Unexpectedly high water bill, has anyone seen meter over report due to air in the line?

[Jetlaggedandwet]

Hi everyone, I’m seeing water bills that are far higher than expected at a few express-wash locations. No leaks, same usage, same customers, yet costs are spiking.


A few industry contacts mentioned a scenario where air in the lines can register as water on city meters, essentially billing you for air bubbles, not actual water.


My questions:

• Has anyone experienced this, especially when bills jump suddenly without any visible fix?
• How did you diagnose it? (E.g., meter inspection, pressure checks, data logging)
• What did you do to resolve it, and did it actually lower the bill?

I’d love to hear your experiences or tips. Feel free to message me if you’ve seen this.


Thanks in advance!

 

[Roz]

Never seen or heard of such an issue. I do read about many towns significantly raising their water and sewer rates - often at a higher percentage on high use business customers like car washes.

 

[Jetlaggedandwet]

Never seen or heard of such an issue. I do read about many towns significantly raising their water and sewer rates - often at a higher percentage on high use business customers like car washes.

Yes, I’ve been hearing the same thing, and honestly, it’s new to me too.

I made this post because I couldn’t find much about it online or in the car wash space. I did ask someone in the hotel industry, though, and they said they’re using something like this and actually seeing savings.


So. I did what any curious person would do, signed up for a quick intro call


Got a meeting tomorrow. I’ll report back and let you all know if it’s legit or just smoke and mirrors.

 

[Robert2181]

I have seen where there was a problem with the meter, city replaced it, and we agreed on an average amount from a history report.

 

[Jetlaggedandwet]

I have seen where there was a problem with the meter, city replaced it, and we agreed on an average amount from a history report.

Yes, I was reading about that on here, and some people even double or almost triple their water bill because the meter was set incorrectly or was defective, and the city is slow to respond to the request and even refuse to pay for the water they overspent on, thats crazy.

 

[Jetlaggedandwet]

Quick update for anyone who was curious


I ended up getting in touch with someone from that company, though the meeting got moved around a couple times before we finally connected. We had a call with a guy named Christian from FluidLytix. He walked us through what they do and how it supposedly works.


From what I understand, it’s being used in places like hotels and bottling plants to deal with this “air in the line” billing thing. They said sometimes city meters can read compressed air as water, which kinda makes sense now that I think about it.


Anyway, they offered to do a free water bill analysis using past city water bills, just to see if there’s any savings. No pressure, they just run the numbers and show you what it could look like.


If anyone wants to check it out, here’s the guy’s info:


Christian Krajci
Water Efficiency Advisor
Office: 518-793-2991
Cell: (518) 987-3128
Email: christian.krajci@fluidlytix.com


Just sharing in case it’s helpful to anyone else. Our leadership team is going to test it out at one location and see how it goes. I honestly didn’t know this kind of thing existed.


They said the setup’s permanent and doesn’t affect water pressure or volume, it just makes sure you’re being charged for the actual water used, not the air that sneaks in through the line. We’re looking at maybe 18% to 20% savings, but that obviously depends on the site and how much water you use.


I’ll keep you posted. I did ask if I could share our results after the test site, but was told to hold off for now. If I get anything else, I’ll post it later.

 

[liftheavy]

just had an issue where we were billed triple the normal amount.

the meter reader for some reason reported over 500,000 gallons above what the actual meter said for some reason.

 

[Jetlaggedandwet]

just had an issue where we were billed triple the normal amount.

the meter reader for some reason reported over 500,000 gallons above what the actual meter said for some reason.

Triple, that's crazy high. Did you report it? and did they do anything about it?

 

[liftheavy]

Triple, that's crazy high. Did you report it? and did they do anything about it?

after we checked the water meter and verified it was read wrong, i just gave them a call and asked them to do another reading. it took about a week for them to correct the bill.

it's happened about 3x, although this was the biggest margin. one of our attendant was approached by the new meter person who asked where the meter was, the attendant was new and did not know, and told me she just walked off and no one ever saw her read the meter.

the utility company told me if they can't get it corrected in time i'd have to foot the bill as it is and they'll just make up the difference in the next few bills or else i risked the water being turned off, which seemed like a lousy deal. luckily i saw the error on the day the bill was uploaded online so the they had enough time from then to automatic draft to update the bill.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

We've seen issues with higher than expected water bills at customer's locations when water treatment equipment (e.g., backwashing carbon tanks, softeners, spot free RO systems) malfunction and run water to drain 24/7. Routine maintenance on the equipment solves the issue.

 

[Jetlaggedandwet]

after we checked the water meter and verified it was read wrong, i just gave them a call and asked them to do another reading. it took about a week for them to correct the bill.

it's happened about 3x, although this was the biggest margin. one of our attendant was approached by the new meter person who asked where the meter was, the attendant was new and did not know, and told me she just walked off and no one ever saw her read the meter.

the utility company told me if they can't get it corrected in time i'd have to foot the bill as it is and they'll just make up the difference in the next few bills or else i risked the water being turned off, which seemed like a lousy deal. luckily i saw the error on the day the bill was uploaded online so the they had enough time from then to automatic draft to update the bill.

That's crazy. The guys we're working with above might be able to provide a more permanent solution. They're working to ensure the meter doesn't charge you for air or turbulence in the line, so it only marks the water you actually use.

You can reach out to him; he's actually a pretty cool guy, a bit older but knowledgeable, for sure.

And the only thing they asked us for was a water bill.

 

[Blanco]

I cant imagine air in the water being that big of an issue or even a issue. If it was and accounted for a significant amount of meter charges I would think every city water department would be sued and would be the scandal of a life time.

 

[Jetlaggedandwet]

I cant imagine air in the water being that big of an issue or even a issue. If it was and accounted for a significant amount of meter charges I would think every city water department would be sued and would be the scandal of a life time.

Oh yeah, true.

 

[Blanco]

Also I believe the only way air can get into the lines is through repairs. It's not like anything is injecting air into your water supply constantly. If you ever do any plumbing work something as simple as installing a faucet air gets in the line. Once you turn the water back on and open the faucet you can hear the air getting out of the line quickly within less than a minute. Anyone living in cold climate states that have to winterize there sprinklers know that when you start them up it takes few minutes to get all the air out the lines and pressurize them but once the air is out its out.