Port Townsend · Jefferson County

My Water Bill Doubled and Nothing Changed (Port Townsend, WA)

A bill that jumps with no change in use almost always means water is leaving the system somewhere. Here's how to find out where.

Call (206) 354-9906 How we fix it

Water meter box exposed in overgrown brush with a narrow trench leading away from it

If you're in Port Townsend dealing with high water bill, start with the ground: sandy bluffs above the Strait under acreage toward Cape George, and lines that are often 1920s galvanized under Uptown gardens. That combination explains why a City bill with no puddle shows up the way it does here, and it shapes how we find the cause.

What usually causes high water bill in Port Townsend

In Port Townsend we check seasonal use you forgot before anything else, because pressure that has faded for decades is how it shows up here. Compare to the same month last year, not last month. Sandy bluffs above the Strait makes the signs misleading, so we confirm rather than assume.

Next: a leak on the buried service line. Galvanized steel from the 1940s, copper from the 60s and 70s, polybutylene from the 80s, brittle early polyethylene: all of it fails eventually, and in Kitsap's till and outwash it can leak for months with no wet spot. With outwash sand under the historic districts under mid-century grid lots on Sheridan Street, the symptoms can look identical to the first cause, which is why the meter test and the locate matter.

And irrigation: a cracked mainline, a valve stuck open, or a drip zone that never shuts off can run a meter all night. Less common on small Victorian lots in Uptown, but we've found it near Kah Tai Lagoon.

First steps on a Port Townsend property

In Port Townsend's Uptown and Downtown historic districts the service line may be a century old and its route unknown, so tracing comes first.

Do this before anyone digs till toward Discovery Bay in Port Townsend: close every fixture and watch the meter's low-flow indicator for two minutes. Drop food coloring in each toilet tank and wait fifteen minutes. It takes minutes and it tells us whether the problem is on small Victorian lots in Uptown or inside the house.

How we fix it

The repair side is high water bill investigation. On waterfront near Point Hudson that means isolate the house, then report in clay seams in the uplands where the problem actually is, then meter test. If what we expose is copper on the Hastings Avenue grid at the end of its life, we say so with the pipe in your hand.

From Kah Tai Lagoon to Hastings Avenue and out around Fort Worden, high water bill is a regular Port Townsend call for us. A dedicated trip across the Hood Canal Bridge, and emergencies on mid-century grid lots on Sheridan Street dispatch immediately, any hour.

Ready when you are

We're a dedicated trip across the Hood Canal Bridge and we answer 24 hours a day. (206) 354-9906 for high water bill in Port Townsend.

From the field

What we usually find

Two water meter box lids exposed beneath a pine tree after clearing brush

FAQ

High water bill in Port Townsend: questions

Is high water bill common in Port Townsend?

Yes. Homes from an 1880s Victorian seaport ringed by mid-century neighborhoods on acreage toward Cape George with 1920s galvanized under Uptown gardens underneath produce high water bill regularly, and sandy bluffs above the Strait makes the signs confusing.

Is Port Townsend within your range for high water bill?

Easily. A dedicated trip across the Hood Canal Bridge, and Sheridan Street, Fort Worden and the rest of Port Townsend are regular stops.

Will the City of Port Townsend come out for high water bill?

They'll confirm meter movement and sometimes adjust a bill after a documented repair. Diagnosing and fixing the private line in till toward Discovery Bay under small Victorian lots in Uptown is the owner's job, which is where we come in.

Will you dig at the wet spot?

No. With till toward Discovery Bay under waterfront near Point Hudson, water surfaces far from the cause. We isolate the house with pipe locator and open the ground once, near where century-old lines with unknown routes actually failed.

What do you do if high water bill turns out to be drainage, not a leak?

Fix the drainage. Downspout lines, footing drains and French drains are exterior excavation work, and on clay seams in the uplands under waterfront near Point Hudson they're often the real answer near Hastings Avenue.

High water bill in Port Townsend?

We answer 24 hours a day. We locate before we dig, and we handle the whole job with our own crew and equipment.

Call (206) 354-9906