You can monitor your water usage by using our customer portal. Click here for details.

Potential Causes of Your Water Bill Increasing

Having an increased water bill can impact your budget in a big way! That’s not something you want to ignore. Here are some ways you can check for potential issues:

• A toilet running, or a toilet that runs occasionally after being flushed (see additional information below for testing a toilet)
• A faucet is dripping. Did you know a faucet drip can waste 20 gallons of water a day or more?
• Adding water to your swimming pool
• Watering your lawn, trees, and/or plants. Check for an open hose bib
• Extra family members or friends in for a vacation or the holidays
• The air conditioner that is water-cooled
• A broken or pin hole in a water pipe; check your pipes in your basement or crawlspace. Your water heater could also be leaking
• Water softeners could have an issue where it cycles continuously
• Running your water to avoid water pipes during the freezing temps, make sure you turned them off completely

Changes in your water use
Did you have an extra house guest, water your lawn more, or doing anything else out of the ordinary? If so, this may be the reason why you have seen an increase in your bill.

Check for leaks
If you have a leak and it does not get fixed, can waste hundreds or even thousands of gallons of water. Routinely check your plumbing and home for leaky faucets, toilets, and outside taps and irrigation lines.

Toilet and faucet leaks
A continuously running toilet can waste anywhere from 5-500 gallons an hour. To check a toilet: put a drop of food coloring in the back of the tank and let it stand for 30 mins. If color leaks into the bowl, without flushing, that is a sign of your toilet leaking. Sometimes you will not hear it.

If you are unable to locate a leak always seek a plumber’s advice. Belforest Water System cannot go onto a homeowner’s property to find and/or fix a leak.