. Another is using twice that, but they have laundry in the building. This is making me wonder about their usage though.
Are you sure your billing is bimonthly? Mine is quarterly.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 17:21
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Newbie
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There is 7 units and about 12 residents.
The bill was for 155,000 gallons (2 months) =215 gallons per day per person
Posted on: 2016/3/9 16:53
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
Joined:
2012/9/18 3:58 Last Login : 2021/9/23 15:07 From Between Thought and Expression
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907
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At 7AM to 8AM on a weekday press your ear to the wall of your bathroom and listen to the sound of water moving in the pipes - either in your unit or preferably in the basement. When you have success, repeat in the late evening at various times. Do you still hear water moving in the pipes? If you hear that sound at all times there's the water is always running in the building. Most likely a toilet running.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 15:00
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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Most of my toilets are mostly the same brand, so I just buy a whole bunch of flaps on Amazon. I try to replace them all every 12 to 18 months. The other thing that can really boost up water usage is a change the demographics: Have a woman replace a guy and water usage goes up about 20 to 30% compared to a single guy. Add in a baby or young child and you can boost that increase to 50%.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 14:37
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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my condo building also saw a doubling in one quarter due to the toilet flaps too.... went from $300 to $450 to $600 in 6 months - we replaced two flaps and it was back to $300 the next bill and has been for a year now $6 fix that takes literally 2 minutes (and often times since the toilets are all installed at the same time many will go around the same time so its not unusual to have to replace all of them)
Posted on: 2016/3/9 14:16
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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1. Did the condo get hit with estimated bills previously, then only getting an actual bill now? (the previous quarter estimates were too low)
2. Do you have a condo wide preventative maintenance program that involved replacing the flappers on toilets on a regular basis? #2 was an issue for me in the past. My normal bill of about $300 per quarter hit $1,200. Turns out my tenants in one apartment (2 bath) used those chlorinated tabs that go in the top tanks. The chlorine wrecked the flappers causing leak by. The toilets were filling 24/7 for 4 months.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 13:42
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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Quote:
As asked, how many units and residents?
Posted on: 2016/3/9 2:25
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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Another better idea - calculate how much water you're using per person in the building. In my condo (16 units) we use approximately 70 gals/person/day. I think this is a little on the high side but it's been fairly consistent over several years.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 2:13
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
Joined:
2006/11/13 18:42 Last Login : 2022/2/28 7:31 From 280 Grove Street
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4192
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Quote:
This could be due to some of your apartments in the complex having 6-10 adults living in them (you can squeeze 3 bunk-beds in the master bedroom and 2 in a standard room of a 2 bedroom apartment) - Many apartments have bunk-beds stacked in them and unfortunately how the water bills are calculated is via a single meter divided by how many apartments there are in the complex, thus many would be subsidizing the cost of these overcrowded apartments. I seen in DTJC lounge rooms with 5 bunk-beds and the smallest bedroom converted in the lounge to maximise profits for the owner or the person who's sole name is on the lease!
Posted on: 2016/3/9 1:42
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My humor is for the silent blue collar majority - If my posts offend, slander or you deem inappropriate and seek deletion, contact the webmaster for jurisdiction.
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Re: Water Bills up 500%
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Home away from home
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I've got a better idea. I'll tell you what's wrong. At least one unit has a leak. and / or UW/Suez put in a new meter, which is more accurate. Check your bills, I am certain that your cost per unit did not quadruple, but your usage did.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 0:58
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Water Bills up 500%
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Newbie
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My condo buildings bi-monthly bill has seen a rise from $400 to $2,000 last year.
Please post comparables, or share stories of cost increases, this is draining our reserve, and the town has no answers.
Posted on: 2016/3/9 0:38
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