The HOA Board Quarterly Fall 2013 Issue #7 | Page 8

Let’s Get Water Tight! By Steve Economou Y ou may have a water leak in your garden or home that is wasting water and costing you money. Perhaps you have no evidence of a leak and you may wonder how on earth to determine if there is indeed a leak (increased water bills are one indication of a leak). Thankfully, there is a very easy way to determine if there’s a leak. Each home in a community has a water meter that measures water delivered to that home or building. This meter is the basis used by the water company to determine your home and/or associations’ water bill each month. In the case of your home, these meters are generally located on the street. For a multi-family building, these meters are often located at the end of the building. The following photo is a typical meter location. In this photo one of these meters does indeed have a leak. The easy way to find out if you have a leak is to locate your meter. Open the small center lid and you will see a meter dial (you may need to flip open a little round cover that is over the dial). The meter dial will have a hand and a reading number or a simple line of numbers that indicates how much water has been used. The hand won’t be moving unless you turn water on in your home or garden. There will be a small triangle, usually to 8 | The HOA Board Quarterly | Issue #7 | Fall 2013 the lower left on the dial, this is your “leak detector”. Sometimes this leak detector can be located in the center of the dial. If even a small amount of water is flowing, this little triangle will be moving. If you find that your leak detector is moving, search your home for leaking toilets, faucets, angle-stops, etc. or outside leaks in your hose bibs or sprinkler system. Even a small leak can lead to a great deal of water over time so search early and search often! Steve Economou Rainscape Environmental Management 8322 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. #112 San Diego, CA 92111 [phone] [email protected]