High Water Bill in Greeley? Find the Leak Behind It

You open the bill and the number is wrong. It is twice last month, or more. Nobody took longer showers. Nobody filled a pool. A high water bill in Greeley, CO often points to a leak you cannot see. This page helps you work out whether you have a leak, a habit, or a billing issue. It also says what to do next.

Why Greeley bills can jump so fast

Greeley bills monthly. Each bill has fixed service charges and a charge for water use, priced per 1,000 gallons. Single-family homes use a water budget. The city says the tiers rest on efficient use for your lot size and household.

Here is how the tiers work in simple terms:

• Water up to your budget costs the lowest rate.
• Water above your budget moves into higher tiers.
• Each higher tier costs more per 1,000 gallons than the one before it.

The city's 2024 rate manual lists four tiers: up to 100 percent of budget, 101 to 130 percent, 131 to 150 percent, and above 151 percent. That manual lists about $5.61 per 1,000 gallons in tier 1 and about $11.81 in tier 4. Rates change, so check the city's current numbers.

That means a leak costs you twice. You pay for the water that escapes. You also pay a higher rate once your use crosses a tier line. Our guide to how Greeley water budgets work goes deeper.

What counts as a normal bill change

Not every jump means a leak. Bills move for good reasons. Ask yourself:

• Did the season change? Summer lawn watering lifts use. Winter use drops.
• Did guests stay with you? A full house uses more.
• Did you fill a pool, hot tub, or stock tank? A single fill can use thousands of gallons.
• Did you change your sprinkler schedule? More minutes or more zones adds up.
• Did a new appliance or habit start? A humidifier, an evaporative cooler, or a new washer can shift use.
• Did the billing period run longer? Some periods have more days.
• Did the meter reading get estimated? An estimate can be wrong and correct itself next month.

If none of these fit, a leak moves to the top of the list.

Five quick checks for a leak

You can run most of these tests in under an hour. They cost nothing.

1. Read your meter with everything off. Close every tap and turn off the sprinklers, ice maker, and washer. Check the low-flow dial for 15 minutes. If it spins or creeps, water is leaving. Follow our water meter leak test steps.
2. Test every toilet. Drop food coloring into each tank. The EPA says color in the bowl within 5 to 10 minutes means a leak. Toilets cause many hidden leaks. A worn flapper is the usual cause.
3. Check under every sink and behind every appliance. Look for drips, stains, and soft cabinet floors.
4. Walk the yard. Look for wet patches, soft ground, or unusually green strips.
5. Check your water heater. Look for water around the base and the pressure relief valve.

If the meter moves and the toilets pass, the leak sits somewhere harder to see. That is when you call a detection company.

Where leaks that cause high bills usually sit

Three places cause most large bills:

• Toilets. A silent flapper leak can waste hundreds of gallons a day.
• Irrigation systems. Broken lines and stuck valves run for weeks unseen. See our irrigation leak detection page.
• Underground service lines. A break between the meter and the house can leak steadily. See our page on water line leak detection.

Other sources include slab leaks, hot water lines, and leaking fixtures. The EPA says household leaks can waste nearly 10,000 gallons a year. They can add up to 10 percent to a bill. Serious leaks waste far more.

How we trace the cause of a high bill

We start with numbers and work toward the leak.

1. We look at your bill history. We compare months. A sharp step up tells us when the leak started. A slow climb suggests a growing leak.
2. We test your meter. We confirm that water flows while everything is off.
3. We split the system. We close the irrigation supply, then the house main, and watch the meter after each step. This tells us whether the leak sits outside, inside, or between the two.
4. We search the zone. Once we know the area, we use sound, thermal imaging, and pressure tests to find the exact spot.
5. We mark it and document it. You get a written report with what we found.

You can read what the report includes on our leak detection report page.

What if there is no leak?

Sometimes we find nothing. That is still useful. A clean test tells you the water use is real. You can then look at habits, sprinkler settings, or a billing error.

If you think the bill is wrong, call Greeley Water and Sewer at 970-350-9811 or email [email protected]. Ask them to check the meter reading and whether the meter works properly. The city's published rate manual does not describe a leak credit policy, so ask what options exist.

Do not wait for the next bill

A leak does not pause between bills. Each day adds water and adds cost. Small leaks grow too. A pinhole under pressure can widen, and water can damage drywall, floors, and slabs.

Take these steps in order:

• Run the meter check today.
• Shut off the main valve if the meter moves and you cannot find the source. Turn the water back on only when you need it.
• Call a leak detection company before you hire anyone to dig or cut.
• Save every bill from the past year. They help show when the problem started.

What detection might cost versus the bill

A detection visit usually costs a fraction of one big bill. Market ranges sit in the low hundreds of dollars for most homes. Our leak detection cost page shows ranges, sources, and what changes the price.

Run the math. A leak that loses one gallon per minute wastes 1,440 gallons a day, or about 43,000 gallons in 30 days. At 2024 rates in the first tier, that is roughly $240. In the top tier, it reaches about $510. A detection visit costs less than that in one month.

Common questions

Get answers about your high water bill

If you face a high water bill in Greeley, CO, do not guess. Run the meter test, then call Leak Detector Greeley. We find the leak, mark it, and give you a report that explains what happened.