Water Bills and Usage

rlrose328 · June 25, 2009, 10:53:07 PM

We try to conserve water... we do. We take short showers (hubby and son actually turn off the water while they soap up). We water the lawn very infrequently, just enough to keep a green glow. We don't leave water running when we brush our teeth (I was raised to keep it running to it rinses the toothpaste continously and won't dry to the sink). We got a water saving shower head that uses air somehow to make the water pressure seem higher than it is so it saves water. I could go on.

We get our water bill today... $150! As we look further to find out what the heck (it's $40 more than the last several bills, which are bi-monthly), we see that only $26 is our own personal water usage and $11 is for sewer charges. The remaining 80% of the bill is fees... water collection (street-side drains), surface water use (includes the street cleaners), and sewer maintence, among a few other things related to last year's bond passages. :hissyfit:

Heretical Rants · June 25, 2009, 10:57:04 PM

Here the mosquito spray service is added onto the electric bill. Nobody here really wants poison sprayed over the city, either. They do it anyway.

Whitney · June 25, 2009, 11:02:00 PM

I had to ask my husband because he's the one in charge of making sure the water bill gets paid on time so I didn't know how much ours is....he said it is around 40-50 each month total. We don't do everything we could to conserve water but also don't water our yard at all (it's Texas...it's going to die unless we waste a ton of water trying to keep it green; so I opt for just letting it burn in the sun). I guess we just don't have a ton of extra fees here...your seem quite excessive. The $150 does seem about right for electricity unless you live in a one bedroom home...if you live in a large home then 150 is very good.

rlrose328 · June 25, 2009, 11:05:12 PM

Quote from: "Whitney"I had to ask my husband because he's the one in charge of making sure the water bill gets paid on time so I didn't know how much ours is....he said it is around 40-50 each month total. We don't do everything we could to conserve water but also don't water our yard at all (it's Texas...it's going to die unless we waste a ton of water trying to keep it green; so I opt for just letting it burn in the sun). I guess we just don't have a ton of extra fees here...your seem quite excessive. The $150 does seem about right for electricity unless you live in a one bedroom home...if you live in a large home then 150 is very good.

Yeah, I guess it's a large home... I hate thinking about it that way, though. In the winter, when I'm freezing and we don't turn on the heat, our bill is about $50 - $60, which was what I paid in the summer months for my tiny 1br appt in Central California when I was single, and that was A LOT then. Amazing what we consider to be acceptable as we get older, eh?

Joe is trying to figure out the best way to complain, even if it won't do any good. I HAVE to finish this MT course so I can make money to pay our water bill. Ugh. :eek:

Whitney · June 25, 2009, 11:14:02 PM

This reminds me that our a/c has been turning on a lot lately...i'm going to set it up a few degrees and see if that still makes the house comfortable. The fan in the bedroom almost has it feeling cold in here; might need one for other parts of the house.

rlrose328 · June 25, 2009, 11:17:58 PM

That's what we do, Whitney... we have fans in every room, and we turn them on depending on which side the sun is on. At night, we have fans in both bedrooms. For the most part, being in Oregon, we don't need the a/c every day at all. Today, it's overcast and about 78 deg, perfect. I have a little desktop fan on my desk next to my monitor because while my cubicle setup here in my home office is very cool and meets HIPAA standards nicely, it's a heatsink.

We put the fans in the doorways of the rooms pointing outward to pull in cool air and circulate it. We were just lazy over the past month with the fan movement, so we turned on the a/c. We won't make THAT mistake again.

Fewer pieces of clothing... that's the way to go. :-)

SallyMutant · July 05, 2009, 08:29:00 AM

Lawns and golf courses are a good subject for an ethics discussion. Should they even be allowed to be kept lush in the summer? It's both a water issue and a mower exhaust issue.
We never water our grass in the TX summer, yet it always survives and intrudes where we want to have a few flowers and vegetables. :brick:

VanReal · July 07, 2009, 02:02:53 AM

I am stuck on the part where you said the water bills are bi-monthly!!?? What? SO the $150 is for half of the month? The biggest part of my monthly water bill is sewage and storm drain, my personal usage is minimal as well. Dallas also tacks on the garbage and recycling collection (sanitation) to our water bill, so with water used, sewage, sanitation, fees, storm drains my bill is around $60 or so a month.

I'm with my fellow Texans here on the watering grass in the Summer. I have learned it's best to let it go and watch the "Dallas grass" (aka crab grass) take over until spring at which time it all comes back eventually

It's fruitless anyway, our water does little to entice it to stay alive, but one short summer sprinkle works wonders...waiting for one of those.

I wonder whether your neighbors have the same bills/issues, it must be regional!!

Whitney · July 07, 2009, 04:28:54 AM

Quote from: "SallyMutant"Lawns and golf courses are a good subject for an ethics discussion.

I think it is definitely something to keep in mind. When I have my own place it will not have a lawn in the front. I will plant trees and native plants that need little or no water and just some weeding. I will have some grass area in the back yard since I have a dog (and will probably have kids too). Lawns are overrated and take up too much time to make them pretty...the waste of water and exhaust is just the topper.

rlrose328 · July 07, 2009, 05:21:52 AM

Quote from: "VanReal"I am stuck on the part where you said the water bills are bi-monthly!!??

Bi-monthly is one of those words that complicates things... it's every OTHER month, so that is for two months.

And yes, my neighbors are all facing the same thing. By comparison, our bill was much lower. Our friends with 4 kids living at home, their bill was over $200, what with showers, laundry, etc. Thank goodness we only have one!

VanReal · July 08, 2009, 01:53:09 AM

Quote from: "rlrose328"
Quote from: "VanReal"I am stuck on the part where you said the water bills are bi-monthly!!??

Bi-monthly is one of those words that complicates things... it's every OTHER month, so that is for two months.

And yes, my neighbors are all facing the same thing. By comparison, our bill was much lower. Our friends with 4 kids living at home, their bill was over $200, what with showers, laundry, etc. Thank goodness we only have one!

I thought about that later in the evening. Bi-monthly to me immediately went to payroll, meaning twice a month and I was ready to write a letter to the Northwest demanding relief for everyone!! Now, $150 for two months to me seems pretty normal, mine is usually about $60+ a month which would actually be more than yours. I think it's probably pretty typical that our household usage is lower.

Consider it our additional contribution to the economy...at least for our local governments, hehe.

Will · July 08, 2009, 03:03:22 AM

We're billed bimonthly here. Are you sure it's not $75 per month? I made that mistake on my first bill.

rlrose328 · July 08, 2009, 04:08:42 AM

Quote from: "Will"We're billed bimonthly here. Are you sure it's not $75 per month? I made that mistake on my first bill.

Yes, that's about right. $150 / 2 = $75

It's still amazing that out of that $150, only $35 (approx.) is actual usage charges, over the 2 month period. So we're doing well with conserving water, but it doesn't help our bill much due to all of the other charges we can't control. I guess that's the stick in my craw.

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Water Bills and Usage