SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Help could be on the way for San Diego families stunned by exorbitantly high water bills.
The City of San Diego is offering to send inspectors to homes to uncover any leaks or problems that could lead to big bills.
Ann Ward Weiner's water bill just doubled to more than $800.
"I was very concerned there was some leak, or there was something going on," she said.
Ward Weiner called the city, and inspector Rigo Cosio went to her Scripps Ranch home. He said he checks the water systems at about four homes a day, going both inside to toilets, taps, and appliances, to the irrigation systems.
"You just put in the work, you find one thing, another thing, another thing, and another thing," he said.
Cosio said outdoor irrigation systems are the culprit about 90 percent of the time. Ward Weiner's home was no exception. After the inside of the house checked out, he found that the outdoor water pressure was way too high at 120 PSI, and that a hose bib was leaking in the side yard.
But he also found that Ward Weiner's irrigation system was set to duplicate watering the same areas multiple times a day - likely responsible for the large bill.
"There's your ah-ha! moment," he said.
Ward Weiner said she'll now be looking for new ways to save water and make sure there aren't leaks.
Cosio said some ways to do that are to check for excess water, like puddling, bubbling from the ground, or water shooting straight up into the air.
He said there are a handful of city inspectors, and how quickly they can get out to a home depends on the call volume. Sometimes it's a day, other times it can be a week.
To learn more about the city program, click here.
