$11,000 Water Bill

[justinramani]

I really need some assistance. My wife recently received two bills from the water company totaling $11,000!!!! We immediately called.our builder and he sent out a guy to figure out what's going on. He found the leak and replaced the pipe, but the hole in the pipe makes no sense to me. It almost looks melted. Has anyone ever seen something like this before? Builder is saying it's a freak accident and that the pipe must have rubbed against a rock. I'm not buying it - first off we have sand for soil, next, the hole isn't at all jagged.

I'm currently deployed to Iraq and this is just causing tremendous stress on my wife and I. The water company is saying that around 2 million gallons leaked in a month (around 50 gpm). Can anyone help me make sense of this????

Thanks in advance,

JustinTapatalk Cloud - Downlaoad File Screenshot_217-5-13-2-53-17.png
Tapatalk Cloud - Downlaoad File Screenshot_217-5-13-2-53-28.png

 

[justinramani]

 

[justinramani]

Here is the pipe while it was still in the ground

 

[Cataclysm]

First off sorry to hear about the bill/leak! The water company shouldn't make you pay that!!

Second, is the edges of the hole smooth vs sharp like broken glass? If its real smooth and tapered into the hole then most likely it was caused by something rubbing on the pipe. Water pipes vibrate when being used. Any thing hard and abrasive will wear/sand right through. We dug out and replaced a metal pipe a couple of days ago that looked similar to yours. We took a small rock off the pipe that fit the hole perfectly.


Maybe time to look through the bylaws of the water company and see if there is a remedy for the excessive bill. I'd hang onto that piece of pipe and the repair bill.

 

[EarPlug]

How can someone NOT notice 3 Olympic size pools (660,430 gallons of water per pool) of water leaking in less than a month? Where did it all go? How old is the pipe? If this is a new house I would say it is on the builder.

 

[Cataclysm]

He's in sandy soil. Its possible all that water simply leached away. I don't know NC geology. In rocky CO you'd notice 10 gallons. Around here it can go either way. Some of the sandstone boundary layers here can drain ponds, some of the clay or limestone areas 10 gallons would be easy to spot.

 

[Cataclysm]

View attachment 509294

Here is the pipe while it was still in the ground

How deep is that pipe?

 

[dragoneggs]

Looks like the plastic pipe melted. That is not a fracture or crack for sure. Seems to me somebody did not install properly.

I just had my water company (community well on meters) call me about abnormal water usage for the month. They monitor comparing last year's volume. Turned out I had a break in the PVC main line. 30 year old install. Water company gave me one time relief (once every 10 years) for paying the surcharge for the water. I would talk to you water company and builder. Maybe have an independent guy come out to inspect and determine cause. The builder won't be your friend most likely.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Wow. Homeowners insurance?

 

[justinramani]

Well - its pure sand. Water leaches away pretty quickly. The pipe is about 2 feet deep or so. We have had multiple repairs on the line in the last year. We still have a few weeks left on the warranty. I have told the builder that I want the line replaced. He has not yet responded. I just can't imagine that that hole in the pipe was naturally created. The water dept is working with us a little, but the bill will still be in the thousands.....