Last week I walked into my office first thing in the morning and noticed some sort of bill and a note that someone had placed right on the middle of my desk. I immediately recognized the handwriting and knew it came from Susan, our accountant and also the person that takes care of paying all the bills. So, I knew right away that the information on my desk had to do with money in some way or another. I was correct.
On my desk was our latest water bill for the office. There was a handwritten note from Susan on the envelope that read, “We need a plumber!” Our water bill had doubled from our previous pay period. I mentioned in passing to a couple of our employees who spend a lot of time in the yard if they were aware of any leaks that we may have had that would have contributed to the higher bill. One of them mentioned that he thought there was a certain spot in the yard that seemed to be wet more often than not. He said that he had mentioned it to our mechanic who said there was not a leak, it was merely a low point in the yard that accumulated the excess water when we wash the trucks in the yard. Wrongo!!!
Luckily for me and RooterPLUS’ reputation, no one involved in the “possible water leak mystery” was a plumber, but it did bring to light how a small oversight can cost you hundreds of dollars.
There is a quick and simple way to know if you have a leak at your property. First, you need to shut off the water to the house. Then you need to find your water meter and see if it is spinning. If the water to the property is off, the meter should not be moving, as no water is being delivered from the street to the residence. If there is a leak somewhere outside the house, the meter will spin and it is time to call a plumber.
Remember, as simple as this sounds, we missed it. RooterPLUS, a company that deals with water leaks all the time, missed it. Even though the employees who either missed the signs, or didn’t know what to check for, aren’t plumbers, had they known a couple simple steps in identifying a leak we could have saved some money.
Moral of the story…
Most licensed plumbers really do know what they are doing.