Hi sifus, i need help!

i bought a 2nd hand condo and just got the keys early July 2012

When i got the keys i noticed that the water supply to the unit was off, when i called the condo management, they informed me the previous owner instructed them to off the main tap to my unit. So i asked them to turn the tap on again and after that my condo has water supply.

I thot everything is fine.

When i got the water bill for month of June (before i get the keys) the bill was RM6 (the minimum charge due to the water supply to my condo was off all the time).

But yesterday when i got the bill for the month of July (from 1-31 July) i was shocked that the bill was more than RM70, but the problem is there is no one staying at the condo at the moment and my renovation has not started yet.

Pls advise what i can do besides calling the management tomorrow having them to turn off the water supply to my unit?

What could be the potential problem looking at my case? Is it internal leaking or external?

If it's external, does it mean that the condo management has to fix it for me?

If it's internal, how much does it cost to get things fixed?

what would be the proper procedure to get everything solved smoothly??

Pls help, thanks !!!

better tell the management and complain about it. Please check with previous owner. It's better to close all the incoming pipes to prevent paying high bills every month.

Hi thank you for your advise. will call the management tomorrow and get them to off the main switch. but this is just a temporary solution coz i will need to use water when i move in. Do you happen to know what would be the procedure to rectify the problems? thanks thanks

I assume you do not see leaking at your unit. Then, check ur downstairs owner (if any) whether they experience water leaking from roof....

The water must be going somewhere, unless someone stole your water??

There is sure got leaking in between.

If it is external, aka common property piping, management bare the cost through management fund.
If it is within unit, then unit owner bare all the cost.

What to do?
Call plumber to identify the leaking as quick as possible.

Hi thank you for the advise, so the plumber would be able to confirm whether it's internal & external leakages right?

Am just wondering if it's external leakage, will it affect only my unit? (i dont know anything abt water piping)

Also, do you know roughtly what would be the total cost involved if it's internal leaking?

thanks for your advise, will call the management tomorrow.

Also, i plan to do renovation before i move in,where works wll involve changing existing tiles at the bathrooms and kitchen (Am i right that water piping and water leakage can only happen at these areas?). Do i need to get the leakage problem fixed first before i start the renovation? many many thanks!

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Added on August 12, 2012, 5:38 pmHi thanks for your advise. yes i did not see leakages in my condo, no water splashing out etc. and you are right, the water must go somewhere, i will check with my downstairs neighbour.

and my question is how can people steal my water and how to prevent this? (it's a condo @@)

thanks!

This post has been edited by dreamadream: Aug 12 2012, 05:38 PM

It is traceable.
Any competent plumber should able to solve this kind of problem.

Cost is more related whether hacking is needed, and how much hacking, instead of piping cost itself.
Cost is more depends where is the leaking, how to fix it.
Without knowing the source of problem, nobody can give you an estimate cost.

Not necessary happen in kitchen and bathroom, it is about the path of the piping.
Normally check the valve, toiler bowl.

Why do you suspect people steal your water?
If people steal your water you won't have a Rm6 bill in the first place.

great to know that it's traceable, do you hv any good plumber to recommend??

i also understand that the possibility of water being stolen is low just thot to get to know all possibilities. the RM6 was because the main tap was off for that period. many thanks for your advice

who know any nearby neighbour can possible connect their own pipe into TS unit somewhere ??

But RM70 is definitely too much, even for two family i believe... most likely is leaking which non-stop usage.

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Added on August 12, 2012, 7:05 pm

Just another possibilities, could be the SYABAS (water company in case your are not staying in selangor) go wrong ??

Anyway, last time, plumber teach us one way => Monitor water meter...

First, make sure no water usage in ur unit, then go to meter room and noted down the reading. Next monitor for few mins, see whether the reading is running or not (sometime, it increase very slow but after 10 mins, sure can see the different)... If yes, sure leaking. When leaking, lower unit sure hit the impact as they told us.

If the reading is not running after few mins, then leaking most likely not possible.



This post has been edited by g00glesYYl: Aug 12 2012, 07:05 PM

hi, many thanks for your help, i will contact the mgmt office, check with my neighbout downstairs and also do monitoring on the water meter as per your advise, many thanks. hopefully it's just a minor problem

thanks for your valuable advise!

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Added on August 15, 2012, 11:29 amHi for those who have given me valuable advise, just wanna say thank you again.

I think it's only fair for me to give an update so hopefully it wud be useful for others in the future shud they face the same prob (touch wood )

I checked with the condo management, and now we suspect the leakage could be caused by one of the WC. after we off the valve to the WC, now the meter seems to stop running already, the management promised to help monitor the reading for the next few days.

another tip to share, which i found online, to check on possible small leakage of WC or the flush system is to put some "food coloring" liquid into the WC tank, and wait for 1-2 hours, if the WC is leaking, the "colored" water will show in the WC after 1-2 hours (time could be longer or shorter depending on the seriousness).

thanks




This post has been edited by dreamadream: Aug 15 2012, 11:29 AM