Anyone have ideas or resources for curbing water usage in multifamily? City says it's about 10x more than it should be. Is submetering the answer? Any recommendations for a company? Hoping someone has some experience to share. Thanks.

A assume you have made sure it is not a leak? That is most often the culprit for that kind of an outlier usage.

Check all your toilets first

Check your toilets.

davido said:

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Anyone have ideas or resources for curbing water usage in multifamily? City says it's about 10x more than it should be. Is submetering the answer? Any recommendations for a company? Hoping someone has some experience to share. Thanks.

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Where is this located? It's a huge problem in multiple areas of Texas. Local apartment associations and TAA have informed state congressmen to address it. It seems the main issue is that manual readings are no longer done and that there is suspicion of number fudging from jurisdictions. Check every single bill and verify it with your actual meters.

First, check for leaks. Shut off everything, read the meter, wait an hour, and then read the meter again.

Then make sure the meter is accurate. Fill a 5 gallon bucket with water, and read the meter again.

If both of those checkout, you have a user problem. Like others said, check for toilet leaks.

Submetering can indentify if one particular user is the problem. You can also try taking multiple measurements during the day. If there's a huge spike in the morning, low flow shower heads may make a big difference. I've seen a tenant have a timer on a spigot and the lushest plot of st augustine next to the building during a drought you've ever seen. If nobody is running a laundry or dog-wash business out of the unit, I'm not sure where else to look. If you have any tradespeople there doing work, ask them if they notice anything odd when they are there but you aren't. Tenants could be hiding something when you are around.

Used to have some hud 4-plexes on single meter. Toilets, sink and tub faucets. Cap off exterior spigots. People will turn a sprinkler on for all summer long entertainment for the kids. Or start a car washing business.

Thanks all. I've checked the thread a few times but hadn't yet replied back.

We've checked everything. Need a better long term solution to identify problem residents, so we're looking to submeter. One resident had no toilet flapper, so that was fun. That was found prior to OP.

These are in Corpus and the water situation is getting worse before it gets better. Now under stage 2 restrictions.