12,374 water bill - 2 months

12,374 yen water bill
I live in an apartment complex where water is shared between tenants. In the beginning, all was fine. About 28-40 at most for 2 months worth of water. The most expensive it has ever been is around 4800 yen.

My husband moved in and they said we would have to pay for two. So we were expecting around 6000-8000 at most. The bill was 12,374. I have never received a bill this expensive for water in all of my years in Tokyo, even when I lived in a house of 3-4 and we shared utilities.

I just want to know if this sounds normal at all? Or could there possibly be a leaking pipe or something going on somewhere? Right now that is the price between 4 tenants, 2 being my husband and myself. Granted, we weren't even around for about 2-3 weeks to even utilize the water that much, and being out of the house often, and doing laundry about once a week, we are not showering down waterfalls of H2O everyday lol. I agreed to split the bill, so I understand I cant complain about not being there but being charged, but I am just worried that I am having to pay for a broken pipe or some kind of water leakage problem they are having and not addressing.

Until I moved into this apartment, I was paying around 1100-2000 per month for water, through a normal water company for my individual unit.

Thanks for any input given.

P.S. between 4 tenants, the total water bill was 24,751. We are paying half of that. Nearly 25,000 yen water bill for 4 people? Does that sound right? No lawns, no sprinklers, nothing like that here.

to confirm no leakage:
there should be a main stop valve and a meter outside of your house.
1.close all taps in your house. watch a meter. it should keep stopping.
2.close a main stop valve. after 1 min, open the main stop valve. if the meter runs slightly, there is some leakage.

Yes that does sound abnormally high for a water bill. Definitely check to see if you have leakage somewhere.

First of all, 24,751 per 2 months for 4 adults sounds even cheaper than standards, so I doubt there is any leakage.

As for 12,374, apparently they devided 24,751 by 2/4 which sounds fair and typical to me. I also think you made a good impression on the other tenants and landlord by accepting to pay it. And by doing so, it will make it a lot easier for you to bargain next time.

That said, it's reasonable for people to think that one additional family member have a huge impact on water bills. The meter reader will actually knock on your door to see if there is anything wrong, and when you say, "Well, we do have a newborn now." they say, "Ah, that explains it. I thought it was leakage."

If you have a good reason to believe you are using less water than the other tenant(s), then list them up and use that list to pursuade the others. I think they were just trying to be fair by spliting the bill in half (and the others are even paying a couple of yen more for you), so all you need is some fair material to explain otherwise.

But again, 12,374 does sound reasonable for two people.

Thanks everyone for your input!
Even the landlord and real estate agent were surprised by how our apartment complex's water bill doubled suddenly, and they are investigating what may be the problem.
Everyone I have spoken to agree that this is way too expensive for water, water shouldnt be more expensive than electricity.
Most couples on average spend about 5000-6000 for water here. Asked about 20 couples so this seems average. So, hope this info helps anyone else who may have a similar problem!
Thanks again!

It sounds a lot to me, but possible if one or more of the householders is an excessive user.
Back when we were 2 adults, our bills were 4-5,000 per 2 months. Which seems to fit with your estimate. Now as a family of 5, the bills are around 7,000 per month, so I do think 12,000 for 2 people is a lot as I think even we are not very careful with our water use and are quite wasteful. But if people are having very long showers and not sharing/re-using bath water then that is a possible number.

Also i forgot to mention, my husband was already living with me for 2 water bills but he oficially moved in this month as he just received his visa.
So there was no big jump or anything in water usage, just a jump in price.
Where I paid 2500-3000 a month, doubling that would be no more than 6000, 8000 at most i assumed.
So like everyone suggested, most likely a leak. Thanks again!