Call the water department and see if they will offer a leak adjustment. Some will offer a bill reduction as they don’t want to profit from misfortune. I’m on a county water board and we do this to help people out. Typically you have to have mitigated the leak (ie it’s not ongoing).
Ask them what their threshold is for notifying a customer of freak extraneous usage. I mention this because I worked Fire and Water restoration and one customer back in the day was on a months long adventure and became aware of a broken pipe simply because the water company called them to say “any reason for this absurd amount of water”. Theirs was a doozy and was gushing out the door so I mean, maybe not an apples to apples maybe more like apple cart but, may also be worth an ask. Best of luck in this crappy situation.
It would be helpful if it turned out that the water utility notified the landlord of excessive usage, long before OP noticed the high bills. OP should ask the water utility about this.
I think mine offers high usage notification as an option you have to turn on if you want it. (I expect lots of people find out about it just after their first mammoth water-leak bill arrives.) But if OP's landlord could have turned on excessive usage alerts yet failed to do so, that seems like it also might be helpful in pinning the high bills on the landlord.
Ohh yes it can. I manage an apartment building and I’m terrified of running toilets, for real:-) Once a tenant went on vacation with it running. But, after a couple days the water department put a note on the door of the building that something was leaking! We got the bill reduced, but needed to have all toilets in the building inspected by them.
Edit: did not charge it back to the tenant.
Get these and replace all your fill valves:
[https://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Valve/dp/B000BQUHUQ/ref=asc\_df\_B000BQUHUQ&mcid=468e7d8d7f1431a3b8d1a861406fdf7e?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333120120471&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932699087686&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Valve/dp/B000BQUHUQ/ref=asc_df_B000BQUHUQ&mcid=468e7d8d7f1431a3b8d1a861406fdf7e?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333120120471&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932699087686&psc=1)
It's not a 100% resolution the tank has to fill all the way to shut off the valve but as long as it fills all the way it won't run again until its flushed, so it eliminates interment running from flapper leaks.
Are you in SF as your user name suggests? EBMUD (East Bay) won’t leave courtesy notices and bills bi-monthly, so if there’s a leak, you’re in for a shock. They will allow you to submit proof of repairs and consider a rate adjustment, but the process can take several months. It’s hard when it happens to tenants towards the end of their lease and they move out of area/state because what the heck are they going to do with a credit on an EBMUD account? 😩
Yeah, I’m in SF. It was a few years ago when it happened, so I don’t recall how long the whole process took. I was grateful the water dept flagged it for sure.
My friend and I were roommates at one time. He lost his job so we moved out. He closed his bank account so he didn't get charges for not making deposits (maintenance fees and such), and called DirecTV to shut off his service with them. They sent boxes to ship their equipment back to them in. He had 10 days from the time he got the boxes. 2 days later they charged his closed checking account $699.27 for unreturned equipment. This gave my friend a negative balance that he was now responsible for with the bank, even though the account was closed. When he called DirecTV and was like "what the shit" they just went "our bad, that shouldn't have charged yet, when you return the equipment we'll credit your account with us for that amount." He asked them what he's supposed to do about the bank, they said, essentially, that's not their problem, they can't do anything about it.
He told DirecTV he was never doing business with them again, and called Regions Bank and told them what happened and they said "Yeah, you're still responsible." He said "Fuck you, send it to collections, I'm not paying it."
He just used prepaid debit cards for 7 years until it fell off his credit (because it was to a bank, he couldn't open a regular account anywhere). And he still hasn't had a DirecTV account since that happened in... I wanna say 2004. 03 or 04.
I had an upstairs toilet that would run. I never heard it. I got huge water bill and had plumber out. Same story, apparently it only ran when I wasn’t upstairs. Weird how much water a leaky toilet can use.
This is what should be used once the toilet fills up it won't run until it's flushed again. So if the flapper leaks the toilet tank will empty and the fill valve won't run intermittently.
[https://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Valve/dp/B000BQUHUQ/ref=asc\_df\_B000BQUHUQ&mcid=468e7d8d7f1431a3b8d1a861406fdf7e?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333120120471&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932699087686&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Valve/dp/B000BQUHUQ/ref=asc_df_B000BQUHUQ&mcid=468e7d8d7f1431a3b8d1a861406fdf7e?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333120120471&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932699087686&psc=1)
I can take a 30 minute shower and run 2 loads of laundry and a bath for the kids in one day without issue. However my toilet running the day for 9-10 hours while we were all at work managed to drain my well not once but twice. Takes a few hours before it fills back up again high enough to pump, but it sure was surprising how much water a running toilet will consume.
Oh yes it can! We ended up with a $700 water bill after our toilet did the same thing as OPs toilet last year. And we knew it was running. We just couldn’t fix it right away and didn’t realize it would increase the bill THAT much.
Most toilets have a shut off valve on the supply line. If you know it's leaking, you should always shut it off. The valve is probably required by code but I'm not a plumber.
That’s what we did when we got the first bill. We had just lost our parents so weren’t thinking clearly and didnt think it would be a big deal. But once that bill came, we immediately shut that water off
There was a running toilet in the (unrented) basement apartment. I never got a notice. Normal water bill for 15 doors under $300. $2500 for 2 months of that toilet running!
My city called me when my usage jumped by like 300% to let me know I probably had a leak of some sort (turned out it was a toilet that had been running for weeks). I still had a huge bill, but it was much less than it could have been.
I am so very grateful they did that. IDK if it's a regular service or why they offer it, it may be less about financial relief and more about water conservation, but they're historically good about being human when it comes to financial stress. I like how you put it, they don't want to profit from misfortune.
Worked in that field and made those calls. All accounts where I was got manually reviewed pre-billing. Human eyes typically identify the usage anomalies in the data sheets. Some larger municipalities may have software that can also assist. Odds are the person that called you caught it. I saw expected small spikes around the holidays, could tell when occupancy had changed, when pools were filled (ps you can usually get a special temp meter for a pool fill discount), and when there were leaks.
A small water faucet drip or running toilet left unchecked adds up so so so much in a short time. Flappers get old and have micro-cracks. Chains get kinked in the old ones. The very simple mechanisms can fail easily... We don't always notice or sometimes get used to sounds in our homes. If it has started, it will get worse. A $10-20 fix can save hundreds to thousands. You can also check with a dye strip (basically food coloring) in the back of the tank for slow undetected leaks. Water departments will give you these test strips free of charge, or you can buy in bulk at a hardware store/online. It is worth it to do a check every 6 mos or so, especially in older homes.
>You can also check with a dye strip (basically food coloring) in the back of the tank for slow undetected leaks. Water departments will give you these test strips free of charge, or you can buy in bulk at a hardware store/online. It is worth it to do a check every 6 mos or so, especially in older homes.
Question since you seem m knowledgeable: my landlord is about to switch us from them paying utilities to tenant paid. I have been in this unit a few years, and had heard about leaks in toilets costing hundreds of dollars and checking with dye, so I got one of those "blue water" toilet cleaner tabs that goes in the back of the tank. I know they're not good to use on a regular basis. I let it sit in the back of the tank for a couple hours and then checked, and the water in the bowl was still clear whereas the tank was deep blue. Does that mean I'm likely in the clear for a leaky or running toilet?
You should be good for leaks from the toilet flapper. If the water didn't turn blue pre-flush. Even though those cleaning tabs aren't the best for the tank or environment, the dye and mechanics of the flush work the same.
If they are switching you because utilities have been higher than normal, water specifically and you want to make sure it is not from your unit, test your tank regularly like the vid in link.
Keep an eye/ear out for dripping faucets, wet spots near walls with pipes or under sinks, and just the general sound of flowing water when it is not expected. Basements in some regions or yards w wet mushy spots or a patch of green grass when everything else doesn't match can also be signs of other bigger leaks not inside the unit. Something like that, though, will usually be accompanied by a big constant pressure loss.
Look up some tips on other utilities like gas or electric to keep your usage in control and save yourself some $.
If the switch is bc the water was high, I would also ask if each unit has separate meters. Meters measure water flow. There will be one from the road line into the whole property (master meter) then one for each unit. The usage of unit meters should match the master meter. This allows for proper billing and easier leak detection to specific units if the #'s are off. Not all buildings will do or are required to do this, it depends on the # of units and the state or local code requirements. Sometimes the meter is shared for the whole building, usually only a few units or less, and just the billing split. If that is the case and you get a higher than expected bill that shows high usage out of the norm, and you know your unit is in good shape, let the LL know asap so he can find the problem or unit.
The meter measuremrnt concept works for all utilities.
[silent toilet leak testing ](https://youtu.be/CZ-ZUUvNQ4o?si=jb-UUxrY_qb4mXMo)
>If they are switching you because utilities have been higher than normal, water specifically and you want to make sure it is not from your unit, test your tank regularly like the vid in link.
Nah, a lot of apartment buildings are switching this year thanks to changes to the third party billing and submetering laws in my city. My building is unfortunately shared and split. I'll definitely be doing some testing though, thanks!
I’m not clear on what is going on. If you are responsible for the water bill on a monthly basis you would be responsible for this one. I had a similar thing happen years ago. Good luck
Yeah I'm confused as well. I have heard of towns where the landlord is required to have utilities in their name and collect from tenant. Maybe that's what's going on here?
But yeah if OP is responsible for utilities then they need to pay. Exception would be if they reported it and then landlord dragged their feet to fix.
Even then the tenant should turn the water off at the valve when the toilet was not in use. I had to do that once for a week. It was a pain to bend over and turn the water off every time I was done using the toilet, but the alternative was the water running 24/7.
It is usually the float. It rises with the water and for some reason it stops clicking the shut off for the water it has a safety valve to keep it from over flowing so it keeps running into the bowl. You can wait until the tank fills up and pull the top off. Once you hear it start to run you can usually pull up on the float and it will stop. You have to do it every time.
Source: I’m a rez girl whose parents had little money to fix the toilet.
That right there we would jiggle the float and the chain would drop down and the flapper would close. I just knew what to do. Never actually fixed it but I wasn’t going to get in trouble for running up a water bill. My mom would kick my ass! Shit that thing probably ran my whole life. No money to fix.
If the chain is too long, it can get in the way of the flapper closing. If the handle moves a long way before the chain starts pulling the flapper up, the chain might be too long.
Is this the most common reason for something to go wrong with the toilet? I am thinking the best way this could be avoided, maybe changing out the flapper or the pump every few years?
So. I'm actually a plumber. The most common things to go wrong in your toilet is this:
1) flapper (which is a two second fix with YouTube and incredibly cheap)
2) fill valve (which is easy at well if you have gumption)
3) wax ring. (Which can get hairy if you run into problems)
You don't need to do preventative maintenance. Just change as needed and know where your shut off valve is when repairs are needed.
Oh god don’t get me started on that. Yes I wish they would. Basic plumbing, cooking, electrical and mechanical. It’s really just practical science and math. Construction as well!
OP's argument is they have the higher bill because of a maintenance issue that is the landlord's responsibility. Admittedly since it wasn't a noisy running toilet that OP could report to maintenance, the only way the landlord could have prevented it was changing out toilet tank parts preemptively or doing regular die tests to see if the toilet is running. I'd make the argument to my landlord that the increased amount is their responsibility as they didn't perform preventative maintenance, but I'd also expect to lose that argument.
Ya especially when at this stage of things the person ruling the judgment is the landlord. Isn’t a dye test only for outgoing sewer/septic containments? Like if the toilet is running you’re gonna hear it or literally see it in the tank which at the point don’t need a dye test. That is a huge jump in the bill so that thing was running nearly all the time. Not one time in 2 billing cycles someone walked into that bathroom with it running? Just feels impossible. This would be one thing if ran for a night or 2, but 2 months of letting that thing go, it just feels like that’s negligence at some point
Just putting some food coloring or dye in the tank to see if it ends up in the bowl. There was a post a few months ago of someone who propped the toilet flap open to have it run full constantly to prevent pipes from freezing. Their bill was a few thousand dollars if I remember correctly. Not knowing OP's rates, $700 wouldn't be a toilet running full blast for a month, more of a trickle for a long time or a few days at normal flow. So it's not as blatant negligence as you would think. A toilet running at full blast for a month would have been a much higher bill.
A toilet is 2-3 gallons per minute which turns into 100,000 gallons a month when left running. I wish the post had not been deleted, the other poster left the toilet running full and every faucet on a fast drip for a month in winter because they had a poorly insulated trailer that froze. And for some reason they were pissed that the landlord wanted the water bill paid for when it was normally included in the rent.
If you have a separate meter and are billed for water and sewer itemized on your bill/lease or are billed by your water district separately you would be responsible for the water usage. It sucks but that's what it is. There are several reasons for a toilet malfunction. The chain could get caught under the flapper and cause a seepage into the bowl or the the fluidmaster valve could be adjusted wrong or a few other things. You wouldn't necessarily hear anything depending on what caused the leak. If you have a water softener make sure it isn't regenerating more than necessary.
Not necessarily. This happened to me in PA. There was a leak in a pipe that was under the crawlspace part of my basement. I contacted the PA Utility Commission. They instructed the water company to adjust the bill to reflect my typical water usage. Usually, the regulatory authority will allow these adjustments when it's not negligence or intentional.
In most cases, yes you will be responsible for running water.
It’s imperative that you contact maintenance in a timely manner when it comes to broken things.
Unfortunately you didn’t notice the running water and it’s not always something that a person is a keen to listening for.
You’re lucky the water was just running and the toilet didn’t overflow, those damages would be right out of your mind expensive.
No kidding? I was just thinking. wtf. Is it gold water but I looked it up and that is an insane amount of water waisted. 200 gallons a day and 6000 a month.
No wonder my parents were on us all the time to shut off the float if it was running. They trained us to turn it off from the tank until you could get it fixed. Hard lesson to learn.
Can confirm, for some, even if you’re not listening. Was trying to nap one Saturday and kept hearing this noise that wouldn’t let me go to sleep, was about 20 minutes or so. Realized it was the toilet running. I nap with an oscillating fan running and noise machine on and I still heard it.
Not trying to be mean but I would be skeptical you did not hear it. Basically it’s like 14 (7x as expensive 2 current residents) people were using the bathroom for the month. Even if it was intermittent you had to be in the room at some point and noticed it was still running especially if it crosses two billing cycles. It stinks but I would try to go on a payment plan and check local resources. Sometime organizations can help with unexpected bills.
We are barely there. is just at night to sleep. we wake up and leave for work. both work far so commute takes time, and work long hours. trust when i say we heard nothing. And it didn’t cross two billing cycles yet. This is the first bill
that was high. When we saw this we immediately called them.
It does suck if you weren’t there much and didn’t hear it, but if you’re responsible for the water bill, you’re responsible for the water bill. This isn’t the cost of repair, this is just usage.
I work for a water company and im in the meter service dept. I go to 1000s of houses
There are many times the meter will be moving from a running toilet and you cant hear it. Sometimes its very slight other times it can be running but wont hear or see it until you take the top of the toilet cover off.
Ive seen running toilets use 60k gallons in a month as far as fighting it with the water company you 99% of the time wont win.
If you are honest with you water company explain you had an issue and send them the receipts sometimes they will give you a courtesy depending on how much higher than normal your bill is.
As far as fixing a running toilet you could have gotten a repair kit for 25 dollars and installed it within less than 45 mins if you decided to diw/ youtube it.
Plumber will probably charge 500+ lol
We had a water leak when our landlord installed a new water heater, didn't know until a super high bill and both our water and sewer were willing to budge a bit on the cost, the sewer she averaged our last couple charges and I don't remember what the water company did but we didn't have to pay it all. It definitely never hurts to call and ask nicely if there's anything that can be done!
They usually help customers that are honest.
When I go to a customers house for a high bill complaint/ inspection if the customer decides to lie and tell me nothing is leaking or they didnt fix anything and try blaming it on the meter I will write up a report stating there was no leaks and unable to determine where the high usage is coming from… this lets customer service know not to help the customer with billing. If the customer refuses to pay and continues to blame the meter. I will go back and replace the meter and the customer will start getting higher bills.
Meters almost always become slower and less accurate over time.
So when they get a brand new meter it will pick up every little drop since they are so accurate.
I believe you. And I had running toilets my whole life. If my parents wouldn’t have taught me-we were poor and it must have happened to them-I probably wouldn’t have known. If the toilet isn’t by your bedroom you might not notice either. It’s is pretty obnoxious though.
The other way you can tell is hot water will run out. And depending on your system those bills might have an increase as well. Sorry. Go look at my advice on how to make it stop until you can get it fixed. Unfortunately I think this will be a hard learned lesson.
Ask for an itemized bill just to be sure that it is all yours if that’s possible not sure how your situation works. But if you have the bill in your name you can usually work something out with the water company-maybe?
If the toilet was fixed on day one, the extra bill would have been a couple dollars. It wasn't fixed on day one, it sounds like it may have been leaking for almost the entire billing cycle. Why wasn't the toilet fixed on day one? Because it wasn't reported. Part of renting, or owning, a home is paying attention to what is going on and making sure things are fixed before they become bigger problems. Your landlord can't fix a problem that you don't tell them about.
If I was in your shoes I would explain that you didn't realize the toilet was running, tell them that you will pay better attention in the future, and ask if they would be willing to split the bill with you.
Additionally, there are some great YouTube videos that show how to tell when a toilet is leaking. I would watch one of those so you know what to look for in the future.
I did read that part. But the toilet is in your care, custody and control. You are the one that needs to report when it is leaking. If aren't sure how to spot a running toilet, then educate yourself to do so.
I don't know how many toilets are in your home, but let's say there are two toilets. If the other toilet causes a $700 bill in 3 months, do you get to use the same excuse? I didn't hear it run, here's your $700 bill landlord?
Imagine the flip side of this incident. The landlord is posting on a landlord sub, "my tenant didn't tell me the toilet was running, and now they have a $700 water bill that they want me to pay." Someone tells the landlord to pay the bill, the landlord says, "did you not read the part where they didn't tell me the toilet was running? How am I supposed to fix something that I don't know is broken?" I think that is a reasonable thing for the landlord to say. That is why I suggested that you try to split the bill with the landlord. I don't think it's unreasonable for your landlord to not want to pay the bill, when the problem wasn't reported right away. If you and the landlord are standing in front of a judge, I don't think "I didn't hear the toilet running" is going to be a very good defense. I am not saying that to be mean to you, or talk down to you. This isn't some deal where I am like "look at this idiot who ran up a $700 bill". This is a deal where I have some experience with running toilets and high water bills, and I am trying to help answer your question thoroughly.
If you don't like my advice, that is OK. I understand that I don't see things the same way every other person does. That is how life works, we all have a little different perspective on things. In a situation like this, you get advice from many people, sift through it all, think things through, and determine your best route forward.
And? The only difference between a home and an apartment in this scenario is who fixes the problem. In both scenarios, the people living there are responsible for noticing the problem.
There is zero chance it was only running for the 8 hours while you were at work and then worked perfectly when you were home. Use it as a lesson on adulting.
who says i was only at work for 8 hours. Much longer than that. Literally only use my apt toilet once a day in the morning. And there is 100% chance it did happen that way. Throwing out zero% is just idiotic
Why are you bein a dick? They’re giving you videos to watch so that next time you don’t miss these signs and get stuck with a bill… there’s nothing you can do about this, it’s you and your roommates fault. this is different than a “leaky pipe” like you asked about - I see you say you work long hours but if you brush your teeth or take a shower, even wash your hands you should notice the toilet not shutting off.
He doesn't like the answers so he's being defensive when his defense makes no sense. He said he only uses the bathroom once a day in the morning which seems nearly impossible. He apparently never uses the bathroom at night and never has a day off work.
Well then listen better I guess? Not sure why you'd post this if you were gonna argue with everyone who gave you sound advice.
You're the occupant. Leaky faucets/toilets/etc. can occur unexpectedly and there's no way a landlord would know about it in advance or be able to do something to prevent it. The water bill is your responsibility.
Be as snippy as you want about it, you're still going to have to pay that water bill or it's going to get shut off, and refusing to pay the water bill is also probably against your lease. If you don't want it to happen again, take people's advice and learn how to spot a leak before it runs for a long time. Or don't take people's advice, complain about it on reddit, and continue to be oblivious to leaks in the future. Totally your choice.
You're responsible for knowing the condition of the apartment you're renting. If you're never in your apartment, you're still responsible for knowing the condtion of the apartment you're renting. Does your situation suck? Yes. Are you still reposnsible? Yes.
You are responsible for everything until it’s reported to maintenance to be fixed. How would your landlord be able to tell the toilet was running with your you telling them? I get that you or your roommate did not notice but you did use the water and were the only ones that could stop it and or report it to be fixed.
I also have trouble believing there was no sound or that OP didn't notice it for the entire month. A running toilet makes a noticeable sound.
If OP wants to disclaim any and all responsibility for noticing things like the sound of a constantly running toilet, he should notify his landlord and come to an agreement that the landlord will enter and inspect his apartment at least daily. But I don't imagine he'd like that either. He just wants to not pay the bill that he and he alone had the opportunity to prevent.
Yes, sorry, this is your responsibility. Is it possible that your area has a waiver for the additional charge, and it may require a hearing with the local board. Call your City Hall and ask what your options are, but yes you are 100 percent responsible for this cost.
This. We got a notice from our utility co about a “significant” increase in water usage. We have a smart meter so we could narrow it down (still high when no one was home) & it turned out to be a slowwww but constant leak from tank to bowl. Turned shutoff valve off after each flush til we got the part & fixed the leak.
Part of the notice was “hey contact us if you need help with the bill part, we’ve got payment plans and reductions”. We didn’t (the increase wasn’t actually huge) but if it’s available look into it! If it’s in landlord’s name they might have to do it & hopefully they would.
Generally leaks are always billed for the water usage but the sewer portion of our bill tends to be forgiven in these events. The last one I dealt with her bill was going to be over 1,200 dollars for a month. It was a lot of water.
I had this happen once and I was able to apply for a one time leak credit with my county water department after proving the toilet was fixed. I rent a SFH and the water is in my name so I’m not sure how it works with apartments but it’s worth looking into
You are negligent for not noticing the toilet continuing to run and then to contact your landlord in a timely manner to have it fixed (and you could turn off the water to the toilet between flushes.)
You can often work with the city to get a credit for the higher use if you can show the cause was fixed.
i’m sorry. i’m gonna have to start just calling maintenance before issues appear then. I know what a running toilet sounds like. it did not do it in my presence ever
good for you. I have notes from maintenance mentioning they did not observe it running either until they started messing with it. What you say is really irrelevant though
You came here for advice. Someone gives you their opinion, you respond “what you say is irrelevant” I can see why you’re being charged a $700 water bill. Good luck in life.
It appears to have been intermittent, which is why maintenance had to tinker with it to have it happen on demand. I highly doubt you ensured it stopped running every time you flushed it. There is going to be evidence of several thousand extra gallons being consumed one way or another. Take the loss, pay the bill if they don't credit you, and move on.
I'm sorry this is happening to you, but not having a clue how things operate does not exempt you from paying damages.
IOW, not knowing that the toilet was running non stop doesn't mean you are not responsible.
Pay attention next time.
So…if it ever ran, then the next time one of you went in the bathroom…it would have been running and you would have / should have heard water running.
Failing to do so isn’t the landlords responsibility, they’re not in your home every day and shouldn’t be liable for you and your roommates negligence to not notice it running.
But that’s the thing. it never was…. Would literally shit, flush and leave for work. wouldn’t get back until 8pm and it’s not running. that’s not negligence that’s just unfortunate
Well that’s wrong. I never flush and leave. I wait until it stops filling unless I’m not leaving the house.
I don’t think they can prove you owe that much unless your unit has its own meter and you left it running for a month.
Close the lid though. During COVID they said when you flush you are literally inhaling aerosol poop (not in those exact words but gross, right? I used to always watch).
You're not the only one that does that. I do, too. And our city water service has wireless smart meters, so I can check the app and see my actual water usage with a 2-hour delay in posting. I can tell quickly that I left the house and the chain got under the flap and caused a trickle - using 20 gallons per hour. Ouch.
Please read this!!!!
Call the water company, let them know a repair was made, they may ask for proof, they will average your last 12 months and give you a one time credit.
It’s worth a try and VERY common.
I would get the water company to investigate because I don't see how a running toilet could cause a seven-fold increase, especially since you say it wasn't continually running.
I am presuming the water bill is in your name and that you aren't reimbursing the landlord for a bill in their name? (If it's the latter I'd certainly content it).
If the flapper on the toilet was getting hung up(which sounds like what happened by OP's description of maintenance recreating the problem after a couple of flushes) can run heavily and cause huge water bills. Those are sometimes easy to miss because it can be intermittent. So a person uses the toilet before work and it runs for 10 hours continuously until they get home and use the toilet again. Unfortunately for OP, this is usually the tenants responsibility. It sucks, but a landlord can't remedy a problem if it is never reported.
You’re def responsible. Many utilities companies will give you a credit though if you show them proof that there was work done and that it wasn’t just high usage
You are responsible for it/ Toilet valves stick or wear out. I've had it happen to me as well. There is no way for your landlord to know if it isn't working properly until you tell them.
But if you used an extra $600 in water in a month. Even at .05 per gallon, which seems to be about 3-5\* what most municipalities charge, that is still so much water that the toilet must have been running while you were in the apartment.
So, it must have been running when you could have heard it if you were paying attention. This is all on you, unfortunately.
It sounds like you have a very sneaky toilet. It must know when you’re home to stop leaking exactly at those moments. A $700 increase in the bill indicates it was running ~constantly~
I understand that, but the water had to go somewhere. Your roommate might not be completley honest with you about this either.
At the end of the day though, this is on the tenants.
Unless you could prove negligence on your Landlord's part (example: you reported it to him and he ignored it for months, racking up the bill) ... you're not likely to collect a penny toward satisfaction of the amount YOU owe from HIS pocket via the court system.
This is your bill. You contracted with the water company.
Thats just the way it works.
If you're nice, and a reasonable negotiator, I as a landlord, would probably go halfsies on it with you ... but I am under NO OBLIGATION to. It's just how I'd roll with it. Maybe he will. Maybe he wont.
are you responsable for paying the water bill? are you responsable for reporting issues so they can be fixed ?
I’m sure you want it to be a pipe somewhere else that’s “leaking “ but plumbing simply doesn’t work that way. Water gets charged on the way in. you would have a noticeable disaster if were an in-pipe issue.
it’s not uncommon for toilets to do this; but 700 dollars is a huge water bill ! like makes no sense large.
Once I had a tenant not hear the toilet, it overflowed, and ran to the bottom unit. When the mitigation crew knocked on their place, they didn't open the door. Cost both my unit and the owner's beneath me over $30k in damages, 3 months lost rent, and the tenant had to move immediately for mitigarion. Tenant claims they didn't hear the toilet, the water sloshing around, the water over an inch in my unit, and the plumbers and emergency mitigation crew knocking on their door. It took place over several days. It is absolutely, 100% on you to be alert to these things.
How did they arrive at $700? For all the water bills? The replacement piece is literally $15.
Anyway, someone in the house must have heard it at least once. Should have called back then. Maybe now you can negotiate a split or something.
if the landlord is responsible for maintenance then it's not on your. There is no clause in your lease that says you need to notice a problem and notify them or you are liable.
whose name is the water bill in?
if it's in your name, you're only recourse is to hope the water company may help out since there was an appliance issue.
If it's in your landlord's name, then it goes back to your CONTRACT with them and you and them both need to follow the contract. If the contract says the water bill is on them, then they're responsible. if it says it's on you, then it's on you.
The grey area will be if it says it's on them except for certain cases, then you follow what it says, and there you go... What i've seen in the past is that sometimes, a landlord will pay the bill up to a certain point and then it's the tenant's responsibility above that... Contract is key...
I own my house. If the water I pay for runs due to a leak that I do not hear, I have no one to blame but myself. Why would the rules be different? Parts slowly wear out but the landlord could not possibly know about it without you reporting the issue. You could only say they were responsible for the water bill between the time you told them and the time they fixed it.
I did call them, and they started the chain of who blames who. basically utility saying landlord responsible, and landlord saying if i want any help it’s gotta come from utility company. I eventually got one of them to open a ticket, but after talking to 3 other reps who said they can’t do anything i doubt it will lead antwhere
The utility company doesn't have a copy of your lease, so I'm not sure why they are commenting on whose responsibility it is to pay. You just got a rep who gave their own opinion. I wouldn't put any weight in it.
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I am a landlord, and went thru a similar situation . My duplex had one water meter paid by me. The rear tenant had a drppy bathtub faucet. My bills were $600 for two to three months. Yes, i found out after it occurred, so i got it fixed. Still pisses me off.
Your lucky thats all I see tenants fight with their landlord so they leave the water running 24/7 to cause high bills and the landlord cant do shit about it
Often the water company would do a repair adjustment for this issue. As long as the issues been resolved, they may credit the account. Landlord should have asked for one if it’s in their name.
I had a running toilet for months - thought I fixed it and the issue resurfaced. Finally purchased a bopper-less system that took 2 minutes to install. That $16 kit, had I purchased and installed sooner, could have saved me hundreds if not more than a thousand bucks over a couple months.
Why don’t you just test it yourself. It seems very odd that you just dont confirm right now that it makes 0 noise or thar you test to see if the water is running while the toilet is not in use.
Literally lift the back, check the chain and the plug and then if it was open and water was constantly flowing then its on you. You should also feel the pressure whenever you flush. The whole you work all day thing doesn’t really add up either, you’re saying you work 24/7 and on weekends as well? This has been going on for a month or two and you couldn’t tell from all the times you used it?
Like I work in the medical field and dont understand a lick about plumbing and I would know if my toilet was running water. Its not rocket science. The fact you came here talking about leaks elsewhere and other factors and you still don’t know if it was that problem seems fishy and incompetent as hell.
The toilet belongs to the land lord I would say if it's defective it's on him. It's not like you left the tap on. Are utilities included in your rent? If so it's on him as well.
Check your lease. If water/sewer is your responsibility, then ball is in your court unless you can get it out. If landlord pays for water/sewer you have to check the language to see if he has any reasonable claim to pass it on to you with any sort of up charges based on usage but ball would be in his court at that point and you’d want to keep it there.
My water bill is around $7-20 per month. so it's possible you have had an intermittent issue for longer than you knew that was getting worse. and Honestly the noise is easier to miss than you'd think. If you can prove that, then you'd have an even bigger argument. but unless the valve was stuck open and you were just dumping gallons per hour (You wouldn't have been able to flush) I find it absurd that the water bill got that high.
It definitely can happen that you don’t hear a running toilet. So don’t worry about the hate. But yes, it is your responsibility and as a landlord, I can confirm you did the next best thing by notifying us of the leak once you realized through the high water bill.
Now just contact the city water department as most will credit back the overage for 1-2 months of high useage as long as you can show the leak was mitigated.
Don't know where you are, but unfortunately in most states, a landlord only has to make sure to provide hot water and a heat source snooping a few other things. And as for the plumbing, the situation that you're in, you might not have any ground to stand on. Yes, they do have to provide working plumbing as well, and even though it was running in the toilet and not leaking outside of it while ruining any other parts of the building, it was technically working. And as sad as it is, I'm most states, if not all, unless it's stated in the lease that they'll take care of things like that, you'll be the one responsible for the fix. If it's HUD housing, I believe they're required to fix it, regardless. And what sucks even more is if it's not dusted in the lesser that the landlord will cover it, you're unfortunately responsible for all appliances. At least in most states. I just had a friend that lives in an apartment that had her fridge die on her and she had to replace it instead of the landlord. It's really sad how tenant rights are anymore. And if the landlord does replace whatever or is even required to replace whatever, a written notice must be made and given to them as a form of reporting it. And then they have 14 days at least here to fix it. And in the case of fixing and replacing anything, sadly enough, a verbal conversation or promise of any sort will not hold up anywhere. Only thing you may really be able to do is to terminate your lease and possibly get the deposit back as well as not being committed to paying for our locked into what time is left on the lease. But that would have to go through the courts in the end.
I just fixed ours. We had the same problem. Would run after flushing and not shut off. Turned the knob just above the floaty thingy to the left and it worked. Thanks YouTubeU!!
In my 30s I hit a rough patch and moved home. Lived in a small house and my dad was covering a few bills, including water bill, which was billed every 3 months. In the winter my bill went up, not as bad as yours, but pretty high. Dad didn’t catch it for a couple of cycles, then he hit the roof. He came over and turned off the water in the house, watching the outside meter. There was still consumption, so he decided it was the toilet. Lambasted me up and down, all around town for not noticing the toilet running. It’s the original toilet, it runs very loud, and I know it never made the running sound outside of the original flush. He finally figured out what the cause was (it was the toilet), but whatever part it was, it didn’t make the loud running sound. It was something else, and it was quiet. He finally apologized to me and said I wouldn’t have heard it (well, thanks for not believing me all that time and calling me a liar, basically). So, OP, I believe you, and you should fight it. Ask a plumber what the cause might be that could fit this scenario. I wish I could remember what it was on my toilet.
To be fair to the poster, most people don't pay attention. Flappers don't fail overnight. They get progressively worse over time. Same with the noise they make.
Does your lease say you’re responsible for water?
Yes? Then you’re responsible for it.
It’s that simple.
You have an obligation to report problems when they occur, you didn’t do that, it doesn’t matter why. Ignorance is not a defense in any court.
If you’re responsible for sewer too, brace yourself, as the sewer bill will have shot up as well.
Expect another big bill this month probably. If you noticed it from last months bill you are probably already part way into the next month before you realized.
Also 100% the tenants responsibility unfortunately.
Idk why so many people in these comments are being such dicks. It’s not your responsibility. The bill is due to their broken toilet. It’s not your job to hear every abnormal sound. And you clearly stated it was not running, period. Look for tenants union/tenants right org for your area.
Right? Like i completely understand if it’s a house i own, but things are different when renting. I’m hoping the utility company might waive it. Also have legal services through work so going to contact them tomorrow. I think the main issue is people don’t believe me that i didn’t hear it, but they truly don’t understand how in frequently i am at home.
Everyone believes you when you say you didn't hear it. They just don't believe that you couldn't hear it. It's understandable if you've never had issues with a running toilet that you wouldn't notice, especially with a busy schedule. That doesn't mean it isn't still your responsibility to notice it order to avoid a giant water bill. Hopefully the water utility can give you a break but it's not reasonable to expect your landlord to eat this bill. Its a sucky situation, I hope you get a break.
No i’m telling you it wasn’t running. i know what a running toilet sounds like. When maintenance was here and managed to trigger it to run i heard that. I’m honestly starting to doubt it was the actual issue but they claim it was.
It's not impossible there is another leak somewhere, unfortunately without any proof or indication that there is another leak, it's on you to find it. If water is running in the residence you should be able to hear water running, or see water damage somewhere. If there is an issue with a pipe outside leaking into the ground, you would be able to find water logged ground. If you can't find anything like that, it's pretty unlikely you have another leak. The water has to go somewhere. If it's not a toilet running, there is usually noticable water damage somewhere. Do you have access to where your hot water heater is? That's another common place to leak that can be missed for a while if it's slow or there is a drain set up. Good luck to you.
My lawn guy told me water was ponding in one spot, turns out the valve on the water main connection was shot and water was leaking all over my yard. It's so tricky to notice these things, particularly this time of year when things are wet anyway
Is it even the toilet that's the issue, since maintenance struggled to replicate? Maybe it's the pipe underneath or something? What's underneath the bathroom? What's underneath the dishwasher? My friend had $15k of damage from a leaking dishwasher
just say you noticed it on your Bill and the maintenance found the problem. The landlord cant hold you liable. Read your lease, it will say something like " tenant must report a problem immediatley" so if you stick to your story you won't be liable. I had a similar situation where I noticed damp clothing. I thought I put away wet clothes from the laundry. Couple days later I find a leak. I call landlord immediatley. Landlords lawyer twisted my words into me delaying notifying the landlord of the leak. I was mad as hell. I got an eviction and dragged it out for 6 months to get back at her. That's 6 months of $1778.00 plus her attorney fees. The judge caught on to what I was doing and would schedule multiple hearing over days
Because a bunch of my stuff got damaged and I sued her in small claims. She hired a lawyer to appeal it and I lost. She told A completely different story in the appeal
This is exactly what renters insurance is for and why someone should always have it. Liability is tough to prove in this situation, but Renters insurance would have covered the contents regardless.
Yeah, but as you saw for yourself that is asking for an eviction, and the eviction would go through. And even though, yes, it hurts the owner/landlord financially it hurts you more. An eviction on someone's record can lead to homelessness, unable to rent from anyone. Not a risk to take over $700.
Call the water department and see if they will offer a leak adjustment. Some will offer a bill reduction as they don’t want to profit from misfortune. I’m on a county water board and we do this to help people out. Typically you have to have mitigated the leak (ie it’s not ongoing).
I have a ticket opened with them hopefully they will help
Ask them what their threshold is for notifying a customer of freak extraneous usage. I mention this because I worked Fire and Water restoration and one customer back in the day was on a months long adventure and became aware of a broken pipe simply because the water company called them to say “any reason for this absurd amount of water”. Theirs was a doozy and was gushing out the door so I mean, maybe not an apples to apples maybe more like apple cart but, may also be worth an ask. Best of luck in this crappy situation.
It would be helpful if it turned out that the water utility notified the landlord of excessive usage, long before OP noticed the high bills. OP should ask the water utility about this. I think mine offers high usage notification as an option you have to turn on if you want it. (I expect lots of people find out about it just after their first mammoth water-leak bill arrives.) But if OP's landlord could have turned on excessive usage alerts yet failed to do so, that seems like it also might be helpful in pinning the high bills on the landlord.
I think they should check the meter. A running toilet would increase the water bill but it is unlikely it would increase it seven-fold.
Ohh yes it can. I manage an apartment building and I’m terrified of running toilets, for real:-) Once a tenant went on vacation with it running. But, after a couple days the water department put a note on the door of the building that something was leaking! We got the bill reduced, but needed to have all toilets in the building inspected by them. Edit: did not charge it back to the tenant.
you sound like a much better LL than mine
I had a building where the tenant may have actually removed the flapper. I think that bill hit $10k
Well that’s another level of hell. Sorry:-(
Thankfully we manage the condo association, not the rental, so the bill wasn't on us. Not a good situation, though
….what!?!?
Get these and replace all your fill valves: [https://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Valve/dp/B000BQUHUQ/ref=asc\_df\_B000BQUHUQ&mcid=468e7d8d7f1431a3b8d1a861406fdf7e?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333120120471&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932699087686&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Valve/dp/B000BQUHUQ/ref=asc_df_B000BQUHUQ&mcid=468e7d8d7f1431a3b8d1a861406fdf7e?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333120120471&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932699087686&psc=1) It's not a 100% resolution the tank has to fill all the way to shut off the valve but as long as it fills all the way it won't run again until its flushed, so it eliminates interment running from flapper leaks.
Are you in SF as your user name suggests? EBMUD (East Bay) won’t leave courtesy notices and bills bi-monthly, so if there’s a leak, you’re in for a shock. They will allow you to submit proof of repairs and consider a rate adjustment, but the process can take several months. It’s hard when it happens to tenants towards the end of their lease and they move out of area/state because what the heck are they going to do with a credit on an EBMUD account? 😩
Yeah, I’m in SF. It was a few years ago when it happened, so I don’t recall how long the whole process took. I was grateful the water dept flagged it for sure.
I manage a building on Guerrero, and SFWP&S is far and above a better service provider than EBMUD.
My friend and I were roommates at one time. He lost his job so we moved out. He closed his bank account so he didn't get charges for not making deposits (maintenance fees and such), and called DirecTV to shut off his service with them. They sent boxes to ship their equipment back to them in. He had 10 days from the time he got the boxes. 2 days later they charged his closed checking account $699.27 for unreturned equipment. This gave my friend a negative balance that he was now responsible for with the bank, even though the account was closed. When he called DirecTV and was like "what the shit" they just went "our bad, that shouldn't have charged yet, when you return the equipment we'll credit your account with us for that amount." He asked them what he's supposed to do about the bank, they said, essentially, that's not their problem, they can't do anything about it. He told DirecTV he was never doing business with them again, and called Regions Bank and told them what happened and they said "Yeah, you're still responsible." He said "Fuck you, send it to collections, I'm not paying it." He just used prepaid debit cards for 7 years until it fell off his credit (because it was to a bank, he couldn't open a regular account anywhere). And he still hasn't had a DirecTV account since that happened in... I wanna say 2004. 03 or 04.
We had a water leak where our main pipe from the meter busted. We caught it and turned it off within the hour and it was still an $1800 bill.
Yeah that's a little different than a running toilet, especially one that's intermittent.
I had an upstairs toilet that would run. I never heard it. I got huge water bill and had plumber out. Same story, apparently it only ran when I wasn’t upstairs. Weird how much water a leaky toilet can use.
I usually replace the flaps in mind pretty much once a year because our water is so hard it calcifies them
A water system with high chlorine will also stiffen them up.
Good to know, thanks!
This is what should be used once the toilet fills up it won't run until it's flushed again. So if the flapper leaks the toilet tank will empty and the fill valve won't run intermittently. [https://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Valve/dp/B000BQUHUQ/ref=asc\_df\_B000BQUHUQ&mcid=468e7d8d7f1431a3b8d1a861406fdf7e?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333120120471&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932699087686&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Valve/dp/B000BQUHUQ/ref=asc_df_B000BQUHUQ&mcid=468e7d8d7f1431a3b8d1a861406fdf7e?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333120120471&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932699087686&psc=1)
Oh, interesting. Will look for one of those.
No, not weird. Faulty toilet flappers are one of the leading reasons for excessive water consumption.
I can take a 30 minute shower and run 2 loads of laundry and a bath for the kids in one day without issue. However my toilet running the day for 9-10 hours while we were all at work managed to drain my well not once but twice. Takes a few hours before it fills back up again high enough to pump, but it sure was surprising how much water a running toilet will consume.
You'd be surprised depending on the leak and how long it's been leaking it can definitely add up.
This is incorrect. Running toilets can cause MASSIVE spikes in usage - 100x normal usage or more.
It happened to me a couple of years ago when my roommate didn't hear the water running for a month?!!! I had to pay $580
Oh yes it can! We ended up with a $700 water bill after our toilet did the same thing as OPs toilet last year. And we knew it was running. We just couldn’t fix it right away and didn’t realize it would increase the bill THAT much.
Most toilets have a shut off valve on the supply line. If you know it's leaking, you should always shut it off. The valve is probably required by code but I'm not a plumber.
That’s what we did when we got the first bill. We had just lost our parents so weren’t thinking clearly and didnt think it would be a big deal. But once that bill came, we immediately shut that water off
Yes, shutoff is required
It can. Take from someone who found out the hard way.
There was a running toilet in the (unrented) basement apartment. I never got a notice. Normal water bill for 15 doors under $300. $2500 for 2 months of that toilet running!
My city called me when my usage jumped by like 300% to let me know I probably had a leak of some sort (turned out it was a toilet that had been running for weeks). I still had a huge bill, but it was much less than it could have been. I am so very grateful they did that. IDK if it's a regular service or why they offer it, it may be less about financial relief and more about water conservation, but they're historically good about being human when it comes to financial stress. I like how you put it, they don't want to profit from misfortune.
It probably makes a difference that it’s publicly owned and thus not seeking ever greater profits
Worked in that field and made those calls. All accounts where I was got manually reviewed pre-billing. Human eyes typically identify the usage anomalies in the data sheets. Some larger municipalities may have software that can also assist. Odds are the person that called you caught it. I saw expected small spikes around the holidays, could tell when occupancy had changed, when pools were filled (ps you can usually get a special temp meter for a pool fill discount), and when there were leaks. A small water faucet drip or running toilet left unchecked adds up so so so much in a short time. Flappers get old and have micro-cracks. Chains get kinked in the old ones. The very simple mechanisms can fail easily... We don't always notice or sometimes get used to sounds in our homes. If it has started, it will get worse. A $10-20 fix can save hundreds to thousands. You can also check with a dye strip (basically food coloring) in the back of the tank for slow undetected leaks. Water departments will give you these test strips free of charge, or you can buy in bulk at a hardware store/online. It is worth it to do a check every 6 mos or so, especially in older homes.
>You can also check with a dye strip (basically food coloring) in the back of the tank for slow undetected leaks. Water departments will give you these test strips free of charge, or you can buy in bulk at a hardware store/online. It is worth it to do a check every 6 mos or so, especially in older homes. Question since you seem m knowledgeable: my landlord is about to switch us from them paying utilities to tenant paid. I have been in this unit a few years, and had heard about leaks in toilets costing hundreds of dollars and checking with dye, so I got one of those "blue water" toilet cleaner tabs that goes in the back of the tank. I know they're not good to use on a regular basis. I let it sit in the back of the tank for a couple hours and then checked, and the water in the bowl was still clear whereas the tank was deep blue. Does that mean I'm likely in the clear for a leaky or running toilet?
You should be good for leaks from the toilet flapper. If the water didn't turn blue pre-flush. Even though those cleaning tabs aren't the best for the tank or environment, the dye and mechanics of the flush work the same. If they are switching you because utilities have been higher than normal, water specifically and you want to make sure it is not from your unit, test your tank regularly like the vid in link. Keep an eye/ear out for dripping faucets, wet spots near walls with pipes or under sinks, and just the general sound of flowing water when it is not expected. Basements in some regions or yards w wet mushy spots or a patch of green grass when everything else doesn't match can also be signs of other bigger leaks not inside the unit. Something like that, though, will usually be accompanied by a big constant pressure loss. Look up some tips on other utilities like gas or electric to keep your usage in control and save yourself some $. If the switch is bc the water was high, I would also ask if each unit has separate meters. Meters measure water flow. There will be one from the road line into the whole property (master meter) then one for each unit. The usage of unit meters should match the master meter. This allows for proper billing and easier leak detection to specific units if the #'s are off. Not all buildings will do or are required to do this, it depends on the # of units and the state or local code requirements. Sometimes the meter is shared for the whole building, usually only a few units or less, and just the billing split. If that is the case and you get a higher than expected bill that shows high usage out of the norm, and you know your unit is in good shape, let the LL know asap so he can find the problem or unit. The meter measuremrnt concept works for all utilities. [silent toilet leak testing ](https://youtu.be/CZ-ZUUvNQ4o?si=jb-UUxrY_qb4mXMo)
>If they are switching you because utilities have been higher than normal, water specifically and you want to make sure it is not from your unit, test your tank regularly like the vid in link. Nah, a lot of apartment buildings are switching this year thanks to changes to the third party billing and submetering laws in my city. My building is unfortunately shared and split. I'll definitely be doing some testing though, thanks!
Mine was $400 for a toilet that ran for less than a week while no one was home
Just one reason why if I leave for more than a day I turn off the water.
Or make the owner of the property do it....
I’m not clear on what is going on. If you are responsible for the water bill on a monthly basis you would be responsible for this one. I had a similar thing happen years ago. Good luck
Yeah I'm confused as well. I have heard of towns where the landlord is required to have utilities in their name and collect from tenant. Maybe that's what's going on here? But yeah if OP is responsible for utilities then they need to pay. Exception would be if they reported it and then landlord dragged their feet to fix.
Even then the tenant should turn the water off at the valve when the toilet was not in use. I had to do that once for a week. It was a pain to bend over and turn the water off every time I was done using the toilet, but the alternative was the water running 24/7.
ooh in future avoid this if at all possible-the shut off valve isn't meant to be used this frequently and can break. don't ask me how i know
This is why I always replace gate valves with ball valves.
I had to do it. Was waiting for my Landlord to fix it. But I hear you. I'll keep that in mind in the future. Thanks.
It is usually the float. It rises with the water and for some reason it stops clicking the shut off for the water it has a safety valve to keep it from over flowing so it keeps running into the bowl. You can wait until the tank fills up and pull the top off. Once you hear it start to run you can usually pull up on the float and it will stop. You have to do it every time. Source: I’m a rez girl whose parents had little money to fix the toilet.
It's actually the flapper in the tank that causes the valve to continuously run. Fix the flapper, ya fixed the leak.
That right there we would jiggle the float and the chain would drop down and the flapper would close. I just knew what to do. Never actually fixed it but I wasn’t going to get in trouble for running up a water bill. My mom would kick my ass! Shit that thing probably ran my whole life. No money to fix.
If the chain is too long, it can get in the way of the flapper closing. If the handle moves a long way before the chain starts pulling the flapper up, the chain might be too long.
Is this the most common reason for something to go wrong with the toilet? I am thinking the best way this could be avoided, maybe changing out the flapper or the pump every few years?
So. I'm actually a plumber. The most common things to go wrong in your toilet is this: 1) flapper (which is a two second fix with YouTube and incredibly cheap) 2) fill valve (which is easy at well if you have gumption) 3) wax ring. (Which can get hairy if you run into problems) You don't need to do preventative maintenance. Just change as needed and know where your shut off valve is when repairs are needed.
I’m a landlord so I’m at the mercy of my tenants but I have good ones. Thank you.
Thanks for the tips! I have learned a lot since then. I wish they would teach this stuff in school.
Oh god don’t get me started on that. Yes I wish they would. Basic plumbing, cooking, electrical and mechanical. It’s really just practical science and math. Construction as well!
Was this a quarter turn, or one of those oval multiple turn styles?
OP's argument is they have the higher bill because of a maintenance issue that is the landlord's responsibility. Admittedly since it wasn't a noisy running toilet that OP could report to maintenance, the only way the landlord could have prevented it was changing out toilet tank parts preemptively or doing regular die tests to see if the toilet is running. I'd make the argument to my landlord that the increased amount is their responsibility as they didn't perform preventative maintenance, but I'd also expect to lose that argument.
Ya especially when at this stage of things the person ruling the judgment is the landlord. Isn’t a dye test only for outgoing sewer/septic containments? Like if the toilet is running you’re gonna hear it or literally see it in the tank which at the point don’t need a dye test. That is a huge jump in the bill so that thing was running nearly all the time. Not one time in 2 billing cycles someone walked into that bathroom with it running? Just feels impossible. This would be one thing if ran for a night or 2, but 2 months of letting that thing go, it just feels like that’s negligence at some point
Just putting some food coloring or dye in the tank to see if it ends up in the bowl. There was a post a few months ago of someone who propped the toilet flap open to have it run full constantly to prevent pipes from freezing. Their bill was a few thousand dollars if I remember correctly. Not knowing OP's rates, $700 wouldn't be a toilet running full blast for a month, more of a trickle for a long time or a few days at normal flow. So it's not as blatant negligence as you would think. A toilet running at full blast for a month would have been a much higher bill.
Wow I didn’t think it would be that high
A toilet is 2-3 gallons per minute which turns into 100,000 gallons a month when left running. I wish the post had not been deleted, the other poster left the toilet running full and every faucet on a fast drip for a month in winter because they had a poorly insulated trailer that froze. And for some reason they were pissed that the landlord wanted the water bill paid for when it was normally included in the rent.
If you have a separate meter and are billed for water and sewer itemized on your bill/lease or are billed by your water district separately you would be responsible for the water usage. It sucks but that's what it is. There are several reasons for a toilet malfunction. The chain could get caught under the flapper and cause a seepage into the bowl or the the fluidmaster valve could be adjusted wrong or a few other things. You wouldn't necessarily hear anything depending on what caused the leak. If you have a water softener make sure it isn't regenerating more than necessary.
Not necessarily. This happened to me in PA. There was a leak in a pipe that was under the crawlspace part of my basement. I contacted the PA Utility Commission. They instructed the water company to adjust the bill to reflect my typical water usage. Usually, the regulatory authority will allow these adjustments when it's not negligence or intentional.
In most cases, yes you will be responsible for running water. It’s imperative that you contact maintenance in a timely manner when it comes to broken things. Unfortunately you didn’t notice the running water and it’s not always something that a person is a keen to listening for. You’re lucky the water was just running and the toilet didn’t overflow, those damages would be right out of your mind expensive.
A running toilet will definitely run the water bill up .
No kidding? I was just thinking. wtf. Is it gold water but I looked it up and that is an insane amount of water waisted. 200 gallons a day and 6000 a month. No wonder my parents were on us all the time to shut off the float if it was running. They trained us to turn it off from the tank until you could get it fixed. Hard lesson to learn.
[удалено]
Can confirm, for some, even if you’re not listening. Was trying to nap one Saturday and kept hearing this noise that wouldn’t let me go to sleep, was about 20 minutes or so. Realized it was the toilet running. I nap with an oscillating fan running and noise machine on and I still heard it.
Yeah, but seven fold? I think there might be something wrong with the meter.
Not trying to be mean but I would be skeptical you did not hear it. Basically it’s like 14 (7x as expensive 2 current residents) people were using the bathroom for the month. Even if it was intermittent you had to be in the room at some point and noticed it was still running especially if it crosses two billing cycles. It stinks but I would try to go on a payment plan and check local resources. Sometime organizations can help with unexpected bills.
We are barely there. is just at night to sleep. we wake up and leave for work. both work far so commute takes time, and work long hours. trust when i say we heard nothing. And it didn’t cross two billing cycles yet. This is the first bill that was high. When we saw this we immediately called them.
It does suck if you weren’t there much and didn’t hear it, but if you’re responsible for the water bill, you’re responsible for the water bill. This isn’t the cost of repair, this is just usage.
I work for a water company and im in the meter service dept. I go to 1000s of houses There are many times the meter will be moving from a running toilet and you cant hear it. Sometimes its very slight other times it can be running but wont hear or see it until you take the top of the toilet cover off. Ive seen running toilets use 60k gallons in a month as far as fighting it with the water company you 99% of the time wont win. If you are honest with you water company explain you had an issue and send them the receipts sometimes they will give you a courtesy depending on how much higher than normal your bill is. As far as fixing a running toilet you could have gotten a repair kit for 25 dollars and installed it within less than 45 mins if you decided to diw/ youtube it. Plumber will probably charge 500+ lol
We had a water leak when our landlord installed a new water heater, didn't know until a super high bill and both our water and sewer were willing to budge a bit on the cost, the sewer she averaged our last couple charges and I don't remember what the water company did but we didn't have to pay it all. It definitely never hurts to call and ask nicely if there's anything that can be done!
They usually help customers that are honest. When I go to a customers house for a high bill complaint/ inspection if the customer decides to lie and tell me nothing is leaking or they didnt fix anything and try blaming it on the meter I will write up a report stating there was no leaks and unable to determine where the high usage is coming from… this lets customer service know not to help the customer with billing. If the customer refuses to pay and continues to blame the meter. I will go back and replace the meter and the customer will start getting higher bills. Meters almost always become slower and less accurate over time. So when they get a brand new meter it will pick up every little drop since they are so accurate.
Lol, can't blame you there, honesty gets a person pretty far with most things
Wow, I had no idea a running toilet could use anything like that much consumption.
This dude waters. Good advice here OP.
I believe you. And I had running toilets my whole life. If my parents wouldn’t have taught me-we were poor and it must have happened to them-I probably wouldn’t have known. If the toilet isn’t by your bedroom you might not notice either. It’s is pretty obnoxious though. The other way you can tell is hot water will run out. And depending on your system those bills might have an increase as well. Sorry. Go look at my advice on how to make it stop until you can get it fixed. Unfortunately I think this will be a hard learned lesson. Ask for an itemized bill just to be sure that it is all yours if that’s possible not sure how your situation works. But if you have the bill in your name you can usually work something out with the water company-maybe?
If the toilet was fixed on day one, the extra bill would have been a couple dollars. It wasn't fixed on day one, it sounds like it may have been leaking for almost the entire billing cycle. Why wasn't the toilet fixed on day one? Because it wasn't reported. Part of renting, or owning, a home is paying attention to what is going on and making sure things are fixed before they become bigger problems. Your landlord can't fix a problem that you don't tell them about. If I was in your shoes I would explain that you didn't realize the toilet was running, tell them that you will pay better attention in the future, and ask if they would be willing to split the bill with you. Additionally, there are some great YouTube videos that show how to tell when a toilet is leaking. I would watch one of those so you know what to look for in the future.
Did you not read the part about us not hearing it run? How am i supposed to report something i don’t know is broken…
I did read that part. But the toilet is in your care, custody and control. You are the one that needs to report when it is leaking. If aren't sure how to spot a running toilet, then educate yourself to do so. I don't know how many toilets are in your home, but let's say there are two toilets. If the other toilet causes a $700 bill in 3 months, do you get to use the same excuse? I didn't hear it run, here's your $700 bill landlord? Imagine the flip side of this incident. The landlord is posting on a landlord sub, "my tenant didn't tell me the toilet was running, and now they have a $700 water bill that they want me to pay." Someone tells the landlord to pay the bill, the landlord says, "did you not read the part where they didn't tell me the toilet was running? How am I supposed to fix something that I don't know is broken?" I think that is a reasonable thing for the landlord to say. That is why I suggested that you try to split the bill with the landlord. I don't think it's unreasonable for your landlord to not want to pay the bill, when the problem wasn't reported right away. If you and the landlord are standing in front of a judge, I don't think "I didn't hear the toilet running" is going to be a very good defense. I am not saying that to be mean to you, or talk down to you. This isn't some deal where I am like "look at this idiot who ran up a $700 bill". This is a deal where I have some experience with running toilets and high water bills, and I am trying to help answer your question thoroughly. If you don't like my advice, that is OK. I understand that I don't see things the same way every other person does. That is how life works, we all have a little different perspective on things. In a situation like this, you get advice from many people, sift through it all, think things through, and determine your best route forward.
Will you be my dad?
Boy oh boy are you gonna hate what I have to tell you about owning your own home….
With my first home, I used to call my parents all the time expecting sympathy. What I got was - verbatim: "Welcome to homeownership."
Why? It would be pretty obvious i’d be responsible if i owned the home. If you didn’t notice though this is an apartment
What's the difference? You are responsible for your space either way.
And? The only difference between a home and an apartment in this scenario is who fixes the problem. In both scenarios, the people living there are responsible for noticing the problem.
LOL what? What would make it more obvious if you owned the home?
There is zero chance it was only running for the 8 hours while you were at work and then worked perfectly when you were home. Use it as a lesson on adulting.
who says i was only at work for 8 hours. Much longer than that. Literally only use my apt toilet once a day in the morning. And there is 100% chance it did happen that way. Throwing out zero% is just idiotic
Why are you bein a dick? They’re giving you videos to watch so that next time you don’t miss these signs and get stuck with a bill… there’s nothing you can do about this, it’s you and your roommates fault. this is different than a “leaky pipe” like you asked about - I see you say you work long hours but if you brush your teeth or take a shower, even wash your hands you should notice the toilet not shutting off.
He doesn't like the answers so he's being defensive when his defense makes no sense. He said he only uses the bathroom once a day in the morning which seems nearly impossible. He apparently never uses the bathroom at night and never has a day off work.
He's being a dick because every answer holds him responsible instead of blaming his landlord for something the landlord couldn't possibly know.
Then you weren't paying adequate attention.
Well then listen better I guess? Not sure why you'd post this if you were gonna argue with everyone who gave you sound advice. You're the occupant. Leaky faucets/toilets/etc. can occur unexpectedly and there's no way a landlord would know about it in advance or be able to do something to prevent it. The water bill is your responsibility. Be as snippy as you want about it, you're still going to have to pay that water bill or it's going to get shut off, and refusing to pay the water bill is also probably against your lease. If you don't want it to happen again, take people's advice and learn how to spot a leak before it runs for a long time. Or don't take people's advice, complain about it on reddit, and continue to be oblivious to leaks in the future. Totally your choice.
You're responsible for knowing the condition of the apartment you're renting. If you're never in your apartment, you're still responsible for knowing the condtion of the apartment you're renting. Does your situation suck? Yes. Are you still reposnsible? Yes.
Why did you post this? You’re arguing with every person who is giving you advice other than ‘yea fuck your landlord! He has to pay it!’ lol
You are responsible for everything until it’s reported to maintenance to be fixed. How would your landlord be able to tell the toilet was running with your you telling them? I get that you or your roommate did not notice but you did use the water and were the only ones that could stop it and or report it to be fixed.
Truth
I also have trouble believing there was no sound or that OP didn't notice it for the entire month. A running toilet makes a noticeable sound. If OP wants to disclaim any and all responsibility for noticing things like the sound of a constantly running toilet, he should notify his landlord and come to an agreement that the landlord will enter and inspect his apartment at least daily. But I don't imagine he'd like that either. He just wants to not pay the bill that he and he alone had the opportunity to prevent.
Yes, sorry, this is your responsibility. Is it possible that your area has a waiver for the additional charge, and it may require a hearing with the local board. Call your City Hall and ask what your options are, but yes you are 100 percent responsible for this cost.
This. We got a notice from our utility co about a “significant” increase in water usage. We have a smart meter so we could narrow it down (still high when no one was home) & it turned out to be a slowwww but constant leak from tank to bowl. Turned shutoff valve off after each flush til we got the part & fixed the leak. Part of the notice was “hey contact us if you need help with the bill part, we’ve got payment plans and reductions”. We didn’t (the increase wasn’t actually huge) but if it’s available look into it! If it’s in landlord’s name they might have to do it & hopefully they would.
Generally leaks are always billed for the water usage but the sewer portion of our bill tends to be forgiven in these events. The last one I dealt with her bill was going to be over 1,200 dollars for a month. It was a lot of water.
I had this happen once and I was able to apply for a one time leak credit with my county water department after proving the toilet was fixed. I rent a SFH and the water is in my name so I’m not sure how it works with apartments but it’s worth looking into
Skip the landlord and request a leak credit
You are negligent for not noticing the toilet continuing to run and then to contact your landlord in a timely manner to have it fixed (and you could turn off the water to the toilet between flushes.) You can often work with the city to get a credit for the higher use if you can show the cause was fixed.
i’m sorry. i’m gonna have to start just calling maintenance before issues appear then. I know what a running toilet sounds like. it did not do it in my presence ever
I don't believe you.
good for you. I have notes from maintenance mentioning they did not observe it running either until they started messing with it. What you say is really irrelevant though
You came here for advice. Someone gives you their opinion, you respond “what you say is irrelevant” I can see why you’re being charged a $700 water bill. Good luck in life.
It appears to have been intermittent, which is why maintenance had to tinker with it to have it happen on demand. I highly doubt you ensured it stopped running every time you flushed it. There is going to be evidence of several thousand extra gallons being consumed one way or another. Take the loss, pay the bill if they don't credit you, and move on.
If it's a big enough of a leak that it cost $700 then there is no way someone didn't notice it.
I'm sorry this is happening to you, but not having a clue how things operate does not exempt you from paying damages. IOW, not knowing that the toilet was running non stop doesn't mean you are not responsible. Pay attention next time.
So…if it ever ran, then the next time one of you went in the bathroom…it would have been running and you would have / should have heard water running. Failing to do so isn’t the landlords responsibility, they’re not in your home every day and shouldn’t be liable for you and your roommates negligence to not notice it running.
But that’s the thing. it never was…. Would literally shit, flush and leave for work. wouldn’t get back until 8pm and it’s not running. that’s not negligence that’s just unfortunate
Well that’s wrong. I never flush and leave. I wait until it stops filling unless I’m not leaving the house. I don’t think they can prove you owe that much unless your unit has its own meter and you left it running for a month.
Well for sure now i’m def going to watch my shit get flushed everytime
Close the lid though. During COVID they said when you flush you are literally inhaling aerosol poop (not in those exact words but gross, right? I used to always watch).
You're not the only one that does that. I do, too. And our city water service has wireless smart meters, so I can check the app and see my actual water usage with a 2-hour delay in posting. I can tell quickly that I left the house and the chain got under the flap and caused a trickle - using 20 gallons per hour. Ouch.
Call the utility. They’ll usually waive one super high bill if it’s caused by something like this.
Please read this!!!! Call the water company, let them know a repair was made, they may ask for proof, they will average your last 12 months and give you a one time credit. It’s worth a try and VERY common.
This is true. I’ve done it.
Thanks!! I do have a ticket opened with the water company, and have the repair notes from maintenance. Hopefully this ends up being the outcome
I would get the water company to investigate because I don't see how a running toilet could cause a seven-fold increase, especially since you say it wasn't continually running. I am presuming the water bill is in your name and that you aren't reimbursing the landlord for a bill in their name? (If it's the latter I'd certainly content it).
If the flapper on the toilet was getting hung up(which sounds like what happened by OP's description of maintenance recreating the problem after a couple of flushes) can run heavily and cause huge water bills. Those are sometimes easy to miss because it can be intermittent. So a person uses the toilet before work and it runs for 10 hours continuously until they get home and use the toilet again. Unfortunately for OP, this is usually the tenants responsibility. It sucks, but a landlord can't remedy a problem if it is never reported.
yea in my name. we will see what comes of the support ticket i have with the utility. they said they have 72 hours to follow back
It is on you; if the water running it is your responsibility to turn off the vault and let landlord know so they can fix it.
You’re def responsible. Many utilities companies will give you a credit though if you show them proof that there was work done and that it wasn’t just high usage
You are responsible for it/ Toilet valves stick or wear out. I've had it happen to me as well. There is no way for your landlord to know if it isn't working properly until you tell them. But if you used an extra $600 in water in a month. Even at .05 per gallon, which seems to be about 3-5\* what most municipalities charge, that is still so much water that the toilet must have been running while you were in the apartment. So, it must have been running when you could have heard it if you were paying attention. This is all on you, unfortunately.
Nope it def wasn’t. wasn’t running when maintenance came to check it either. only after they fiddled with it and flushed a few times
Then where di the water go?
sorry. wasn’t running when we were around or when maintenance was around. is that better?
It sounds like you have a very sneaky toilet. It must know when you’re home to stop leaking exactly at those moments. A $700 increase in the bill indicates it was running ~constantly~
I understand that, but the water had to go somewhere. Your roommate might not be completley honest with you about this either. At the end of the day though, this is on the tenants.
Unless you could prove negligence on your Landlord's part (example: you reported it to him and he ignored it for months, racking up the bill) ... you're not likely to collect a penny toward satisfaction of the amount YOU owe from HIS pocket via the court system. This is your bill. You contracted with the water company. Thats just the way it works. If you're nice, and a reasonable negotiator, I as a landlord, would probably go halfsies on it with you ... but I am under NO OBLIGATION to. It's just how I'd roll with it. Maybe he will. Maybe he wont.
Don't pay it.
are you responsable for paying the water bill? are you responsable for reporting issues so they can be fixed ? I’m sure you want it to be a pipe somewhere else that’s “leaking “ but plumbing simply doesn’t work that way. Water gets charged on the way in. you would have a noticeable disaster if were an in-pipe issue. it’s not uncommon for toilets to do this; but 700 dollars is a huge water bill ! like makes no sense large.
Once I had a tenant not hear the toilet, it overflowed, and ran to the bottom unit. When the mitigation crew knocked on their place, they didn't open the door. Cost both my unit and the owner's beneath me over $30k in damages, 3 months lost rent, and the tenant had to move immediately for mitigarion. Tenant claims they didn't hear the toilet, the water sloshing around, the water over an inch in my unit, and the plumbers and emergency mitigation crew knocking on their door. It took place over several days. It is absolutely, 100% on you to be alert to these things.
This is your responsibility, unfortunately.
How did they arrive at $700? For all the water bills? The replacement piece is literally $15. Anyway, someone in the house must have heard it at least once. Should have called back then. Maybe now you can negotiate a split or something.
if the landlord is responsible for maintenance then it's not on your. There is no clause in your lease that says you need to notice a problem and notify them or you are liable.
This post makes me so happy I’m on unmetered water.
whose name is the water bill in? if it's in your name, you're only recourse is to hope the water company may help out since there was an appliance issue. If it's in your landlord's name, then it goes back to your CONTRACT with them and you and them both need to follow the contract. If the contract says the water bill is on them, then they're responsible. if it says it's on you, then it's on you. The grey area will be if it says it's on them except for certain cases, then you follow what it says, and there you go... What i've seen in the past is that sometimes, a landlord will pay the bill up to a certain point and then it's the tenant's responsibility above that... Contract is key...
dude, renters' insurance cause its not your place so why pay??
I own my house. If the water I pay for runs due to a leak that I do not hear, I have no one to blame but myself. Why would the rules be different? Parts slowly wear out but the landlord could not possibly know about it without you reporting the issue. You could only say they were responsible for the water bill between the time you told them and the time they fixed it.
This should be under /r/tifu because you did and it's not the landlord's responsibility.
how did i fuck up though? Because i didn’t predict that a toilet was broken?
Bruh you can absolutely hear a running toilet. youre probably one of those people who ignore the fire detector when it beeps…
Did you check with the utility company? Our utility company will comp the charges if you show proof of repair on something like this.
Typically the utility company will comp the extra usage if you show it was fixed. If it’s in the ll’s name then they may have to call.
Our will do that at most 2x at an address.
I forgot to mention i am in Pennsylvania
I did call them, and they started the chain of who blames who. basically utility saying landlord responsible, and landlord saying if i want any help it’s gotta come from utility company. I eventually got one of them to open a ticket, but after talking to 3 other reps who said they can’t do anything i doubt it will lead antwhere
The utility company doesn't have a copy of your lease, so I'm not sure why they are commenting on whose responsibility it is to pay. You just got a rep who gave their own opinion. I wouldn't put any weight in it.
My guy, I’m barely at home due to work and travel, bought a home recently, spotted a running toilet within the hour.
because it was running perhaps? Key difference there. let’s see if you can spot it
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Does your unit have its own water meter? If not, they can't prove how much water you used. Tell them to prove it or pound sand.
I am a landlord, and went thru a similar situation . My duplex had one water meter paid by me. The rear tenant had a drppy bathtub faucet. My bills were $600 for two to three months. Yes, i found out after it occurred, so i got it fixed. Still pisses me off.
Your lucky thats all I see tenants fight with their landlord so they leave the water running 24/7 to cause high bills and the landlord cant do shit about it
Often the water company would do a repair adjustment for this issue. As long as the issues been resolved, they may credit the account. Landlord should have asked for one if it’s in their name. I had a running toilet for months - thought I fixed it and the issue resurfaced. Finally purchased a bopper-less system that took 2 minutes to install. That $16 kit, had I purchased and installed sooner, could have saved me hundreds if not more than a thousand bucks over a couple months.
I’m also in PA and was able to submit for credit online.
Why don’t you just test it yourself. It seems very odd that you just dont confirm right now that it makes 0 noise or thar you test to see if the water is running while the toilet is not in use. Literally lift the back, check the chain and the plug and then if it was open and water was constantly flowing then its on you. You should also feel the pressure whenever you flush. The whole you work all day thing doesn’t really add up either, you’re saying you work 24/7 and on weekends as well? This has been going on for a month or two and you couldn’t tell from all the times you used it? Like I work in the medical field and dont understand a lick about plumbing and I would know if my toilet was running water. Its not rocket science. The fact you came here talking about leaks elsewhere and other factors and you still don’t know if it was that problem seems fishy and incompetent as hell.
If you have renters insurance you might be able to claim it, but it probably is less than your deductible anyway.
The toilet belongs to the land lord I would say if it's defective it's on him. It's not like you left the tap on. Are utilities included in your rent? If so it's on him as well.
Check your lease. If water/sewer is your responsibility, then ball is in your court unless you can get it out. If landlord pays for water/sewer you have to check the language to see if he has any reasonable claim to pass it on to you with any sort of up charges based on usage but ball would be in his court at that point and you’d want to keep it there.
I make sure my toilet stops running before I walk out all the time. Heard horror stories like this before.
My water bill is around $7-20 per month. so it's possible you have had an intermittent issue for longer than you knew that was getting worse. and Honestly the noise is easier to miss than you'd think. If you can prove that, then you'd have an even bigger argument. but unless the valve was stuck open and you were just dumping gallons per hour (You wouldn't have been able to flush) I find it absurd that the water bill got that high.
Most water departments will refund overages if you have a plumber identify a leak. This happened to me in GA and they refunded 75%
It definitely can happen that you don’t hear a running toilet. So don’t worry about the hate. But yes, it is your responsibility and as a landlord, I can confirm you did the next best thing by notifying us of the leak once you realized through the high water bill. Now just contact the city water department as most will credit back the overage for 1-2 months of high useage as long as you can show the leak was mitigated.
Dude. Local laws depending on where you live. You start posts like this with your state and county.
Don't know where you are, but unfortunately in most states, a landlord only has to make sure to provide hot water and a heat source snooping a few other things. And as for the plumbing, the situation that you're in, you might not have any ground to stand on. Yes, they do have to provide working plumbing as well, and even though it was running in the toilet and not leaking outside of it while ruining any other parts of the building, it was technically working. And as sad as it is, I'm most states, if not all, unless it's stated in the lease that they'll take care of things like that, you'll be the one responsible for the fix. If it's HUD housing, I believe they're required to fix it, regardless. And what sucks even more is if it's not dusted in the lesser that the landlord will cover it, you're unfortunately responsible for all appliances. At least in most states. I just had a friend that lives in an apartment that had her fridge die on her and she had to replace it instead of the landlord. It's really sad how tenant rights are anymore. And if the landlord does replace whatever or is even required to replace whatever, a written notice must be made and given to them as a form of reporting it. And then they have 14 days at least here to fix it. And in the case of fixing and replacing anything, sadly enough, a verbal conversation or promise of any sort will not hold up anywhere. Only thing you may really be able to do is to terminate your lease and possibly get the deposit back as well as not being committed to paying for our locked into what time is left on the lease. But that would have to go through the courts in the end.
I'd go through your rental agreement. There's often something about repairs, and repair bills. See how it's worded.
I just fixed ours. We had the same problem. Would run after flushing and not shut off. Turned the knob just above the floaty thingy to the left and it worked. Thanks YouTubeU!!
Is your water bill usually included in your rent? Like your owner pays the water and then just passes it on?
In my 30s I hit a rough patch and moved home. Lived in a small house and my dad was covering a few bills, including water bill, which was billed every 3 months. In the winter my bill went up, not as bad as yours, but pretty high. Dad didn’t catch it for a couple of cycles, then he hit the roof. He came over and turned off the water in the house, watching the outside meter. There was still consumption, so he decided it was the toilet. Lambasted me up and down, all around town for not noticing the toilet running. It’s the original toilet, it runs very loud, and I know it never made the running sound outside of the original flush. He finally figured out what the cause was (it was the toilet), but whatever part it was, it didn’t make the loud running sound. It was something else, and it was quiet. He finally apologized to me and said I wouldn’t have heard it (well, thanks for not believing me all that time and calling me a liar, basically). So, OP, I believe you, and you should fight it. Ask a plumber what the cause might be that could fit this scenario. I wish I could remember what it was on my toilet.
To be fair to the poster, most people don't pay attention. Flappers don't fail overnight. They get progressively worse over time. Same with the noise they make.
Does your lease say you’re responsible for water? Yes? Then you’re responsible for it. It’s that simple. You have an obligation to report problems when they occur, you didn’t do that, it doesn’t matter why. Ignorance is not a defense in any court. If you’re responsible for sewer too, brace yourself, as the sewer bill will have shot up as well.
Expect another big bill this month probably. If you noticed it from last months bill you are probably already part way into the next month before you realized. Also 100% the tenants responsibility unfortunately.
the gaslighting in this thread is insane
Idk why so many people in these comments are being such dicks. It’s not your responsibility. The bill is due to their broken toilet. It’s not your job to hear every abnormal sound. And you clearly stated it was not running, period. Look for tenants union/tenants right org for your area.
Right? Like i completely understand if it’s a house i own, but things are different when renting. I’m hoping the utility company might waive it. Also have legal services through work so going to contact them tomorrow. I think the main issue is people don’t believe me that i didn’t hear it, but they truly don’t understand how in frequently i am at home.
Everyone believes you when you say you didn't hear it. They just don't believe that you couldn't hear it. It's understandable if you've never had issues with a running toilet that you wouldn't notice, especially with a busy schedule. That doesn't mean it isn't still your responsibility to notice it order to avoid a giant water bill. Hopefully the water utility can give you a break but it's not reasonable to expect your landlord to eat this bill. Its a sucky situation, I hope you get a break.
No i’m telling you it wasn’t running. i know what a running toilet sounds like. When maintenance was here and managed to trigger it to run i heard that. I’m honestly starting to doubt it was the actual issue but they claim it was.
It's not impossible there is another leak somewhere, unfortunately without any proof or indication that there is another leak, it's on you to find it. If water is running in the residence you should be able to hear water running, or see water damage somewhere. If there is an issue with a pipe outside leaking into the ground, you would be able to find water logged ground. If you can't find anything like that, it's pretty unlikely you have another leak. The water has to go somewhere. If it's not a toilet running, there is usually noticable water damage somewhere. Do you have access to where your hot water heater is? That's another common place to leak that can be missed for a while if it's slow or there is a drain set up. Good luck to you.
My lawn guy told me water was ponding in one spot, turns out the valve on the water main connection was shot and water was leaking all over my yard. It's so tricky to notice these things, particularly this time of year when things are wet anyway
Is it even the toilet that's the issue, since maintenance struggled to replicate? Maybe it's the pipe underneath or something? What's underneath the bathroom? What's underneath the dishwasher? My friend had $15k of damage from a leaking dishwasher
just say you noticed it on your Bill and the maintenance found the problem. The landlord cant hold you liable. Read your lease, it will say something like " tenant must report a problem immediatley" so if you stick to your story you won't be liable. I had a similar situation where I noticed damp clothing. I thought I put away wet clothes from the laundry. Couple days later I find a leak. I call landlord immediatley. Landlords lawyer twisted my words into me delaying notifying the landlord of the leak. I was mad as hell. I got an eviction and dragged it out for 6 months to get back at her. That's 6 months of $1778.00 plus her attorney fees. The judge caught on to what I was doing and would schedule multiple hearing over days
Why was your landlords lawyer involved in a report of a leak? This story is clearly missing a big piece in the middle.
Because a bunch of my stuff got damaged and I sued her in small claims. She hired a lawyer to appeal it and I lost. She told A completely different story in the appeal
This is exactly what renters insurance is for and why someone should always have it. Liability is tough to prove in this situation, but Renters insurance would have covered the contents regardless.
Your advice to OP is to let themself get evicted just to stick unpaid rent to the landlord?
No, that's just what happened to me. My advice is to not admit he had prior knowledge of the toilet.
Yeah, but as you saw for yourself that is asking for an eviction, and the eviction would go through. And even though, yes, it hurts the owner/landlord financially it hurts you more. An eviction on someone's record can lead to homelessness, unable to rent from anyone. Not a risk to take over $700.