WATER USAGE AND LEAKS

Concerned about your water consumption? Think you might have a water leak? According to the EPA, the average US household of four uses 400 gallons a day, or 12,000 gallon a month. In most cases, increased water usage is caused by a leaking faucet or toilet, but we have seen other leaks associated with water softeners and humidifiers. A running toilet can easily use over 4,000 gallons per day! Even a toilet that runs long after a flush or leaks intermittently can cause a large spike in water consumption.

The below table, created by Colorado State Extension, highlights normal water usage in a household.

Interested in decreasing your water usage? Visit the Environmental Protection Agency's Water Sense website to learn tips to decrease your water usage. You can also learn how to detect water leaks around your home.

If you have increased water usage but don't know why, contact our Customer Service Department at 515.222.3460. A field representative can visit your home to assist in determining the cause of the problem and the appropriate course of action. There's no charge for this service.

Meter Accuracy

Much like an automobile or other mechanical device, the meter slows down with age and eventually can stop registering completely, but it cannot arbitrarily run faster than it was designed to run. The mechanical parts are not capable of “speeding up” or registering a significantly higher reading than actual. Having a meter register 20,000 gallons of consumption when the usage was actually 4,000 gallons would be like a vehicle with a maximum speed of 100 mph suddenly being able to intermittently run at speeds of 500 mph—it isn’t mechanically possible.

All meters are calibrated and tested in the factory before they are shipped. The American Water Works Association requires meters to be within 98.5 and 101.5% accuracy to be usable. This means an error rate of 1.5% low or high. This means if your perfectly accurate usage was 1,000 gallons, the registered consumption could actually be 15 gallons high or low per 1,000 each month and be within AWWA guidelines. To put this in perspective, if you had an average billed consumption of 7,000 gallons, you could have actually used a minimum of 6,895, or 105 fewer gallons per month if the meter was running fast but within AWWA guidelines. Over a year, this would amount to a total overbilling of 1,260 gallons. This would result in an excess charge of only $5.73 for an entire year using 2015 rates. On the contrary, you also could be just as easily undercharged the same amount based on this acceptable meter variance. In reality, rarely does a meter test high enough to exceed 100% and significantly more often the meter slows down to a point where it under-registers and will eventually stop.

West Des Moines Water Works is able to test water meters.

For testing of a water meter for accuracy in accordance with American Water Works Association specifications, a fee shall be assessed if the test was requested by the customer and if the meter is found to meet the applicable accuracy specification.

The fee stated above includes removing and replacing the water meter. The fee for testing water meters larger than those stated above will be the actual costs of labor and other charges incurred by the Water Works. All meters tested and determined to still be accurate based on AWWA standards are returned and reinstalled by West Des Moines Water Works.