Check your water bill!!!

Have a high bill? If you want to set the record, you have to beat $1,264.

Strange things started happening in mid-2021, but some of our water bills have been returned to showing actual meter readings as they should. However, most are reporting the numbers on their bills still have no relationship to the readings on their meters! This makes comparing your bill with your meter impossible, which obviates complaints! Having actual meter readings on your bill is possible, but only if you ask. Time to check yours?

Warning: Don't let them charge you ($89?) to visit! No one had to visit to mess up your bill, and no one needs to visit in order to fix your bill. Further, installing a ($450?) check valve should be questioned: If it saves $5 every month, which is a real stretch, the break-even period is 7 years and 6 months. A check valve is merely a 1-way street for water so that it does not flow back and forth. The theory is: Water goes backward without turning your meter and then comes forth again registering for a second time. BTW, check valves are available at a plumbing supply house for $30 or less. So if someone is coming to install a check valve, the cost is mostly labor. One might ask how much more a new meter would cost. Water meters are not as costly as you might think, and some actually prevent backflow so you could skip the check valve. Just a thought.

In engineering school we learned that unlike air, water is a non-compressible fluid. This means that water will occupy about the same volume (space) regardless of its pressure or temperature. Your water meter is intended to measure the flow of water (volume in gallons) regardless of the pressure or temperature. This makes the recommendation of a check valve in your water supply line questionable. It is being recommended to prevent water from flowing backwards through your meter. We need to ask those recommending a check-valve:

• What makes the water flow backward in the first place?
• Does something inside your unit produce water pressure greater than the supply pressure? It really doesn't matter.
• Does something inside your unit produce water to flow backward? Ridiculous!
• Does Arlington actually suck water backwards through our pipes?
• If yes, why does it affect only your meter and not everyone's?
• What fills the void in the pipe created between the meter and your faucet when water flows backward?
• Is air sucked into the system backward through your faucet? Of course not.

Is the check valve merely palliative, meaning it doesn't do anything except make you feel better? If there’s a problem caused by the plumbing as “they” claim, why has no one in the world ever figured out how to fix the plumbing? It might cost a lot less than $450. It is easy to recommend an owner spend their own money and arrange to have a check valve installed. The alternative is to suspect there is something wrong with the meter: Investigating that costs someone money, and if faulty meters are found, it costs even more money!

September 2021: Your new water bill

Since mid-2021 your water bill no longer shows meter readings. The "PREVIOUS" and "CURRENT" numbers on your bill are no longer the numbers seen on your water meter. Check it out. Residents have occasionally found the meter readings on their bills were not correct, which has led to complaints. The recent change will obfuscate meaningful data (actual meter readings) and thus prevent complaints to Studebaker and Eclipse management. Did you get a notice advising of the billing change? Neither did I!

An Eclipse water meter is pictured. They are hidden in the utility closet. Some have found that the reading on their meter is less than what is shown on their bill. Most find that the numbers on their bill have no relationship to the reading on the meter. The meter shown has a 6 digit odometer, and the right-most digit registers 10 gallons: The printed "0" on the face is a reminder of that. (Taking a picture of your meter is a lot easier than reading it directly.)


Our gas and electric companies are State regulated public utilities and would not get away with putting phony numbers on our bills. Studebaker is not a public utility company and is not so regulated. They are a billing company hired by our Eclipse Board. When asked, neither have offered any explanation. Want to email Studebaker or our Board? Good luck.

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YFiRE
Your Friend in Real Estate, LLC
Arlington, Virginia, USA