What's new

Car wash Water bill

youngs premium wash

New member
Joined
May 21, 2022
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Points
3
hello, I just bought with 3 self serve bays and 1 in bay auto bay. Im having a serious issue with my water bill. It is higher than all other bills combined and I am honestly in the hole.
 

edredtop

Well-known member
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
330
Reaction score
373
Points
63
Location
California
hello, I just bought with 3 self serve bays and 1 in bay auto bay. Im having a serious issue with my water bill. It is higher than all other bills combined and I am honestly in the hole.
When you have no customers, and all reservoirs are full, go the the street meter and check for flow at the meter. There should be none.
If there is, you may have a leak between the meter and the equipment room. I have a $1,200 water bill from last year to prove it can happen.
Next, check the tips you are using on the self serve bays. Make sure they are new. As an example, we use a 1505 tip.
*One big one to check is if you use a water softener (the one that uses salt). See how long and how often it's regenerating. If it does this at night, you'll never notice just how much water can go through one of those babies (until you get a bill).
 

youngs premium wash

New member
Joined
May 21, 2022
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Points
3
When you have no customers, and all reservoirs are full, go the the street meter and check for flow at the meter. There should be none.
If there is, you may have a leak between the meter and the equipment room. I have a $1,200 water bill from last year to prove it can happen.
Next, check the tips you are using on the self serve bays. Make sure they are new. As an example, we use a 1505 tip.
*One big one to check is if you use a water softener (the one that uses salt). See how long and how often it's regenerating. If it does this at night, you'll never notice just how much water can go through one of those babies (until you get a bill).
Thanks so much, I will definitely check for that
 

Randy

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
5,883
Reaction score
2,260
Points
113
hello, I just bought with 3 self serve bays and 1 in bay auto bay. Im having a serious issue with my water bill. It is higher than all other bills combined and I am honestly in the hole.
How many cubic feet of water are you using per month? How much is your water bill?
 

youngs premium wash

New member
Joined
May 21, 2022
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Points
3
And i've only had the carwash for about two weeks now but I would say revenue is in the ball park of $2500-$3000 a month
 

PaulLovesJamie

rural 5 bay SS
Joined
Aug 30, 2007
Messages
1,321
Reaction score
229
Points
63
Location
Kutztown PA
Just doing mental math with what you gave us, a couple impressions:
Your water+sewer rate is about $3 per hundred gallons, which is high-ish but not wildly out of line.
Your electricity/water ratio appears to be in the ballpark too. Thats usually what would tip me off to a leak, so I suspect you dont have one.
$200 a month for internet? Yikes!
 

youngs premium wash

New member
Joined
May 21, 2022
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Points
3
The internet bill is unconfirmed😅 I still have to have that installed this week. But if you look at the numbers, I'm making $2500-$3000 a month in revenue MAX, bills=Over $3500. And from most carwash owners I've talked too. That water bill is out of the park compared to the numbers given
 

DAWGWASH

Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2021
Messages
94
Reaction score
68
Points
18
The internet bill is unconfirmed😅 I still have to have that installed this week. But if you look at the numbers, I'm making $2500-$3000 a month in revenue MAX, bills=Over $3500. And from most carwash owners I've talked too. That water bill is out of the park compared to the numbers given
Looking at your water bill the rates don’t seem that out of line but it looks like they estimated the start and end meter. Nobody s water bill starts at exactly that amount and ends at an exact amount. With a usage of exactly 60,000 gallons
I would take the bill you have down to the meter and 1st see if those end numbers match up and then see if the meter is moving with nothing running If it is moving cut water off in equipment room and check meter again. If it’s still moving you have a leak it line coming in if not your good and look for leaks in equipment room and beyond
 

OurTown

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 8, 2017
Messages
3,691
Reaction score
1,437
Points
113
Location
Ohio
How much are you charging in your bays and auto? How many auto washes have you had since ownership?
 

2Biz

Thread Killer!
Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Messages
2,856
Reaction score
474
Points
83
Location
Ohio
You are only making 1/4 or less than what you should for that much usage. Something is not right!
 
Last edited:

bert79

Active member
Joined
Jan 11, 2018
Messages
241
Reaction score
92
Points
28
Location
West Michigan
That bill seems crazy high. We pay approximately that, quarterly. We have 3 ss bays and one auto. Try calling the city. I know our city is VERY helpful when it comes to water usage. They will help you narrow down the problem if there is one.
 

HeyVern

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
410
Reaction score
475
Points
63
If you've only had the wash a couple of weeks, why are you posting a bill from December and not the current one?
 

Randy

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
5,883
Reaction score
2,260
Points
113
Something is wrong BIG TIME! in a month you consumed 60,000 cubic feet of water or 448,800 gallons of water or 14960 gallons a day. Either you have a massive leak or your supplying water to your neighbors or you have a defective meter. I'd check the meter tonight to see if the meter is turning when everything is full like what edredtop said. I can turn my incoming water off at the backflow preventor.
One of the car washes here, when they went to install another Inbay automatic they had to increase the size of the water meter. When they turned the water off the burger restaurant owner next door came over screaming blood murder because they lost there water. Turns out when they built the burger restaurant they tapped into the car wash water supply, that whole mess turned into a royal $hit storm.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: sjb

Randy

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
5,883
Reaction score
2,260
Points
113
Randy, how can you tell his water is metered in cubic feet?
99% of the municipal water meters I’ve dealt with are in cubic feet. Even if the water meter was in gallons, 60,000 gallons of water for a small 3 bay car with an inbay automatic that’s only doing $3000 month is still way too high.
 

youngs premium wash

New member
Joined
May 21, 2022
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Looking at your water bill the rates don’t seem that out of line but it looks like they estimated the start and end meter. Nobody s water bill starts at exactly that amount and ends at an exact amount. With a usage of exactly 60,000 gallons
I would take the bill you have down to the meter and 1st see if those end numbers match up and then see if the meter is moving with nothing running If it is moving cut water off in equipment room and check meter again. If it’s still moving you have a leak it line coming in if not your good and look for leaks in equipment room and beyond
Thanks a bunch I will try that for sure!
 

youngs premium wash

New member
Joined
May 21, 2022
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Just doing mental math with what you gave us, a couple impressions:
Your water+sewer rate is about $3 per hundred gallons, which is high-ish but not wildly out of line.
Your electricity/water ratio appears to be in the ballpark too. Thats usually what would tip me off to a leak, so I suspect you dont have one.
$200 a month for internet? Yikes!
So the water bill of $1800-$2000 a month fits the income of around $2500-$3000 a month? How on earth can I even break even that way? That's what makes me think there has to be a leak or something gone wrong
 

Randy

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
5,883
Reaction score
2,260
Points
113
So the water bill of $1800-$2000 a month fits the income of around $2500-$3000 a month? How on earth can I even break even that way? That's what makes me think there has to be a leak or something gone wrong
When I had a leak in my incoming water main I knew I had a problem, water was coming up out of the pavement. Another thing you can do is to note the meter reading and then fill a 15 gallon container and then check your meter reading to see if it's right on or not or call the city and have them check the meter. My new meter has a recording device on it so they can download everything there is to know about the meter, what time and how much water I use etc. When they read the meter they just drive by and it's done.
 
Top