I wanted to run something by this group and see if you folks had any thoughts on what could be going on. I check our water usage online at the City website fairly regularly. When I checked the website yesterday, it showed some very unusual water usage for our single-family home starting last Wednesday, Sept. 12. Specifically, we typically use about 50-150 gallons of water per day, occasionally that reaches 200 gallons per day. We have 3 adults and 2 small children in the house. That typical daily usage doesn’t include days in which we water our lawn, where the usage shoots up to perhaps 1,200-1,500 gallons for that day. The City website only shows the amounts in 50 gallon increments.

Starting last Wednesday, the usage shot up to 650 gallons, back to a roughly normal amount of 200 on Thursday, then 450 on Friday, 300 on Saturday, then 750 on Sunday. Not only are these amounts inconsistent with our normal daily water usage but there are no signs at all of a water leak inside or outside the house, at least nothing that I can find.
- Water pressure seems to be normal on all faucets, hose-bibs, and showerheads, and they all seem to be working properly. Same for dishwasher and washer/dryer.
- No water stains in the house (either on walls, ceilings, or floors).
- No muddy or wet spots in the lawn.
- No dripping sounds or sounds of water running overnight.
- We haven’t had an unusual amount of toilet cloggings/stoppages recently.
- We have not had to run our sprinkler system for a few weeks now so that cannot be an explanation.
- I checked the red arrow on the water meter this morning and it didn’t move at all when no water was turned on in the house, so as far I understand it, this indicates that there is at least no “constant” leak.

Two potential explanations I could think if:

1) We did have a new toilet installed on Friday, Sept. 7 in one of our 3 bathrooms. It’s a great toilet and had been working fine, except that I noticed a couple of times last week that the toilet was making that “reseting” or hissing sound a couple of times when no one had flushed it. Perhaps a valve or other part was out of place or clogged in the tank. I haven’t noticed that sound the last couple of days. Is this the possible source of the excess water usage? It seems odd that this could account for hundreds of gallons of water usage. I do have that plumbing company scheduled to come back next Monday to check out the toilet just in case (that was the soonest appointment I could get).

2) I plan to call the City and have them come out to check the water meter for damage, in case that’s the explanation. I believe they’ll do this for a minimal charge.

I really don’t want to have to spend $125 or so for that hydrostatic pressure test done by a plumbing company to confirm whether there are any leaks in any of the pipes. I had that done back in June when I suspected something else which turned out to be a non-issue.

I’m always worried about water leaks and pipes bursting. Any thoughts as to what else might be going on besides (1) or (2) above?

Thank you.

The fact that your meter needle did not move suggests no leak. There could be a tee between the meter and where the water line enters the home possibly leading to a neighbors property. I suggest you check the meter every 3 hours for 24 hour period and record your findings. You should be able to pin point the problem, assuming the Meter is not malfunctioning. Good luck in your search.

quote; There could be a tee between the meter and where the water line enters the home possibly leading to a neighbors property.

That would constitute theft, and would NOT be a "recent" occurance.

start at the obvious.. put some food coloring into all the toilet tanks and check after a while to see if the coloring shows up in the toilet bowl.
you can also do your own pressure test.
put a pressure gauge on a hose faucet, turn on the faucet to check the pressure.
shut off the main water valve and take the family out for burgers or ice cream.
come back after a couple of hours and check the gauge.

Quote

..... 1) We did have a new toilet installed on Friday, Sept. 7 in one of our 3 bathrooms. It’s a great toilet and had been working fine, except that I noticed a couple of times last week that the toilet was making that “reseting” or hissing sound a couple of times when no one had flushed it. .....

cause found - adjust or repair the 'guts' inside the tank

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638