A running toilet in a spare bathroom quietly drained thousands of gallons of water and sent one couple's monthly water bill to nearly $375 more than double their normal charge.KRIS 6 morning anchors Bryan and Michelle Hofmann a re sharing their experience, hoping others can avoid the same costly mistake. How a spare bathroom toilet quietly cost hundreds"We're sharing this, hoping you can avoid what happened to us and save yourself some money," the Hofmanns said.The couple's water usage spiked dramatically from their usual 3,000-gallon monthly average. When Bryan logged into the city's billing website, he noticed consumption had jumped to over 10,000 gallons at the end of March, then continued climbing through April to 28,000 gallons. "At first I thought wow, we really need to do better conserving water," Bryan said.The mystery might have continued costing them hundreds of dollars if not for an unexpected phone call from an unknown number."Normally I ignore unknown calls because I assume it's spam," Bryan said. "But thankfully they left this voicemail: 'Today I'm giving a courtesy call, it's in regards to your water usage. I noticed your water consumption went up this month from 10 to 28,000.'"After receiving the call, the Hofmanns began systematically checking their home's plumbing pipes, faucets, and toilets. They eventually discovered the source: a toilet in their spare bathroom had been continuously running. "Once we fixed it, I called the city to thank them for making that courtesy call in the first place," Bryan said. "Because without it we probably wouldn't have caught the issue as quickly."The Hofmanns have requested that the city adjust their bill since the leak has been repaired and the usage was far outside their normal consumption patterns. That request is currently under review."The biggest takeaway here check your plumbing every once in a while, especially toilets you don't use often," Bryan said. "A small leak or constantly running toilet can quietly add hundreds of dollars to your bill before you even notice it." ...read more read less