While we were at Disney World in January, someone stole our water from outside our house. Our water bill runs about $80 a month (thanks to the wonderful sewer surcharge) and the bill for January was $198! We asked them to come out and read the meter again, and unfortunately it was correct. Our February bill was issued and it was back to $80 a month. Go figure….
We have 2 good reasons to believe it was stolen and I am pretty sure who did it…. but the point of the post is to find out how to keep this from happening to us again.
I was looking on Amazon and they have a lot of different locks that you can put on your outdoor faucets. I have also heard that you can turn your water off when you go on vacation, but I also heard that it was bad on your water heater to do that….?
So if you have some tips, please share them!
Wow! I’ve never even thought about the possibility of someone stealing water. That’s terrible! Our water bill is normally a flat $18 every two months … if our bill ever comes out higher than that, I will definitely be suspicious, because you have to use a lot to go above the minimum here.
Definitely check and see if you have cutoff valves for your outside faucets. We’ve had ours shut off since November so that there’s no water to burst the pipes in case of a winter freeze. Thanks for mentioning this, though–I will definitely suggest to my husband that we close them off for vacations, too!!
Sorry to hear that. Glad I’m not alone. We had the same thing happen to use while waiting for our house to short sell. We were tight with our neighbors while we lived there, but as soon as we left the thugs stole our expensive-extra sun screens (we live in AZ). They ended up having the same floor plan so they fit their house. The last month while waiting for the process to be complete, our water bill jumped from $60 to double almost triple that. Clearly someone stole it because NO ONE was in the house.
We shut ours off when we leave for vacation. I’ve never heard of it hurting anything.
We have a shut-switch outside near the pump house, since we have well water!!! I know your pain…..we let someone tie into our water-line to keep them from putting down a well. After a broken pipe at their house and low water volume at our house………we said enough after our electric bill went from 170’s range to 397.00 in one month.
Wow! That is a big difference!
I had the same thing happen to me when we went to Disney a few years ago. It had to be a neighbor, which were asked to ‘watch’ the house while we were gone. :(
I would think if they would have enough never to steal water then they wouldnt be afraid to cut the lock off either.
I would have a shut off value to the exterior of the house installed by a plumber. I would think it would be fairly simple install, and save you in the long run!
I agree with previous post. We have a vacation home and shut off water and the water heater when we leave. It is also good in case u have a toilet leak while u r gone. That way u don’t come home to a flooded house! If it is a newer house there should be anti siphon on the outside hose so it won’t freeze. Sorry to hear about your theft. I know we pay alot for water too in AZ about $75 – 80 a month.
Wow that is definitely not good. Not that I haven’t thought that someone would try it, esp. if there’s a drought and everybody is on tight restrictions. That happens where I live quite a bit.
When we go out of town my DH turns off the water and the water heater. Have you ever had a flood inside your house? We have, so this is why we turn the water off. Braided hoses that connect to your faucets, toilets etc. can burst w/ if the water pressure is too high.
Also be sure to check your toilets before you leave. Sometimes our toilets will keep running if we don’t pull up on the handle all the way after flushing. That constant running water for 2 weeks could add up quickly.
Sorry about the extra costs, that is never what you want to see. Especially right after a big trip.
That’s a very good point!
We often will have someone staying at our house for a few nights while we are away. This keeps a car around as well as lights being turned off and on. However I think I would turn my water off if this was not the case.
We’ve turned off our water before when we’ve gone on long vacations. We also turn our hot water tank off. In fact, since DH lost his job in 2009, we’ve shut our hot water tank off quite a bit to lower our electric bill. Just make sure you turn the water heater off, then turn the water off. When you get home, turn the water on first, then the heater – otherwise you can burn your heater up. My parents have a vacation home and have never had problems turning the water & water tank off – as long as you do it in the correct order. :o)
How on earth did they do that?! That is insane. I should get one of those locks to keep my kids from turning the water on in the backyard in the summer. My water bill was insane last year because of that. When we go to disney this year we plan on shutting our water off just incase a pipe bursts while we are gone. Never thought about anyone stealing water. So sorry someone did that to ya’ll.
That is so horrible! I would shut the water off while you are gone! Good Luck!
Definitely don’t have the water shut off to your entire house. We’ve lived in 5 different houses (because of hubby’s job) in NY, NC, GA and TX. Some of those homes had water turn offs for just the outdoor water faucet. In one house it was inside the crawl space on the other side of the wall where the faucet was. In another it was under the sink on the other side of the wall from the outdoor faucet. At another house it was actually outside right next to where we could turn off the water to our house. One valve went to our interior water and one went to the outside faucets and sprinklers. Maybe you have one of these and just don’t know it. Or I think you could call a plumber and have one put on for you. Don’t know if that would be cheaper than a lock though.
There are cameras that are activated by movement. My father used them in the woods to take pics of wildlife. It’s also fun to catch movement of the little ones running around with Papa on the fourwheeler. If you have a tree nearby, you could easily prop it in there. Also good for “security” in general. Save up some Swag Bucks and get yourself one!
And that’s so sad. I know we’ve been stolen from, and if people would have just asked, we would have gladly helped them out. But they have a Higher Power to answer to.
Good luck!
We also have a shutoff value inside our basement adjacent to the faucet outside. We shut ours off for the winter so it doesn’t freeze, good old New England weather! I think that is really low that someone would steal water and honestly, I would never have thought to shut or lock it while on vacation. Now I know! I guess it takes all kinds to do things like that!
I agree with the shutting the outside water supply off. That is a crazy amoutn of water, double what your whole household spends on water a month! What could they possibly have done with it all?
If you only think they will do this during your vacation, then just turn the water off from the inside shut off valve. Up here where it gets cold we do that in the winter to keep the pipes from freezing, it will not hurt your water heater.
My parents went to their weekend house one time and caught their handyman washing other people’s cars (for $$) in their driveway with their water!!!
Wow!
What do you think that did with all that water?
Well because of how the bill does, it wasn’t THAT much water b/c it raised our sewer charge. The sewer was $125 and the water usage was $48.
Don’t you guys have an inside shutoff for the outside water? We do here in the north because we have to shut the water off to the outside in the winter so the pipes do not freeze. Solves the problem without locks…. they can turn all they want and no water will come out.
What in the world?? First of all I almost fell over when you said your water bill was $80 per month!! We don’t have a sewer surcharge though…whatever that is…rofl. We live out in the country and everyone has their own sewer tanks and our bill runs about $7-$14 per month except in the summer when we’re constantly filling the swimming pool.
And to think that someone would steal water….good grief!!
Sorry !!!!!!! Things are going to have to get better. gas “up” +food “up”= people going crazy!
We live in CT and we shut off our water to the outside every winter so it doesn’t freeze. We are able to shut off just the spout to the outside. Maybe you have a shut off like that too?
I have never heard of stealing water! Who would even think of that?! How terrible!
Oh wow, that is awful. :-(
This happened to my sister a while back, they had their water shut off the next time they were gone for 2 weeks. Unfortunately they had broken pipes when they went to turn the water back on, since they froze and the pipes couldn’t handle the water pressure coming back on. Now she calls the water company to let them know when she’s not going to be there, and sometimes checks in while she’s gone. Sounds extreme, but that’s a lot of money to lose.