Water Usage - Removing/Monitoring Washing Machine

[Justin K.]

Friday after submitting my water meter reading I received a call from the water company informing me that the water usage at my 6 unit property was twice the average and that I should expect ~$1000 water bill for the quarter. This is up from $400. Over the weekend I installed a lock on the outdoor hose and informed tenants I would be making visits to check for leaking toilet flappers etc.

After word got around I was contacted by one of the tenants to inform me that the one unit that has in-unit laundry (preexisting when I bought the property last Nov) has been running the washer at least once a day. The unit is occupied by an unemployed single female on section 8 assistance. So she's not cleaning uniforms for multiple jobs or anything that would explain running the laundry that often.

I want to do my homework before contacting the tenant. Is there any way to monitor washer usage besides separate metering? i.e. a single meter in a lock box behind the machine? With no way to prove she is using the appliance for a commercial use I think my only option is to modify the lease to exclude washer/dryer which would take a month or so to take affect before I could remove the machines.

This is a month-to-month lease. Water rates in the area are high and also include sewer based on the amount of water used. So excessive water usage is a double edge sword. Any advise or tips would be appreciated! Thx

[Account Closed]

@Justin K.

It is possible to put a meter behind pretty much anything some places have them behind sinks and toilets to monitor usage. Manual readings would obviously be much cheaper to install and you can check them every quarter.

A better suggestion is to replace the aerators on all 6 units. From the bathrooms to kitchens. Every bathroom sink install a 1-1.5gpm aerator and for kitchen sinks I wouldn't go below 1.5 gpm. These are only $2 a piece and take 30 seconds to install yourself. They are typically chrome colored and can be installed on any faucet. If you have a fancier kitchen faucet it may not work unless you get one for the specific model. Note: most older sink aerators use 2.2 gpm

Also replace shower heads ($6 a piece) also a 30 second DIY with 1.5-2.0 gpm shower heads. You may get some complaints at first until tenants get used to them or decide to go with 2.0 gpm on all units.  Note: most older shower heads use 2.5 gpm

This will drastically  reduce water consumption.

The last and most expensive option is to replace toilets to low flow models. They are typically around $100 and take time to replace so you may have to pay labor on that as well if you can't do it yourself.

Note: older toilets can use up to 4-5 gallons PER flush. Newer models are about 1.5 gallons per flush - if you need a recommendation on a low flow toilet that won't clog just PM me.

I would start with the aerators and shower heads since they are very cheap and can be done in an hour on all 6 units. Make sure to market this as an "improvement" to your tenants.