Water payment...welcome your ideas!

[ATL]

Hi All, would really appreciate your input on this.

The toilet in my condo apparently has been running water.  I was first made aware of this 3 days ago by the people from the below unit who said they heard running water. I asked my tenant to check and she was unable to detect any running water. The management company said the I will be liable for the additional water charges from the last 2 months (when they noticed an increase to the water bill) to the time it's fixed. I believe it's reasonable that I should pay for it if it's my unit at fault. There's only one water meter for the entire building (about 25 units) so while it may be entirely due to my unit, I want to do some due diligence since water fee spikes have occurred in the past by other units.

Any suggestions?  I'm going to call the water company to see about getting historical data. I'll also check with the plumber. Thanks in advance!

[Milspecstache]

Toilet running water is a simple fix.  Could be a leaking float which is not getting enough buoyancy to push the valve up which shuts it.  Could be a chain fouling the flapper valve.  Look at it first and tell us what you see before calling a plumber which is very expensive.  $100 or more just to make a visit...

I also don't see how a condo assoc can charge you without 'proof'.  A toilet running will not cause that large of a bill spike.

[ATL]

Thanks, Milspecstache. Yes, it probably is a straightforward fix but the condo is located in another city so it's not as easy for me to get to (it's usually pretty low maintenance since it's a more recent condo in a well maintained building but as with any property, things do come up).  I agree with you that they can't really prove that it's my unit. I am willing to own up to cover the days when they began hearing water running from a few days ago but I won't cover the last two months of the building's water expenses without more evidence. I'm puzzled as to how the water can be running all this time but no one heard it until just a few days ago?

[phred]

Probably because the leak has gotten worse the past few days.  Could be the float, but more likely needs a new flapper valve.  Chlorine based toilet cleaners that you drop into the tank "eat" rubber.

[ATL]

Thanks, Phred. That's a good point.

Ok, here's what happened today. The plumber came to look at the toilet and he doesn't find anything wrong. The toilet is behaving normally and not like a toilet that is running. He encountered one of the other condo owners who is on the board and says she tried to convince him it was my toilet. He thinks they're trying to find someone to pick up the cost of the high water bills over the last couple of months which was my suspicion as well. I've reported the plumber's finding to the mgt company and they who were so eager to send me a bill for a couple of thousand dollars didn't have anything to say to me.

Thanks for all your help!

[Mori]

Nice. Unless they could definitively prove my toilet did it (and it wasn't ... I don't know... 15 of the other 24 at the same time?) I wouldn't be paying a dime. If all the toilets are original to the building it's possible there are multiple leaks going on (depending on building age).

Also, I wanted to mention it might be the chain (depending on how your toilet guts are set up). The chain on my flapper was long enough that it could get caught when the flapper went to seal the tank. So, the toilet would run endlessly. Doesn't always happen, which makes it a bit harder to troubleshoot.

[soccerluvof4]

Sounds awful fishy if the plumber didn't find anything wrong. If the management company didnt say anything when you told them sounds to me like your in holding pattern to see if they further pursue it but you have a strong case now to defend yourself. I wouldn't pay a dime you already paid out to have it checked.

[ATL]

Thanks, Mori and Soccerluvof4!  The saga isn't over yet so I'll keep you updated. The mgt company didn't believe me when I relayed he plumber's finding (or lack thereof) so they wanted his number to speak to him directly. The person at the mgt company and the board president tones are pretty pissy.  Let's see what happens.

[Milspecstache]

Any chance you have a friend who is a lawyer?  This is when it is real nice to have a letter sent to the company with a lawyer's name at the top of the stationery.