Water bill revisited

My house bill fluctuates between $13 - $15/mo. Our house is in the country and we have a septic tank. Last time we stay for a full month it went up to $23. My sister in law pays around $50/mo, but they ate 5 in the house also in the country with septic tank in the house.

Help my water bill this month was 700... our normal bill is 30. I did an investigation with the water co. They wrote back in Spanish and but I can tell it still says we owe the 700. Any one ever have this problem? What do I do to fight this?

Jodi83 wrote:

Help my water bill this month was 700... our normal bill is 30. I did an investigation with the water co. They wrote back in Spanish and but I can tell it still says we owe the 700. Any one ever have this problem? What do I do to fight this?

Could there have been a leak? Were they not accurately reading your meter each month? You might just be SOL and have to end up paying it. I'm not sure if the water company will let you set up a payment plan. I was SOL with an 800 electric bill and they allowed monthly payments with a down payment.

You can start by taking a picture of your water meter and finding the last 2 or 3 prior bills. Check the progression of the use and see how far the meter is from the last reading. Get the bill translated so you know what they are claiming. Do this soon there is probably a period of time you have to file a claim.

There is a method for fighting a water bill but I do not know it. Take your findings to the AAA and fight it there, show the picture of the meter, and the amount it changed from the previous bill.

Sometimes they calculate the water usage instead of reading the meter and if they misread the previous bill it can be a calculation in the hundreds or thousands of dollars.

There could be a leak but it does not count if the leak is before the meter, only leaks between the meter and the house can be charged to you!!!!

My water bill has been ridiculous - got charged $600 for a sewer repair that was the fault of the municipality.    And then had to hire a plumber at my expense to repair the problem that the city didn't fix!!   

Also, the account was classified as commercial, so we were charged a much higher rate.   Finally got the account changed (after three trips to the water company and special certification) to residential and my rates went down.

People with sewers pay higher water bill since they use the water you use to determine the sewer charge. In the country side most people don't have sewers so they pay less.

Any bill above 70 should be checked unless you are filling a swimming pool or trying to water an acre of land. Most water bills are around 45 or less.

Our first bill was $53.00 for 30days of usage. Family of 2 adults and 1 child. I will know over the next 3 months what our average bill will be. We are using city water and sewer.

Very informative post. Info only an actual PR resident can give. Thanks.

Gary wrote:

I talked to somebody who knows more about water bills than I did and I'd like to share what I learned.
Here are the five different charges again  and some comments on each:

Cargos for agua. This fee has a fixed part that you have to pay whether you use water or not. The lowest fee here is $10.60/month when your place is serviced with a 1/2" or 5/8" water line.  Do you use more than the included amount (10 m3 in the lowest basic rate) you pay extra per m3.

Cargos por Alcantarillado Rey is right, this is the fee for sewer. It's based on the diameter of the incoming water line: the bigger the diameter the more you pay. This is a fixed fee, too. No matter if you even are in the house, you have to pay.

Cargos fijo Seems to be what I wrote before, a fee that has to be paid if the water is not AAA provided.

CCAR Fixed "extra" fee, also based upon the size of the incoming line. You have to pay this whether you use water or not.

Cargo Especial Like the CCAR fee, fixed, based upon the diameter of your incoming water line, always due water usage or not.

If I apply the above to my bill, I will have to pay $10.60  (cargos de agua), $6.50 (CCAR)  and $ 2.00 (Cargo Especial) for a total of $19.10/month, water usage or not. The only variable part is what I use over 10 m3 (last month 3.5 m3  at $1.25 = $ 4.38)

If you have a bill that's (a lot) higher than mine, check two things: the diameter of the incoming line and the actual usage on the water meter. For a normal house the incoming line doesn't need to be bigger than 5/8" keeping you in the lowest scale. Bigger lines may be needed if you have a pool, many bathrooms, an automatic watering system for the yard etc. I don't know (yet) if it's possible to get a smaller line if you would want that. A licensed plumber or the water company should have the answer to this one.

If you use/pay a lot it might be a good plan to think about using collected rain water for watering the yard and  flushing toilets . Of course the latter involves some extra plumbing that's only feasible if you are building a new house (like some of you are planning to do).

My water bill usually runs around $30-40/mo. We are only 2 of us, I water the plants once a day it it doesn't rain and wash the cars weekly.

They did an investigation and said the meter reading was correct and there was probably a leak. we were renting and actually moved out that month only lived there for 2 weeks of the month. If it's a leak shouldn't the landlord be responsible? So annoyed. 😜🙈💩

I no longer live in the building or have access to it so I can't get a picture of the meter but I will try and get my old landlord to do it. Thanks for your help! We have done the investigation now we are appealing the outcome.