I've just returned from a couple of months of work outside Thailand and found water bills for the last two months totaling almost 11000 Baht. Normally the bill is 80 Bath per month. I have automatic bill deduction so the bills are paid already so before I go see the Pattaya PWA tomorrow my question is has anyone been in the same situation and what can I expect?

You better check for a leak

was the house empty and was the water turned off at the meter.

Have your neighbours got unexpectedly verdant gardens ?

 

Turn off everything in your property and see if the meter is still moving.

Happened to me in one of my condos. Toilet valve stuck for 3 or 4 days.....3'800.-- extra...With the quality of materials and workmanship need to double check and secure just about everything....MS>

No neighbors with lush gardens and the water pump was unplugged, although the valve at the meter has been open. Only my wife has been in the house for a couple of weeks during the last 2.5 month but even with both of us in the house we have never had a bill exceeding 100 Baht in the 10 years we have been living in here.

Had a look at the meter and even though there was hardly any water entering the water tank the meter still spun at a rapid pace. I closed the valve and that stopped it. Will call the PWA tomorrow.

Even if it turns out to be a faulty meter I foresee an uphill battle in trying to get my money back

Can you calculate/estimate from your previous bill

how many units (i.e. what volume of water in m3)

a 11'000 baht bill would correspond to ?

Hundred(s) of m3 is not something a single house would use.

34 minutes ago, Becker said:

No neighbors with lush gardens and the water pump was unplugged, although the valve at the meter has been open. Only my wife has been in the house for a couple of weeks during the last 2.5 month but even with both of us in the house we have never had a bill exceeding 100 Baht in the 10 years we have been living in here.

Had a look at the meter and even though there was hardly any water entering the water tank the meter still spun at a rapid pace. I closed the valve and that stopped it. Will call the PWA tomorrow.

Even if it turns out to be a faulty meter I foresee an uphill battle in trying to get my money back

how much pipe between the meter and the tank, is it above or below ground

 

4 minutes ago, steve187 said:

how much pipe between the meter and the tank, is it above or below ground

 

It's about 4 meters below ground. The thing is even with a broken pipe it's probably not possible to run up such a bill since the pressure in the water pipe is so low it's only a trickle at the best of times.

many years ago i owned a property in Spain used to go there about every 3 or 4 month i got a water bill there for about 1500 pounds sterling. someone properly,  a kid turned the garden tap on. i had to pay the bill. your lucky its only 11000 baht. you must have a leak some where, or a tap has been left running.

Sounds like you could have a leak, between meter and the house/ tank

Turning off the pump would not help, and you may even have a bypass check valve.....

 

Any 'verdant' areas in your own garden?

 

Could also be a leak beyond the tank...

12 hours ago, Becker said:

It's about 4 meters below ground. The thing is even with a broken pipe it's probably not possible to run up such a bill since the pressure in the water pipe is so low it's only a trickle at the best of times.

You said you were away, and even a broken pipe could not run up the bill so much.

Sorry  you are wrong, i use water every day in the garden, 1 day i noticed no water, our house has a 500 litre tank, but not the garden, straight of the meter, got my wife check the meter, it was going fast.

Close it now i said, we have a broken pipe.

My point is pipe could not have been broke more than 24 hours, the bill was 800 baht more than normal, so it is easy to get a bill like yours if it has been running for weeks.

14 hours ago, Becker said:

No neighbors with lush gardens and the water pump was unplugged, although the valve at the meter has been open. Only my wife has been in the house for a couple of weeks during the last 2.5 month but even with both of us in the house we have never had a bill exceeding 100 Baht in the 10 years we have been living in here.

Had a look at the meter and even though there was hardly any water entering the water tank the meter still spun at a rapid pace. I closed the valve and that stopped it. Will call the PWA tomorrow.

Even if it turns out to be a faulty meter I foresee an uphill battle in trying to get my money back

If closing the valve stopped the meter from spinning, obviously there is a huge leak. I would guess a burst pipe somewhere under the house.

Don't know what you are paying per M3 for your water, but I had a broken pipe that used over 600,000 units and the bill was only 3000 Baht - let me just say, it was pretty obvious that there was a leak as the land was flooded in a large area - however, if your pipes are 4m below the surface it could well go unnoticed.

if it is a leak, just go and take a quick look at your water meter - the needle will be spinning like an aeroplane propeller.

This may seem somewhat obvious, but ......   It's always a good idea to shut down the water supply at the meter before leaving for any extended period of time.  

 

Had a similar problem some years ago.  A visit to the office pointing out the bill history which was accepted.  Someone checked and found the meter was broken so it was replaced.  I was charged for a new meter 2,500 baht but the big bill was cancelled.

Had the same thing a couple of years ago ,luckily the bill was not that high , but it was a leak ,had to get it fixed and pay the bill , it was "my fault " as the leak was in my garden between the meter and the pump ,

Pipe buried FOUR meters deep?  Why that deep?

18 minutes ago, fredge45 said:

Pipe buried FOUR meters deep?  Why that deep?

Becker said: "It's about 4 meters below ground."

What he probably meant to say is: "Pipe is 4 meters long and it is under ground."

Right, Becker ?

15 hours ago, Becker said:

It's about 4 meters below ground. The thing is even with a broken pipe it's probably not possible to run up such a bill since the pressure in the water pipe is so low it's only a trickle at the best of times.

I assume that you mean that the distance between the meter and the tank is about 4 metres and the pipe is buried below ground?

Is the tank above or below ground?

Below ground tanks can consume huge amounts of water if the valve is not shutting the water off and the water leaks away, I would be checking this, as well as any broken pipe between the meter and the tank, is it garden or concrete that the pipe / tank are under?

If it is garden, then there would normally be quite visible signs of the ground being water logged.

Personally, I would replace any underground tank with one above ground, they are are far more accessible to maintain not to mention that the below ground ones tend to be a nice habitat for all things nasty as well!

Easy to check for leak.

just take a photo of meter when you leave the house. Give it a few hours then look at the meter see if there is a chenge when you return.

 

3 hours ago, maximillian said:

Becker said: "It's about 4 meters below ground."

What he probably meant to say is: "Pipe is 4 meters long and it is under ground."

Right, Becker ?

Semantics.  Hopefully we'll get a better description.

Lots of good theories posted.  However, before digging up pipes trying to find/trace a leak, why not get the meter checked.  They'll check it for free and if it's a problem with the meter (they do go wrong) then a lot of work would be saved and it will provide an argument to get the huge bill waived.

ithink it will be a water leak, but just my suspicious mind on the quality of workmanship here.

11 hours ago, Formaleins said:

Don't know what you are paying per M3 for your water, but I had a broken pipe that used over 600,000 units and the bill was only 3000 Baht - let me just say, it was pretty obvious that there was a leak as the land was flooded in a large area - however, if your pipes are 4m below the surface it could well go unnoticed.

if it is a leak, just go and take a quick look at your water meter - the needle will be spinning like an aeroplane propeller.

600,000 units utter rubbish and impossible for 3000 baht.

Your bill would have been millions of Baht.

On 11/09/2017 at 7:02 PM, Becker said:

No neighbors with lush gardens and the water pump was unplugged, although the valve at the meter has been open. Only my wife has been in the house for a couple of weeks during the last 2.5 month but even with both of us in the house we have never had a bill exceeding 100 Baht in the 10 years we have been living in here.

Had a look at the meter and even though there was hardly any water entering the water tank the meter still spun at a rapid pace. I closed the valve and that stopped it. Will call the PWA tomorrow.

Even if it turns out to be a faulty meter I foresee an uphill battle in trying to get my money back

Persistence and politeness is the key.

I've had a bill like that before when all that PWA delivered was air.

Well, it seems the mystery is solved. It turns out that the tank I had them put underground in my garden a couple of years ago has sprung a leak (shoddy workmanship - who knew!!). That, coupled with the fact that what was once a trickle from the government water mains has now apparently become something much more substantial led to the hefty bill.

Still waiting for the PWA to come and check the meter though just to be sure.

 

20 hours ago, maximillian said:

Becker said: "It's about 4 meters below ground."

What he probably meant to say is: "Pipe is 4 meters long and it is under ground."

Right, Becker ?

Yep, that's right.

51 minutes ago, Becker said:

Well, it seems the mystery is solved. It turns out that the tank I had them put underground in my garden a couple of years ago has sprung a leak

Glad to hear that you seem to have found the problem, as I said before, this is a problem with underground tanks, personally known a lot of people that have had problems with one and ended up costing a lot of money in water and to fix. Honestly, you are much better off with a tank above ground, yes they do not particularly look nice, if you are lucky, then it can be tucked away hidden somewhere unobtrusive.

Yes, get the meter checked out, best to be safe than sorry.