Excessive water bills in CLE - leak, tenant, or both?

Question

Ultimately, my question is how much a running toilet / leaking kitchen sink could reasonably impact average water bills. But first please let me provide a little specific background and why I am crunched for time to figure this out. I purchased a duplex on west side of Cleveland (44111) a few months ago and have inherited tenants. Generally for a standard duplex (2 BD / 1 BTH each), I budget $150 month / $1,800 year for water/sewer. My other properties generally perform in that range, give or take. However, my water/sewer bills on this new duplex for the past two months are just off the charts excessive, averaging almost $485 per month. And if that holds, it would come out to just under $5,900 for a year.

Now, from reading/research I understand that water leaks, and particularly a running toilet, are often the culprits for excessive water bills. And last month we DID do repairs on both a leaking kitchen faucet and a running toilet. So, I have no doubt that these are a part of the problem. But for others who have had similar problems, does the water bill still seem excessively high for a running toilet / leaking sink? (I know I'm asking a broad question given that size of leaks will have a big impact, but in general.) Or are the current bills more likely to be a combination of the prior leaks and just high tenant usage?

Normally, I would let a month go by to see what the new water/sewer bill is a full cycle after the repairs. But the time crunch is that both tenants' leases expire at the end of the month, so I quickly need to figure out rent for next year for trying to get them under contract. While I don't like being in a position where I'm increasing rent too much and may create turnover, I feel like I'm taking a gamble assuming the excessive bills were all created by the leaks. Even if the leaks were only half the problem for the high bills, and the other half is tenant usage, then I still need to make a bigger rent adjustment than I had planned. (In theory a larger increase shouldn't be a problem because the current rents are well below market, but still...)

Again, I know it's likely impossible to get a definitive answer absent letting another billing cycle go through, but any general comments or insight from others who have had similar problems would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Alex DeNigris · Answer

@David K. with that much water usage/day, it has to be obvious.  My units match what your sample 1 and sample 2 are, roughly.  ~716 gallons/day, or even half of that, is a big leak.  I’m shocked CWD hasn’t notified you of a leak or high water usage.  I would get in the house and get your eyes on the meter to see the activity.

I work with CWD daily putting waterlines in, and believe me, it wouldn’t be the first time I have heard of a bad/faulty meter.

Alex DeNigris · Answer

There is definitely something going on with the tenants, or a large leak.  My residential duplex in 44111 has a water bill that NEVER reaches above $60/month and that is with two families of 3.  I have a commercial property that consists of a salon, barber shop, and child daycare that never is above $300/month and you can imagine how much water they all use.

If you cannot source the cause, maybe invest in a split meter between units (if possible) to isolate it.  Regardless, something is way off.

Brian Garlington · Answer

I'm not saying I have done this.....but I have "heard" that some landlords have removed exterior spigets on their properties. Also....you may want to spend some bucks to hire a professional to actually go in and search for leaks. You're biased because you just fixed some leaks so you think you're good, but your water bills clearly say otherwise. Also....if Cleveland Water suspects you have a leak then you will get an email notification and/or you will see "Possible Water Leak" when you look at the bill online.

Jason Vandermark · Answer

Since your in a time crunch I’m not sure if this will help you now, but I purchase a water leak detector that you place on the actual water meter. It’s called Flume. It can be set to alert you of continuous water flow after a certain amount of time.

I purchased it after my 9 unit had a couple of high bills. It has alerted me a couple times and it was from a running toilet. My normal water bill is 400-475.

David K. · Answer

@Alex DeNigris thanks for the comment. Yes, I went back over recent bills and no mention of potential issue, but after reading comments and looking into it more it has to be something like that. Good thought on faulty meter reading as well. Will do a complete inspection and them reach out to CLE water if needed.

David K. · Answer

Thanks for the thoughts so far, and @Don Petrasek, particular thanks to you for recommending the water usage section of CLE--I've seen that before but honestly didn't know we could really run reports. I ran a report two weeks before repairs and through now (and have a comparison with two similar duplexes). Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it really had much of an impact.

The above is a smaller timeframe just around the repairs. I also ran a longer report from when I acquired the property and earlier usage is even further out of whack.

I'm thinking there has to be some kind of other leak going on as it almost doesn't seem possible for people to actually use that much water. The above are in MCF, but in gallons my two other like duplexes are averaging 85-190 gallons / day whereas this property is averaging 716 gallons / day.

So, even if the prior leaks were adding a little bit, it practically seems like there HAS to be another leak that isn't detected?

Don Petrasek · Answer

@David K. I had a running (gushing) toilet in one of my Cleveland singles for about 10 days until I could get to it.  Normal water bill = ~$35, water bill for the month that included the 10 days = $234 (sewer was over $400) - so your high bill could very well be one toilet or faucet continuously flowing.  If you have the automated reader installed on your meter, you can look at usage on each property/meter daily if you want to via the CLE water site.  Its a pretty nice feature - allows you to confirm that issues are actually resolved and also have access to stats if needed

Stewart Beal · Answer

I own an office building in downtown Detroit, in each office suite is a mens bathroom with a urinal, the water bill comes once every other month, normally it is $500 a month, one time it was $6,000 a month, we did a water loss inspection in the entire building and found the tenant on the 8th floor had a urinal gushing water 24/7 for a month or so, we charge the tenant $5,500 for excessive water usage which he paid.

Ricardo Navarro · Answer

I own a duplex in Cleveland on the west side-(ish) 44109, fully tenanted and my water bill is roughly 60-90$ per month. something is definitely off. I recently renovated the bottom unit with a lo flow toilet (89$ @ HD). you might want to look into that. super easy to install and well worth the savings. when my top tenants move out, i'll do the same up there. but like you said, you may want to give it a month to see if the fixes you made have had any effect.

Excessive water bills in CLE - leak, tenant, or both?

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