I have a 2 family that all the utilities have been sub metered so each tenant can be billed based on their individual consumption.

Indeed, the entire monetary system of debt consumption is designed with you being the slave.

While sub-metering may have been the "right" thing to do, it was not the right business decision in that instance.As previously stated, I am in agreement that holding everyone accountable for their resource consumption is they way things should work.  

We've never had a machine fail inside the 5-year window, unless it failed in the first 6-months due to a manufacturing defect ... in which case it is covered under warranty (which is 24 months on the units we purchased).In short, the extra rent and the ease of filling units (before the become vacant) more than offsets any increase in water consumption.

You might still be stuck with only a single water meter, and have to build that into the rent (and in CA water is probably at a ridiculously high price) - but tenants can actually start to conserve when they see savings, and separation of meters gives them visibility to their consumption. 

At times when your system is producing less than your consumption, your meter will spin forward.

For properties with common area utilities, reduce consumption with LED lighting, lighting on timers and reclaimed water for irrigation.  

Most of them should have phoned or contacted her to say something was wrong when the consumption went up. 

I think unemployment will get back to its pre-coronavirus numbers though it will take time (at least 6-9 months).The economy is good if you look at the classic definition: An economy (from Greek οίκος – "household" and νέμoμαι – "manage") is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services by different agents.However when I look at US debt - which pretty much every politician with few exceptions have kicked the can down the road - I see a massive problem with inflation. 

Additionally, you could explore the option of separate utility meters for the guest house to accurately bill for the usage, encouraging responsible energy consumption.