Just bought a small park in Texas. My water bills are out of control. Looking into submetering and have had Amercian Leak Dectection out. In the meantime I have a tenant using tons of water to water his grass every night for one hour. He is a jerk and wont listen to my manager.
My rules only say:
“Each resident should be aware of the need to be conservative with regard to the use of water. Washing of cars is not permitted.”
Agree with Jack @Deleted_User_ME, you need to submeter asap. The tenant may say you have conflicting rules - you want us to take care of our yards, but not water them.
You will find as part of submetering in the first month that all of the homes will have running toilets, dripping faucets, and perhaps some concealed leaks under the home. Be prepared to help your tenants fix those items as part of a transition plan - it will help smooth the process and demonstrate your commitment to running a good community (you don’t want to lose a bunch of tenants because they are getting $100 water bills after the first month).
If you still have crazy water bills then get the leak detection company to come out and do a focused scan of the water system. Calling them too early could be duplicate effort you will handle as part of the above, but it would help your rest at night - subjective decision.
First you have to change the mindset regarding water/sewer use, you are on the tenant’s side, you’re trying to keep the overall utilities low and mitigating the necessity of raising everybody’s rent. We have used the following wording as the first notice of a MHP Conservation Plan: In an effort to promote water conservation and control the rapidly increasing use (and cost) of water, we have agreed to have _______________________ sub-meter our MHP community for water and sewer service. Most communities throughout the state are now sub-metered or will be sub-metered in the near future.
We hope with sub-metering: Promote water conservation by our residents: Identify excessive water usage; Be proactive in identifying water leaks; and Mitigate any potential catastrophic plumbing failures in your home. We anticipate a reduction in water use/wastes by 25% or more.
___Now is the time to locate water leaks within your home. Whether you have a specific leak repair, other request, complaint, or simply a suggestion, please contact the manager. We would like to discuss your concerns in person; so, once again, please stop by and talk to us. A quality MHP community is something we won’t compromise."
We have good feed back from residents when they know they are conserving water.
We’re here to answer your water sub-metering questions.