Go to hell (local) water company

Okay here is the scenario.

I rent a rather 'vintage' house in the town I live in. It's not old and falling down but it's older (two-prong outlets).

Last month the water/electric bill came for $240 saying I used 17,200 gallons of water. for the month. It worked out to an average of 573 gallons/day. I live alone and consume water accordingly. 1 shower/day, dishes every few days, laundry 2-3 times a week.

The water bills here are screwed up here so the bill I paid August 15 was for water consumed Jun 15-July 15. The woman I paid that day told me my meter was to be read any day for water consumed July 15-Aug 15. That bill came today.....$332-27,600 total gallons or 863/day. WHAT THE FUCK?

I think have the problem narrowed to the toilet in my guest bathroom which I promptly cut off on August 15 because I think it might be running a little. My usagethis month four days before the meter read date is only 6900 gallons I checked it just now, so yes it was the toilet.

My question is this...if I call a plumber tomorrow and he does in fact diagnose the problem as a faulty toilet, whose responsibility is this? The Water Co. said they'll slice my bill in half but that only drops it to $105 for the water. Should I pass the bill along to my landlord because technically it's his toilet that was broken and therefore his responsibility? I've lived in the house for five months now and my first bill in May was roughly $120 for everything.

My old apartment, where I consumed roughly the same amount of water I do now (showers, dishes, laundry) might have a max monthly bill of $25.

$200 wasted.

 

You are responsible for the bill, but the landlord is responsible for the repair. Talk to him; if he refuses to repair, you have an out for the lease or can sue him for any cost incurred because of his refusal to repair -- and then some

 

There's no way a toilet running would cause your bill to be that high. I'd check with the city and ask them to check the meter and/or the lines. Could be a tree root has grown into the water line or some other leak.

There's simply no way a running toilet would cause you to use 863 gallons per day.

 

I haven't been in the bathroom in a month when I turned the toilet off.

I just went and looked at it and the bowl and reservoir were empty. I filled it back it up to full capacity just now, marked the top water line with a sharpie and the level has already dropped 1/4 inch in 15 minutes.

 

If that's a 5 gallon tank, it would have to empty and refill 160+ times per day to get you to 863 gallons per day. If you only lost 1/4 in 15 minutes, it's not emptying fast enough to do that.

 

Shit, Shit Shit.

This is just absolutely not something I want to deal with in the middle of F'ing football season.

 

If it is the water pipe coming into your house and is leaking before it gets to your house, it may not be the water company's problem. Not yours.

I know on the other end, the sewer folks take over the lines out of the house at some point and will come and check it out for free.

 

Ok, I just sat back in my bathroom (which is on the backside of my house, can't hear it) with a stopwatch and the lid off the toilet.

Every 55 seconds, the toilet tops itself off from the slow leak somewhere in the damn thing. No idea how much water that it is, but it's got to be a bunch.