Reclaiming Lost Water Revenue in Columbus HOAs: What Boards Are Missing About Submetering
- abarzak6
- 6 minutes ago
- 5 min read
If you’re on an HOA or condo board in Columbus, Ohio and your financials never quite seem to line up, water submetering may be part of the reason.
We see this kind of issue often in the communities we manage. The occupancy is steady, the assessments are coming in, and yet the numbers still feel off. When we dig into it, water is often one of the first places we find a gap.
That was actually a topic at one of our recent Association Advocacy Alliance meetings here at our office (https://www.skool.com/community-advocacy-education-1693/about). A room full of board members was talking through metering questions, and what stood out was how many people were honest about not really understanding the process. That is more common than most boards would like to admit.
One of our long-term clients was in the room and was able to explain how their water submetering works in practice. In their case, collections are handled closely, and the water charges show up on the delinquency report with the assessments. That kind of visibility matters. It gives the board a much clearer picture of what is being billed, what is being paid, and what still needs attention.
Not every community has that kind of setup.
We took over one association in 2018 where more than $100,000 of water had been written off over a 10-year period. That did not happen overnight. It happened because the association was being treated too much like a rental community, and unpaid balances were not being handled the way they should have been.
When owners or residents moved out, balances were getting lost in the shuffle. The system was not built to catch it, and over time that turned into a very expensive problem.
We worked on fixing it, but there comes a point where a bad structure is still a bad structure. In that situation, we eventually had to move to a different submetering company. That is not something we recommend lightly. It is disruptive, and in most cases it is a last resort. But sometimes the only real fix is to change the way the system is being managed.
Not every Columbus HOA is dealing with six figures in written-off water charges. But smaller versions of the same problem show up all the time. Maybe the reports are not being reviewed closely enough. Maybe move-out charges are slipping through. Maybe no one is asking why the water income does not match the expense as closely as it should.
How do boards know who is paying?
This is one of the first questions we hear from HOA and condo boards.
The answer is that your water submetering company should be providing reports that show usage, billing, and payment activity by unit. Those reports should be sent to the management company and reviewed by the board. If they are not being shared regularly, that is a problem.
At CPS, we post those reports so boards have a clear picture of what is happening. That way, there is less guessing and more accountability.
Why does water income not match the water bill exactly?
This is another common question, and the answer usually comes down to timing.
The water bill from the utility company and the money collected from owners are not always on the same cycle. On top of that, some owners will always be delinquent. So no, you should not expect a perfect one-to-one match every month.
What you should expect is that the income and expense stay reasonably close over time. If they start drifting farther apart, that usually means something needs attention.
It is also important to remember that water billing is not just usage. There may be taxes, fees, ERU-related charges, and other line items that affect the total. If you are only looking at the base number, you may miss part of the picture.
Aging infrastructure makes it harder
We are also seeing more pressure on communities because water costs keep going up, and a lot of older communities are dealing with infrastructure that is simply past its prime.
One community we work with has roughly 40-year-old plastic water lines. They have recurring leaks in the system before the meters, which means the loss does not show up in the unit readings. You only see it when the master bill arrives.
That is a frustrating kind of loss because it is hard to spot early. You can have working meters and still have a real water problem somewhere else in the system.
In that case, we added a secondary meter at the building level so we could narrow down where the loss was happening. That helped us focus on one building instead of chasing the entire property every time the bill looked off.
What Columbus boards should watch
If you are on a board in Columbus or Central Ohio, there are a few things worth paying attention to:
Make sure water submetering reports are being reviewed regularly.
Ask whether move-out balances are being collected or written off.
Compare water income and water expense over time, not just month to month.
Watch for units with unusually low or minimum usage.
Stay alert for aging plumbing, underground leaks, and infrastructure issues that may be happening before the meter.
A lot of water loss does not show up as one dramatic failure. It shows up as small problems that keep getting ignored until they turn into real money.
A practical next step
If your water numbers do not make sense, or if you are not sure how your current submetering setup is performing, it is worth taking a closer look.
Sometimes the issue is collections. Sometimes it is reporting. Sometimes it is the infrastructure itself. And sometimes it is all three.
Either way, Columbus HOA and condo boards should know exactly where the water money is going and where it is not.
We can take a look and help you sort through the reports, the collections, and the structure behind the system.
Frequently asked questions
How do HOA boards know who is paying their water bill?
Your water submetering company should provide unit-level usage and billing reports. Those reports should be reviewed by the management company and the board so you can see who is current and who is delinquent.
Why does water income not match water expense exactly?
Timing is the main reason. Utility billing and owner collections usually happen on different cycles, and some delinquency is normal. The goal is to keep the numbers reasonably close over time.
What is the biggest cause of water submetering loss in HOAs?
One of the biggest causes is move-out balances that are not collected. Failed meters, missed billing, and leaks before the meter can also create losses.
What should Columbus boards watch for?
Boards should review submetering reports, track move-out collections, monitor unusually low usage, and stay alert for aging infrastructure or unexplained water bill increases.