Concern of excessive water usage

[Tim Coppola]

Hello everyone,

I'll try to make a long story short here. I recently had a tenant who I could hear running the water for long amounts of times (15 minutes or more). After the third time in three weeks I asked them what they were doing and it turns out they were cleaning the bathroom but just kept the water running the whole time. I let them know that I appreciate them keeping up with the cleaning but asked them to start filling a bucket to do the cleaning and explained that water is expensive as well as a luxury here in Chicago (I know people in California who can't even water their gardens). When the next water bill came it was over $100 more than the average bill which I paid and didn't say anything to them and since there hasn't been any excessive usage that I am aware of. 

Cut to today, I have another unit to rent and a family came to look at it. There were a few red flags that I noticed:

- Before the appointment was set up they asked if laundry was free (I have shared free laundry in the building). Not a big deal but...

- During the viewing they asked if I had any plans of changing to coin operated because their last landlord made the change during their time there.

- They mentioned that they do a lot of laundry because they have two children.

Now I may be overreacting here but has anyone ever put it a stipulation in a lease that if water usage goes above a certain point (say the average over the past 6-10 bills) then a tenant has to pay extra? They seemed like a great fit but I can't stop thinking about worst case scenario that my water bill doubles once they move in.

Thanks,

Tim