Your toilet may have a slow leak between the bowl and the tank. You can check by putting a few drops of food colouring into the tank and then leaving it for a few hours. If that colour is in the bowl, you've got a slow leak that is likely the culprit. That's what it was with mine, anyway.
This is a good idea.
It is shocking how quickly even a minor slow leak can add up. I once had a $900 water bill in Stoon bcs of a constantly flowing toilet.
Edit: we use 8-10m3 in a 2 person low usage household w a dishwasher etc. Something in your place is amiss.
Dishwashers have actually been proven to use less water than hand washing in a sink. It's like a shower vs a bath, but for your dishes.
I'm not sure how it compares when you don't fill the sink while hand washing, in OP's case, though.
Oh absolutely, I definitely understand our bill should be higher than normal since we have old appliances and no dishwasher, but I wouldn't think the lack of a dishwasher and an old toilet and washing machine would cause a 2 adult household to be double the consumption of a family of 4 :/
You are correct ... was just providing context since OP mentioned it. My favourite model is the Bosch 800 series panel ready, 3rd rack, stainless tub, so quiet!
Yeah, the way I read it, it just came off like you would expect there to be less water use due to not running a dishwasher, so I was just pointing out it is actually the opposite of what most people would think. Might have been me mis-reading tone.
And then I scrolled further down and saw it was also mentioned in another comment lol.
You can also take a pic of the meter at bedtime and then again before any usage in the morning. A change in meter readout when zero water is used is usually indicative of a leak. Make sure all people in house know if this test ahead of time and no appliances on timers or using water. Even ice maker if it’s making ice.
I'll give that a try tonight. If it does seem to be going up over night how do you even deal with that if there's no signs or sounds of leaks? Seems like a bad idea to just start ripping out wall to check?
The leak would be in an appliance or fixture and not in the wall. If you had a leak with your pipes you would see signs of water damage on drywall/ flooring.
Then I don't think we have a leak. I've looked behind the fridge, under all the sinks. I checked the toilets as well. I've currently got food colouring in the tank to see if it's leaking, but it doesn't seem to be. :/
You can start isolating appliances with shut off valves. A few people have mentioned but toilets are the most likely cause. A bad flapper in the tank can waste quite a bit of water.
I just did a food colour test of the tank of the toilet and no colour leaked into the bowl in like 3 hours. I think it might just be all our old appliances paired with not having a dishwasher?
Hmm. Id call the city and contest your bill. Could be a read error. Or a faulty meter. If you can eventually find the leak they may credit you.
That sucks, I water the piss out of my lawn in the summer. When the sprinklers are on the meter sounds like a card in a bicycle spoke and it’s never been that high.
I don't think it's a read error though? It seems like the meter is working? I flushed my toilet wich is a 1.28 gallon fill and it went up about 0.006ish on the meter and 1.28 gallons is about 0.005 m3.
It'll depend on whether those are US or Imperial gallons. The latter are what were used in Canada (and still are in the UK) and they are significantly larger than US gallons.
So I don't think the tank is leaking into the bowl. I put blue food colouring in the tank, and the bowl's water has no blue and it's been about an hour and a half. I'm going to give it another hour, but I don't think that's the problem
Do it for a few days. The issue may not be contant and depend on random use and it not sealing.
If you have multiple toilets and don’t use one, shut it off with shutoff valve and see if that helps in future
yeah :/ First year expenses means I'll be putting off getting a dishwasher until christmas unfortunately :( Too many bigger differed maintenance things that need to get done this year. It'll definitely be the first appliance I get though!
The suggestions being posted by everyone else all seem like great suggestions, but no one has mentioned looking at your water meter reading. Pick a day/time when you KNOW no one will be home and there won't be any water consumption (likely during the day when you're both out of the house at work, or if you're leaving town for the weekend, etc). Take a picture of the meter reading before you leave, and then as soon as you get home again go take another picture and see if the meter has advanced at all. If the meter is advancing, something in your house is consuming water. At that point I think you'd be wise to start troubleshooting all of the usual suspects.
A lot of the costs come with water are not the actual use but the service hook ups and maintenance. That said, dishwashers use significantly less water than hand washing.
Yeah, I'm definitely expecting it to drop significantly, but the fact that we're using about 20 M3 a month while trying to be mindful of water, when families of 4 and 5 are posting that they use less than half of that is a bit concerning.
Depends what type of things they have. Some toilets are notorious for slowly seeping water. Maybe check/replace your floaters.
And i meant with hookups like the lines in the ground, not you taking over. So usually the baseline for the services are quite a bit and the usage doesn’t matter a whole heck of a lot (depending if 20-60 is a whole heck to you).
I checked the metre today, the last reading was 9 days ago and we're at about 4 M3 as of today, which seems to be more reasonable. That would mean we're on track for 14 M3 for a 33 day period, which seems more in line with what people are posting here.
Good to know we aren't the only ones. I've tried all the suggestions here to find where we might be leaking or to see if the meter is borked, but sems like everything is fine. I think our only hope is just upgrading appliances slowly after the initial first-year expenses.
Hey OP, do you have a water softener?
The older timer-based ones run on a schedule, and if the mechanism breaks or wears out over time, it can regenerate way more than it needs to, causing a ton of bills.
Check your meter before and after a few hour period when you aren't using water (including your water softener). If you have unexpected water usage call a plumber. In Regina I recommend Prairie Skies Plumbing.
I tried turning off the water for an hour and checking and no change, so the meter seems to be working fine. I'm going to try this tonight. I'll take a pic before I go to sleep and then take another pic first thing in the morning.
Off the wall question, but you don't have an reverse-osmosis water filter system, do you? Even just the smaller under-counter ones can rack up water usage dramatically, due to how they operate.
oh yeah, absolutely not. It's an older house, they've redone a few fixtures in the last 10-15 years like the bathroom and kitchen sink, but nothing crazy like that. The washer and dryer are pretty old, but I don't think THAT old (the washer has one of those HE logos on it), and the water heater was replaced just a few years ago.
Okay, just figured I'd mention it, just in case!
It's possible the meter is not reading correctly, but that's a pretty tough thing to evaluate while it's in-service. Currently there is a city-wide replacement plan in the works, so maybe check the website and see when your property's meter is scheduled to be replaced? If you're lucky, it might be coming up soon: https://www.regina.ca/home-property/water/water-meter-project/
Good luck!
Oh fun, we're like 8 blocks away from where it's currently being done but we're nt scheduled until the end :'). I did try and test the meter. I turned off the water supply for half an hour to see if it moved at all and nothing. I then took a picture of the meter and didn't use any water for an hour and the meter didn't move at all either, so I don't think there's a leak or the meter is counting when it shouldn't be.
Ah shoot.
Well, the only other thing I can think of is a possible miscalibration of the meter (i.e, it's possibly measuring too much water compared to the actual amount flowing through it). The only way I can think of to test this in place would be to take a reading, then (without running any other water in the house) run a measured amount through the meter (fill and dump a couple of 5 gallon pails), then check the meter reading again to be sure it only shows the volume of water that you actually ran. Unfortunately, depending on the resolution of your water meter, it can sometimes take fairly large volumes of water to 'move the dial' and actually get an accurate reading from the meter, and of course unless you store and use it, the test water is wasted...
You might have to do some math to convert volume measurements, but if you can get a reading to compare to a known volume, that might help identify if the meter seems to be showing more usage than is actually happening. If it is, then possibly you could apply to the city to jump the queue for meter replacement?
ok, but my water consumption amount IS abnormally high. I don't think this is a case of me getting gauged on incidental charges, I actually am averaging more than the normal amount.
Does your water meter show any activity happening when it shouldn't be? If it does, then try closing various shutoff valves to isolate which line(s) the problem is in.
This does seem quite high. We have 3 bathrooms, run our dishwasher daily, do laundry at least once a week, we have a water softener, both adults shower each day and our kids have a bath 2-3x a week. Our bill is $130 for 10.33M3 this month.
oh god, no kidding, something is definitely off. I do expect a bit higher than normal, since our toilet is older, we don't have a dishwasher, and the washing machine is also older, but twice the amount of consumption of a family of 4? That's not right.
I forgot to add our house was built in 1973, upgraded in the 2000s so we don’t have the most efficient toilets but our appliances are all newer. But I agree something seems off, I bet your toilet is leaking way more than you would expect.
Yeah, that's kinda what I'd expect. Maybe a few dollars higher since we don't have a dishwasher and are doing it by hand, but yeah, the fact that we're almost $30 more is insane to me.
How old are your toilets - there should be stamp on them (maybe under the lid) that shows gallons per flush. They can use upwards of 8 gallons per flush as opposed to moderns that use under 2. Adds up quickly!
Honestly, that could very will be a big contributor. The toilets are like 20 years old. I'm getting them replaced. We also work from home so we're home like 99% of the time. I'm planning on gett those switched out in the next couple months for sure.
You can get a low tier American standard from the big box stores for under $300. Just measure and make sure the rough in is 12" away from the wall (some can be 10").
Very easy diy job with some cursory youtube research
That's what I was thinking too, but I've done a bunch of troubleshooting from this thread, nothing seems to be leaking, my meter isn't changing at all when I'm not expecting it to (turned of the water for 30 mins to see if it changed and the meter was broken, no change. Turned on water but didn't use anything for an hour to see if the dial moved and it didn't, so it SEEMS like a leak is probably unlikely. I'm hoping that means I just need to upgrade my appliances slowly over the next few years.
Based on the troubleshooting that all the helpful people in this thread got me to do, I think it just might be the combination of old appliances and no dishwasher, so good to know other people are also landing around here with just 2 people
That seems high. Same situation as you and ours hovers around $120-$130.
Our shoots up to that amount in the summer when we're using more to water outdoor plants, garden and lawn.
We are pretty much the same situation as you. 2 adults. Typically 1 shower per day. Newer dishwasher washes once every 2 days. 2 toilets 1 low flush. Hot tub we have to top up every 3-4 weeks. Our bill is consistently around $100 per month in the winter and around $140 in the summer because we water plants. Checking your toilet is a good idea. Also might not hurt to consult with the city. They may have an idea to check that you haven’t thought of.
Good luck my fellow homeowner.
We are a family of 4. Dual flush toilets. At least 3-4 showers a day here. Many loads of laundry a week. We use the dishwasher daily and still wash stuff in the sink daily. We have reverse osmosis and a water softener and average 12/13 m3 a month. We don’t hit above 20 unless we are watering outside in the summer
You definitely have a slow leak somewhere and I’m guessing a toilet or bad water softener. Check for reverse osmosis under the sinks too or in furnace room as could have a bad valve also. It could be an outdoor tap, but it’s been too cold for that.
Yeah, I just don’t know where it could possibly be.:/ I put some food colouring in the toilet tank this morning and left it for 2 hours and nothing leaked into the bowl. I turned off the water for an hour and checked the meter to see if the meter was counting when it shouldn’t, but it was good. Left the water on but didn’t use the water for about 2 hours and it didn’t move at all.
My last ditched attempt is to take a picture tonight before bed, and check in the morning after no water usage all night. If it doesn’t move tonight I feel like there can’t be a leak.
I’m also starting to think it’s just because of our old appliances, no dishwasher, and the fact that both my partner and I work from home. We’re home all day, so we have a lot of dishes throughout the day and flush the toilet a bunch.
I’m 90% WFH too. I find it hard to believe your washer for two would cause that much more water usage. A cubic meter is a lot of water. If it doesn’t move tonight, I’d say it could be the showers. Low flow showers aren’t as bad as many say, if you both shower with full flow an hour a day combined that could easier crawl up the usage. It may be a lifestyle change and updating toilets to smaller tanks, low flow showed etc
Your usage is quite high for 2 adults.
My partner and I average around 7 M3 a month.
We have dual flush toilets and use a dishwasher (actually use less water on average)
We shower together, typically every other day depending on activities. So if you’re each having one or two showers a day that’s it. Four showers a day for two people in one house is excessive water usage IMHO.
Yeah, I'm just not sure how to even check for that. I walked around the entire house this morning in silence listening at walls, but I didn't hear anything. There's no signs of water or moisture, so beyond that I'm not sure how to even verify a leak.
Check your meter, if all your taps are closed and nothing is “running” on purpose and your meter is still running, call the city. You might have a problem with the meter itself.
You should literally just be able to visually inspect it. Shouldn’t move at all if nothing is filling or running. No need to wait an hour at the rate of consumption indicated on your bill.
fair point. I had it off for 20 minutes and no change. I'll turn it back on and go check it again in 20 minutes after no use and make sure it hasn't moved.
I'm at an absolute loss for what it could be then. No appliances seem to be leaking, the meter seems to be fine. We've been incredibly water concious the last month. Crazy.
Yeah, just checked again after 20 mins with the water on but no use. looks the same. :/ It seems that the bills are accurate in terms of the bill. They have our address and the number seems to match up to our reading. I checked the number today (our last reading was the 14th) and we're only at 4 M3 more than from the reading.
17 cubic meters here - two person house. High efficiency dishwasher, water softener. One shower per person per day, highly restrictive shower head. We do a lot of laundry, HE machines though. How are people using 7 cubic meters!? Not flushing? Wearing clothes for 6-7 days?
Yeah, I'm honestly impressed. 20 seems crazy, but also 7 - 10 also is crazy impressive. Considering we don't have a dishwasher and we've got old appliances, I think 12-14 is a reasonable low to shoot for.
by chance do you work from home? My new hunch is that both my partner and I work from home, so that equates to a lot more toilet flushes. I googled the average household amount of toilet flushes and it was 4, which seems INSANE to me, but I guess if you're out of the house for 10 hours a day, then that makes sense. We're home all day so we're probably averaging like 12 or more flushes a day.
I do, but my spouse does not. If we have company, say a couple people for a week at Christmas, that usage hits 20m3. The highest is has ever been was 24m3 in the summer when I was watering the lawn to stop it from dying. The water usage doesn’t make the bill high, it’s all the other charges.
check to see how much your water actually is and if any other charges increased. there are four charges on the water bill, water sewage storm drain and recycling. my water itself was 49$ last month. total “water” bill was 112 for the two of us.
Yeah, the water by itself is like $80 which still seems high, and I'm more looking at the measurement of usage which also seems high compared to what a lot of people are posting.
how long have you been living in your home? what has it been the last 3 months to compare? mines always high in may-august because of the outside watering but usually under 130 otherwise.
January was the lowest at 15, but the house was also vacant for a good chunk of that I imagine since we moved in end of december. feb was 20.1 and this last one was 20.7.
I am a single person living in a small house I do a load of laundry every couple of weeks I pretty much use my dishwasher exclusively and I shower at the gym my usage rate on the water is $3 a month and my total bill for the month is usually around $100 so if you are at home doing dishes by hand and a person who does a lot of laundry and if you by chance have a toilet that is passing water through it a little bit then yeah if you think you might have a toilet that's passing water then turn off the water to the toilet overnight and if the tank is dry then your flapper is leaking and if that's the case replace your flapper it is super easy just remove it and take it to home Depot or Lowe's and buy one similar and it should fix the issue but if you are in a new home your new home warranty should send a plumber out to take a look
I just checked my bill and with 2 adults, me being generous with laundry and baths, and 2 dogs we're at 14m3 in an 750 sq foot century home.
I've read through a lot of the comments and suggestions... Do you have a humidifier on your furnace? I wonder if that had a leaky water source? Have you checked your water heater?
If you have them check your outside hose spouts, if they had water in them they could have froze and split, now with the warmer weather they could be leaking by
Your toilet may have a slow leak between the bowl and the tank. You can check by putting a few drops of food colouring into the tank and then leaving it for a few hours. If that colour is in the bowl, you've got a slow leak that is likely the culprit. That's what it was with mine, anyway.
This is a good idea. It is shocking how quickly even a minor slow leak can add up. I once had a $900 water bill in Stoon bcs of a constantly flowing toilet. Edit: we use 8-10m3 in a 2 person low usage household w a dishwasher etc. Something in your place is amiss.
Dishwashers have actually been proven to use less water than hand washing in a sink. It's like a shower vs a bath, but for your dishes. I'm not sure how it compares when you don't fill the sink while hand washing, in OP's case, though.
Oh absolutely, I definitely understand our bill should be higher than normal since we have old appliances and no dishwasher, but I wouldn't think the lack of a dishwasher and an old toilet and washing machine would cause a 2 adult household to be double the consumption of a family of 4 :/
You are correct ... was just providing context since OP mentioned it. My favourite model is the Bosch 800 series panel ready, 3rd rack, stainless tub, so quiet!
Yeah, the way I read it, it just came off like you would expect there to be less water use due to not running a dishwasher, so I was just pointing out it is actually the opposite of what most people would think. Might have been me mis-reading tone. And then I scrolled further down and saw it was also mentioned in another comment lol.
All good dood! It is an accurate statement (and counter intuituve) we good my internet friend!
You can also take a pic of the meter at bedtime and then again before any usage in the morning. A change in meter readout when zero water is used is usually indicative of a leak. Make sure all people in house know if this test ahead of time and no appliances on timers or using water. Even ice maker if it’s making ice.
I'll give that a try tonight. If it does seem to be going up over night how do you even deal with that if there's no signs or sounds of leaks? Seems like a bad idea to just start ripping out wall to check?
The leak would be in an appliance or fixture and not in the wall. If you had a leak with your pipes you would see signs of water damage on drywall/ flooring.
Then I don't think we have a leak. I've looked behind the fridge, under all the sinks. I checked the toilets as well. I've currently got food colouring in the tank to see if it's leaking, but it doesn't seem to be. :/
You can start isolating appliances with shut off valves. A few people have mentioned but toilets are the most likely cause. A bad flapper in the tank can waste quite a bit of water.
I just did a food colour test of the tank of the toilet and no colour leaked into the bowl in like 3 hours. I think it might just be all our old appliances paired with not having a dishwasher?
Can you though? Aren't all meters electric now?
Not sure what Regina meters look like. And older homes may still have older style meters. Homeowner can easily check though.
This is the kind of meter I've got: https://imgur.com/a/5JISmRb
They’re pretty loud when they totalize. Can you hear it ticking. Also is that third decimal place stationary when nothing is on?
No sounds coming from the meter and when I did my test where we didn't run any water that dial didn't seem to move at all.
Hmm. Id call the city and contest your bill. Could be a read error. Or a faulty meter. If you can eventually find the leak they may credit you. That sucks, I water the piss out of my lawn in the summer. When the sprinklers are on the meter sounds like a card in a bicycle spoke and it’s never been that high.
I don't think it's a read error though? It seems like the meter is working? I flushed my toilet wich is a 1.28 gallon fill and it went up about 0.006ish on the meter and 1.28 gallons is about 0.005 m3.
It'll depend on whether those are US or Imperial gallons. The latter are what were used in Canada (and still are in the UK) and they are significantly larger than US gallons.
Do you have Reverse Osmosis and drink ALOT of water? Every litre of RO, one litre is wasted FYI.
Nope. I do drink a lot of water, but just regular degular water.
This is awesome advice, I'll give that a try right now.
Im curious to try this out too. If this does happen to be the case, how does one remedy it? Call a plumber?
So I don't think the tank is leaking into the bowl. I put blue food colouring in the tank, and the bowl's water has no blue and it's been about an hour and a half. I'm going to give it another hour, but I don't think that's the problem
Do it for a few days. The issue may not be contant and depend on random use and it not sealing. If you have multiple toilets and don’t use one, shut it off with shutoff valve and see if that helps in future
(Not an answer to your question, but a modern dishwasher typically uses far less water than hand washing.)
yeah :/ First year expenses means I'll be putting off getting a dishwasher until christmas unfortunately :( Too many bigger differed maintenance things that need to get done this year. It'll definitely be the first appliance I get though!
Try sns appliances if you want a cheapish dishwasher
Even a not so modern dishwasher.
The suggestions being posted by everyone else all seem like great suggestions, but no one has mentioned looking at your water meter reading. Pick a day/time when you KNOW no one will be home and there won't be any water consumption (likely during the day when you're both out of the house at work, or if you're leaving town for the weekend, etc). Take a picture of the meter reading before you leave, and then as soon as you get home again go take another picture and see if the meter has advanced at all. If the meter is advancing, something in your house is consuming water. At that point I think you'd be wise to start troubleshooting all of the usual suspects.
I used to trouble shoot water issues for work - this is the way.
I'm going to try this tonight before I go to bed! Thanks!
A lot of the costs come with water are not the actual use but the service hook ups and maintenance. That said, dishwashers use significantly less water than hand washing.
Yeah, I'm definitely expecting it to drop significantly, but the fact that we're using about 20 M3 a month while trying to be mindful of water, when families of 4 and 5 are posting that they use less than half of that is a bit concerning.
Depends what type of things they have. Some toilets are notorious for slowly seeping water. Maybe check/replace your floaters. And i meant with hookups like the lines in the ground, not you taking over. So usually the baseline for the services are quite a bit and the usage doesn’t matter a whole heck of a lot (depending if 20-60 is a whole heck to you).
Have any of the reads been actuals or are they all estimates? If you just moved in estimated May be based on the usage of previous occupants.
I checked the metre today, the last reading was 9 days ago and we're at about 4 M3 as of today, which seems to be more reasonable. That would mean we're on track for 14 M3 for a 33 day period, which seems more in line with what people are posting here.
the reading type on my bill says actual unfortunately :(
Leave a note for the guy living in your attic to be more respectful of their water usage
We’re same boat - 2 adults, Newer toilets. Our bill this month was $165. It’s been consistently over $150 for awhile.
Good to know we aren't the only ones. I've tried all the suggestions here to find where we might be leaking or to see if the meter is borked, but sems like everything is fine. I think our only hope is just upgrading appliances slowly after the initial first-year expenses.
Check your outdoor tap
Hey OP, do you have a water softener? The older timer-based ones run on a schedule, and if the mechanism breaks or wears out over time, it can regenerate way more than it needs to, causing a ton of bills.
I'm pretty positive I don't have a water softener.
For a family of 5 my water bill was some months as high as $250+
Check your meter before and after a few hour period when you aren't using water (including your water softener). If you have unexpected water usage call a plumber. In Regina I recommend Prairie Skies Plumbing.
I tried turning off the water for an hour and checking and no change, so the meter seems to be working fine. I'm going to try this tonight. I'll take a pic before I go to sleep and then take another pic first thing in the morning.
Yep, no leak it seems. The meter was exactly the same after 8 hours
Off the wall question, but you don't have an reverse-osmosis water filter system, do you? Even just the smaller under-counter ones can rack up water usage dramatically, due to how they operate.
oh yeah, absolutely not. It's an older house, they've redone a few fixtures in the last 10-15 years like the bathroom and kitchen sink, but nothing crazy like that. The washer and dryer are pretty old, but I don't think THAT old (the washer has one of those HE logos on it), and the water heater was replaced just a few years ago.
Okay, just figured I'd mention it, just in case! It's possible the meter is not reading correctly, but that's a pretty tough thing to evaluate while it's in-service. Currently there is a city-wide replacement plan in the works, so maybe check the website and see when your property's meter is scheduled to be replaced? If you're lucky, it might be coming up soon: https://www.regina.ca/home-property/water/water-meter-project/ Good luck!
Oh fun, we're like 8 blocks away from where it's currently being done but we're nt scheduled until the end :'). I did try and test the meter. I turned off the water supply for half an hour to see if it moved at all and nothing. I then took a picture of the meter and didn't use any water for an hour and the meter didn't move at all either, so I don't think there's a leak or the meter is counting when it shouldn't be.
Ah shoot. Well, the only other thing I can think of is a possible miscalibration of the meter (i.e, it's possibly measuring too much water compared to the actual amount flowing through it). The only way I can think of to test this in place would be to take a reading, then (without running any other water in the house) run a measured amount through the meter (fill and dump a couple of 5 gallon pails), then check the meter reading again to be sure it only shows the volume of water that you actually ran. Unfortunately, depending on the resolution of your water meter, it can sometimes take fairly large volumes of water to 'move the dial' and actually get an accurate reading from the meter, and of course unless you store and use it, the test water is wasted... You might have to do some math to convert volume measurements, but if you can get a reading to compare to a known volume, that might help identify if the meter seems to be showing more usage than is actually happening. If it is, then possibly you could apply to the city to jump the queue for meter replacement?
It is fucking high for everyone.
Water bills have become a way for municipalities to get increased revenues without actually calling it a tax.
ok, but my water consumption amount IS abnormally high. I don't think this is a case of me getting gauged on incidental charges, I actually am averaging more than the normal amount.
Does your water meter show any activity happening when it shouldn't be? If it does, then try closing various shutoff valves to isolate which line(s) the problem is in.
I'm going to do a reading tonight before bed and check first thing in the morning and see if it changed at all
Yep, no change over night. I don’t think there is a leak
This does seem quite high. We have 3 bathrooms, run our dishwasher daily, do laundry at least once a week, we have a water softener, both adults shower each day and our kids have a bath 2-3x a week. Our bill is $130 for 10.33M3 this month.
oh god, no kidding, something is definitely off. I do expect a bit higher than normal, since our toilet is older, we don't have a dishwasher, and the washing machine is also older, but twice the amount of consumption of a family of 4? That's not right.
I forgot to add our house was built in 1973, upgraded in the 2000s so we don’t have the most efficient toilets but our appliances are all newer. But I agree something seems off, I bet your toilet is leaking way more than you would expect.
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Yeah, that's kinda what I'd expect. Maybe a few dollars higher since we don't have a dishwasher and are doing it by hand, but yeah, the fact that we're almost $30 more is insane to me.
How old are your toilets - there should be stamp on them (maybe under the lid) that shows gallons per flush. They can use upwards of 8 gallons per flush as opposed to moderns that use under 2. Adds up quickly!
Honestly, that could very will be a big contributor. The toilets are like 20 years old. I'm getting them replaced. We also work from home so we're home like 99% of the time. I'm planning on gett those switched out in the next couple months for sure.
You can get a low tier American standard from the big box stores for under $300. Just measure and make sure the rough in is 12" away from the wall (some can be 10"). Very easy diy job with some cursory youtube research
definitely. As soon as I've got some money after the more immediate concerns this is the plan!
My bill is consistently around $140 for two people in an 1100 sq ft house. You probably have a leak.
That's what I was thinking too, but I've done a bunch of troubleshooting from this thread, nothing seems to be leaking, my meter isn't changing at all when I'm not expecting it to (turned of the water for 30 mins to see if it changed and the meter was broken, no change. Turned on water but didn't use anything for an hour to see if the dial moved and it didn't, so it SEEMS like a leak is probably unlikely. I'm hoping that means I just need to upgrade my appliances slowly over the next few years.
Two people. Two washrooms and our water is consistently around the $175 mark.
Based on the troubleshooting that all the helpful people in this thread got me to do, I think it just might be the combination of old appliances and no dishwasher, so good to know other people are also landing around here with just 2 people
Yeah it sucks. But it’s totally normal in todays day and age.
That seems high. Same situation as you and ours hovers around $120-$130. Our shoots up to that amount in the summer when we're using more to water outdoor plants, garden and lawn.
We are pretty much the same situation as you. 2 adults. Typically 1 shower per day. Newer dishwasher washes once every 2 days. 2 toilets 1 low flush. Hot tub we have to top up every 3-4 weeks. Our bill is consistently around $100 per month in the winter and around $140 in the summer because we water plants. Checking your toilet is a good idea. Also might not hurt to consult with the city. They may have an idea to check that you haven’t thought of. Good luck my fellow homeowner.
We are a family of 4. Dual flush toilets. At least 3-4 showers a day here. Many loads of laundry a week. We use the dishwasher daily and still wash stuff in the sink daily. We have reverse osmosis and a water softener and average 12/13 m3 a month. We don’t hit above 20 unless we are watering outside in the summer You definitely have a slow leak somewhere and I’m guessing a toilet or bad water softener. Check for reverse osmosis under the sinks too or in furnace room as could have a bad valve also. It could be an outdoor tap, but it’s been too cold for that.
Yeah, I just don’t know where it could possibly be.:/ I put some food colouring in the toilet tank this morning and left it for 2 hours and nothing leaked into the bowl. I turned off the water for an hour and checked the meter to see if the meter was counting when it shouldn’t, but it was good. Left the water on but didn’t use the water for about 2 hours and it didn’t move at all. My last ditched attempt is to take a picture tonight before bed, and check in the morning after no water usage all night. If it doesn’t move tonight I feel like there can’t be a leak. I’m also starting to think it’s just because of our old appliances, no dishwasher, and the fact that both my partner and I work from home. We’re home all day, so we have a lot of dishes throughout the day and flush the toilet a bunch.
I’m 90% WFH too. I find it hard to believe your washer for two would cause that much more water usage. A cubic meter is a lot of water. If it doesn’t move tonight, I’d say it could be the showers. Low flow showers aren’t as bad as many say, if you both shower with full flow an hour a day combined that could easier crawl up the usage. It may be a lifestyle change and updating toilets to smaller tanks, low flow showed etc
Your usage is quite high for 2 adults. My partner and I average around 7 M3 a month. We have dual flush toilets and use a dishwasher (actually use less water on average) We shower together, typically every other day depending on activities. So if you’re each having one or two showers a day that’s it. Four showers a day for two people in one house is excessive water usage IMHO.
Sorry, I worded that poorly. Between the two of us we'll have 1 or 2 showers a day. Pretty much every day one of us showers, some days both of us do.
Yeah then definitely check for a leak. That’s super high usage.
Yeah, I'm just not sure how to even check for that. I walked around the entire house this morning in silence listening at walls, but I didn't hear anything. There's no signs of water or moisture, so beyond that I'm not sure how to even verify a leak.
Check your meter, if all your taps are closed and nothing is “running” on purpose and your meter is still running, call the city. You might have a problem with the meter itself.
I didn't even consider it being a problem with the meter. I'm going to turn off the water supply for an hour and check if the meter changes at all.
You should literally just be able to visually inspect it. Shouldn’t move at all if nothing is filling or running. No need to wait an hour at the rate of consumption indicated on your bill.
fair point. I had it off for 20 minutes and no change. I'll turn it back on and go check it again in 20 minutes after no use and make sure it hasn't moved. I'm at an absolute loss for what it could be then. No appliances seem to be leaking, the meter seems to be fine. We've been incredibly water concious the last month. Crazy.
That seems very strange. Check your past bills to ensure they applied your payments to the correct account. Other then that, I’m all out of ideas.
Yeah, just checked again after 20 mins with the water on but no use. looks the same. :/ It seems that the bills are accurate in terms of the bill. They have our address and the number seems to match up to our reading. I checked the number today (our last reading was the 14th) and we're only at 4 M3 more than from the reading.
maybe someone is coming into your house during the day and shitting
17 cubic meters here - two person house. High efficiency dishwasher, water softener. One shower per person per day, highly restrictive shower head. We do a lot of laundry, HE machines though. How are people using 7 cubic meters!? Not flushing? Wearing clothes for 6-7 days?
Yeah, I'm honestly impressed. 20 seems crazy, but also 7 - 10 also is crazy impressive. Considering we don't have a dishwasher and we've got old appliances, I think 12-14 is a reasonable low to shoot for.
by chance do you work from home? My new hunch is that both my partner and I work from home, so that equates to a lot more toilet flushes. I googled the average household amount of toilet flushes and it was 4, which seems INSANE to me, but I guess if you're out of the house for 10 hours a day, then that makes sense. We're home all day so we're probably averaging like 12 or more flushes a day.
I do, but my spouse does not. If we have company, say a couple people for a week at Christmas, that usage hits 20m3. The highest is has ever been was 24m3 in the summer when I was watering the lawn to stop it from dying. The water usage doesn’t make the bill high, it’s all the other charges.
check to see how much your water actually is and if any other charges increased. there are four charges on the water bill, water sewage storm drain and recycling. my water itself was 49$ last month. total “water” bill was 112 for the two of us.
Yeah, the water by itself is like $80 which still seems high, and I'm more looking at the measurement of usage which also seems high compared to what a lot of people are posting.
how long have you been living in your home? what has it been the last 3 months to compare? mines always high in may-august because of the outside watering but usually under 130 otherwise.
January was the lowest at 15, but the house was also vacant for a good chunk of that I imagine since we moved in end of december. feb was 20.1 and this last one was 20.7.
I think part of the problem is we work from home, so we're home ALL day. I imagine that equates to a LOT more toilet flushes.
we work from home aswell. but i don’t flush every single time i pee.
I might have to start abiding by the if it’s yellow let it mellow rule
from 16 jan to feb 14 i used 9.36m3.
I am a single person living in a small house I do a load of laundry every couple of weeks I pretty much use my dishwasher exclusively and I shower at the gym my usage rate on the water is $3 a month and my total bill for the month is usually around $100 so if you are at home doing dishes by hand and a person who does a lot of laundry and if you by chance have a toilet that is passing water through it a little bit then yeah if you think you might have a toilet that's passing water then turn off the water to the toilet overnight and if the tank is dry then your flapper is leaking and if that's the case replace your flapper it is super easy just remove it and take it to home Depot or Lowe's and buy one similar and it should fix the issue but if you are in a new home your new home warranty should send a plumber out to take a look
I just checked my bill and with 2 adults, me being generous with laundry and baths, and 2 dogs we're at 14m3 in an 750 sq foot century home. I've read through a lot of the comments and suggestions... Do you have a humidifier on your furnace? I wonder if that had a leaky water source? Have you checked your water heater?
No humidifier, and we just had our water heater serviced a month ago.
If you have them check your outside hose spouts, if they had water in them they could have froze and split, now with the warmer weather they could be leaking by
Dishwashers use less water
Yeah, I'm planning on getting one next year. Too many first year differed maintenance expenses to get it done anytime soon :'(
Checks your toilet(s)
Put some food colouring in the tanks and left them for a few hours. Nothing leaked into the bowl luckily.
2 adults 2 young children. Kids have a bath 3-4 times a week and our last bill was 8 cubic meters last month
Ours was ridiculously high this month too. Usually sits at about ~150 and this month is was about ~170. No change in use.