Mall Reduces Water Usage from 15,000 to 4,000 Gallons a Month

Customer Profile

• Property: 40+ Year-Old Strip Mall
• Type: Commercial retail property with 20 tenants
• Location: Undisclosed
• Meter Count: Initial 3 meters, scalable across property
• Interviewee: Luis O., Rilea Group

Challenge

A strip mall operating for over 40 years began experiencing massive spikes in monthly water bills.

Water usage jumped from 4,000 gallons per month to 15,000 gallons, causing bills to surge from $2,500 to $8,000—a 300% increase.

With no individual meters, the property owner couldn’t identify whether the waste was caused by tenant behavior or hidden leaks. Traditional in-line submetering was estimated at $50,000, making it an unrealistic solution.

Impact

• No visibility into tenant-level water usage or anomalies
• Ineffective communication: Mass tenant emails brought no improvements
• High inspection costs: Plumber visits revealed only minor issues, leaving major problems undetected
• Prohibitive costs of traditional inline submetering blocked upgrades

Solution

The property manager implemented SimpleSUB Water’s over-the-pipe submetering solution, which offered:

• Cost-Effective Deployment: 1/10th the cost of inline systems (under $400 per unit plus subscription)
• Non-Invasive Installation: No pipe cutting, quick setup, and easy pilot with three initial meters
• Real-Time Monitoring: Remote usage tracking for each tenant via the app
• Proactive Customer Support: Alerts for irregular consumption and responsive troubleshooting

Features

Over-the-Pipe Compatibility
→ No cutting into pipes
→ Safe, fast, and low-cost installation

Real-Time LTE Monitoring
→ Live data and alerts for each unit
→ Transparent consumption visibility

Leak Detection Tools
→ Pinpointed hidden leaks quickly
→ Prevented ongoing tenant disputes and costs

Cost Efficiency
→ 1/10th of inline submetering quotes
→ Affordable scaling across multiple units

Results

• Restaurant Leak Identified: SimpleSUB flagged nonstop usage; a hidden restaurant leak was uncovered and repaired
• Multiple Leaks Detected: Four more tenant leaks found and fixed
• Leak Under Concrete Found: Second restaurant losing 1,500 gallons/day; leak located under concrete and repaired
• Water Usage Normalized: Dropped from 15,000 to 4,000 gallons/month
• Cost Savings: Over $100,000 in avoided overcharges within eight months

Success

“We were quoted $50,000 for a plumber to install inline meters, which was completely out of our budget. SimpleSUB’s solution cost a fraction of that—under $400 per unit with a small monthly subscription—and provided the same accurate data with much less hassle. It was an easy decision!”
— Luis O., Rilea Group

Excellence

“For aging commercial properties, SimpleSUB provides a practical, low-cost path to accurate monitoring, leak detection, and tenant-level billing—without the risks of traditional meters.” — Luis O.

Modernize Your Water Management

Facing unexplained water spikes or tenant billing disputes? Schedule your free property assessment today and see how SimpleSUB Water can cut waste and save thousands annually.

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