Kessil

EBMUD.. and flowmeter

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vissen319

Supporting Member
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Hi all,

Just got slapped with a high bill (3-4X the usual amount). Hard to say where it is coming from but I jumped from 730 GPD to 1929 GPD for the past 2 consecutive billing cycles. These are 2 months period.

It could be that our irrigation controller became faulty during that time. We were also doing some frequent big water changes on the tank.

I closed all my irrigation for now. We were also away on holidays for the past 2 weeks. So I am expecting a big drop.

- should I get EBMUD to check their meter?

The past billing cycles have been 'ok'. So I am guessing that it is not their meter but maybe it is worth having a look.

Meanwhile I am also thinking of getting a flowmeter to track water usage. Is it worth having a smart flowmeter installed to monitor water usage? A few years back I was checking Flo by Moen but it looks like the reviews are pretty average. I see more brands now like streamlabs etc.

Any suggestions? EBMUD gives a rebate on those.

Thanks all!
 
Does EBMUD have meters that automatically communicate back to the fatherland? e.g. "Smartmeters"

Because if not it could be something as simple as them not checking your meter for a month or more and using past year's usage as a gauge for your bill but if you use more then when they do finally check your meter your bill will jump quite a bit, this ends up doubly bad when there exists "sin taxes" in with your rate, so the extra amount is actually paid at a higher rate.

That said, whether or not a smart flowmeter is "worth it", could be worth it if you suspect a leak, especially between the meter (street side) and where it enters your house (often underground under a sidewalk). So unless you suspect a leak that could be causing massive $$$ worth of damage probably aren't "worth it" as any screwing by meter readers probably are not going to add up too high, and a quick look a 3/4" Moen smart meter at well over $500 and if you're unable to do the installation work yourself (e.g. need to call a plumber) you would need a lot of meter misreads to make it "worth it", of course "worth" could be beyond financial and if you said you get a rebate
 
sfsuphysics said:
Does EBMUD have meters that automatically communicate back to the fatherland? e.g. "Smartmeters"

Because if not it could be something as simple as them not checking your meter for a month or more and using past year's usage as a gauge for your bill but if you use more then when they do finally check your meter your bill will jump quite a bit, this ends up doubly bad when there exists "sin taxes" in with your rate, so the extra amount is actually paid at a higher rate.

That said, whether or not a smart flowmeter is "worth it", could be worth it if you suspect a leak, especially between the meter (street side) and where it enters your house (often underground under a sidewalk). So unless you suspect a leak that could be causing massive $$$ worth of damage probably aren't "worth it" as any screwing by meter readers probably are not going to add up too high, and a quick look a 3/4" Moen smart meter at well over $500 and if you're unable to do the installation work yourself (e.g. need to call a plumber) you would need a lot of meter misreads to make it "worth it", of course "worth" could be beyond financial and if you said you get a rebate
Click to expand...
Only some meters do if you're part of their pilot program that gives you notices and daily reads. I wasn't, and got nailed with a $600 bill because of the lack of notices and multiple month billing that they do this summer due to a drip on my front faucet. Afterwards I got a Flume smart meter which I installed myself and was half paid by an EBMUD rebate. Just fits right over the service line and has a wireless bridge you plug in to communicate. App tracks usage by the minute and sends alerts you can customize. Highly recommend it.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Does EBMUD have meters that automatically communicate back to the fatherland? e.g. "Smartmeters"

Because if not it could be something as simple as them not checking your meter for a month or more and using past year's usage as a gauge for your bill but if you use more then when they do finally check your meter your bill will jump quite a bit, this ends up doubly bad when there exists "sin taxes" in with your rate, so the extra amount is actually paid at a higher rate.

That said, whether or not a smart flowmeter is "worth it", could be worth it if you suspect a leak, especially between the meter (street side) and where it enters your house (often underground under a sidewalk). So unless you suspect a leak that could be causing massive $$$ worth of damage probably aren't "worth it" as any screwing by meter readers probably are not going to add up too high, and a quick look a 3/4" Moen smart meter at well over $500 and if you're unable to do the installation work yourself (e.g. need to call a plumber) you would need a lot of meter misreads to make it "worth it", of course "worth" could be beyond financial and if you said you get a rebate
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I do not know enough about their smartmeters but I see that EBMUD references smart meter on their website. So, i will take a closer look.

Good point. I see from my billing cycles that the read dates were within the time period stipulated on the bill, and they look continuous. So, it is odd. I will contact EBMUD nevertheless.

The smart flowmeter will not be as accurate as the consumption meter from EBMUD but my hope is that i can at least get an alert about an unusual water consumption pattern. I am not interested to know the exact gal that I am losing but a spike in % consumption will be useful data. Otherwise I have to wait 2 months cycle to know about it.

Thank you for your insights!
 
Srt4eric said:
With no water running go out to your meter and see if the meter is still moving. Sounds like you might have a leak.
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I went to check my meter, and i do not see the dial moving. So, that is a good sign.

The numbers on the billing are odd..i will contact EBMUD just in case.

Thank you!
 
Darkxerox said:
Only some meters do if you're part of their pilot program that gives you notices and daily reads. I wasn't, and got nailed with a $600 bill because of the lack of notices and multiple month billing that they do this summer due to a drip on my front faucet. Afterwards I got a Flume smart meter which I installed myself and was half paid by an EBMUD rebate. Just fits right over the service line and has a wireless bridge you plug in to communicate. App tracks usage by the minute and sends alerts you can customize. Highly recommend it.
Click to expand...
Good to know. I will check their smart meter first...Otherwise something like flume may be way to do. The Flo seems somewhat pricey and the reviews are average. Thanks!
 
vissen319 said:
Good to know. I will check their smart meter first...Otherwise something like flume may be way to do. The Flo seems somewhat pricey and the reviews are average. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Yeah the flume was like 200 and already paid for itself for me. I got $100 back in a bill rebate too.
 
It does a per minute measurement as well as track usage across devices. It's not perfect but has been pretty accurate total use wise and how much is being used at any given time.
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