When going away for a vacation, etc. remember to turn off the water to your house. It's better to be safe than sorry. A pal's neighbor found out the hard way. They came back from a nice, relaxing vacation to a house flooded because a water pipe burst.
I have an even worse story: my next door neighbor used my water to fill her swimmnig pool. I know this because I got a bill for 48,000 gallons! The cops couldn't prove she and her druggy boyfriend did this even though neither had jobs and their water bill was normal despite having the new swimming pool. I believe they did this late one night when I was out of state: all they had to do was jump the fence and hook their water hose to mine, as the swimming pool was not 15 feet away from my outside faucet. Next time I travel, I will have the water turned off by the water dept.
By L.T (Guest Post)
09/24/2007
My hot water heater has a vacation setting,but now I will turn the main water supply off also.
By Lynda (Guest Post)
08/31/2006
And, go a step further by disconnecting any waterhose if in a temperate climate because dog-walkers, neighbor kids can and do often use others' faucets and forget to turn them off well, causing a big bill and mess.