What do I do if I suspect there is a leak?

Conduct a dye test in all of the toilets.

Also conduct a spot check of faucets and appliances that use water including outdoor faucets and hoses. 

Spot check yard and around meter box making sure of no wet or soggy patches.

If a leak is found, notify Cary of the date of the repair and the type of repair to determine if an adjustment to your bill may be available. 

By using Aquastar to monitor your usage, Aquastar can alert you to leaks early and save you money!

Add a dye tablet, flavored drink mix or food coloring to the water tank of the each toilet. Wait 10-15 minutes. Then check to see if the color shows inside the toilet's bowl. If so, then your toilet may be running consistently and may need an adjustment or part replacement.

Normal usage is about 40-60 gallons per person per day.

Have you had any events that would have increased usage? Such as additional house guests, a party or celebration, home repair or maintenance, extra laundry, etc.?

The more toilets a home has, the less frequent usage there is of each one, and this increases the opportunity for a leak to go undetected. Leaks can be silent and only detected by a dye test. Please see "How do I conduct a dye test?"

Aquastar is a tool that is available to all of our account holders. This tool allows you to monitor water usage and set alerts. You can set alerts to be notified when usage is higher than the normal set threshold. Anytime your usage goes over the gallon limit, you will receive an alert notifying you. This enables you to take action as soon as possible and keep any leak from going undetected.

How to use Aquastar

To set a threshold for your alerts, we encourage multiplying the number of people in the home by 40-60 gallons. For example, 5 people multiplied by 60 gallons is 300 gallons per day.

After multiplying the number of people by the chosen gallon amount, you will have your daily threshold gallon limit. 

You may be getting more alerts than helpful if your threshold is set too low for your normal household usage. Each person can use about 40 to 60 gallons per day. 

Review your Aquastar usage. If anything seems abnormal, such as continuous usage during hours you are away or sleeping, please check all appliances, faucets and toilets. 

Consider these examples:

• Water heater
• Irrigation systems
• Hoses/spigots
• Pools/hot tubs/water feature/fountain
• Ice maker
• Dishwasher
• Washing machine
• Humidifier
• Water filtration/water softener system
• PRV (pressure reducing valve)
• Whole home humidifier/evaporator system

In order to be considered for an adjustment, please reach out to notify us after leak repairs have been completed.  Be sure to select "Water, Sewer, Reclaimed Water Service (non-emergency)" as the Request Type when you submit your 311 Request. Also, provide a repair date and the type of leak in the "Description".

Please allow up to 7 business days to review your account for an adjustment. Adjustments can be very minimal. We recommend that you access the Aquastar portal to view usage and set alerts. We will contact you regarding your adjustment review. Adjustments can take longer if we have to wait until the next bill posts in the system to review the bill for an adjustment. 

Since reclaimed water already gets billed at the lowest water rate, we do not provide adjustments on reclaimed water leaks. 

Check with your financial institution to confirm that your payments were processed.

USPS mail delays are impacting bills and payments to take extra time to be received. Please plan extra time when mailing payments.

Consider other payment options.

Check the itemization on your bill for more details about what fees are included in your balance due. If you have questions regarding charges on your bill please call 3-1-1 or (919) 469-4000.