Water bill...

John Carter · #21 02/22/12, 10:20 PM

water bills of that price usually indicate a leak.
Ask how much water you were metered. Average household of two people shouldnt use more that 3000 a month.

Now most people will go looking for a dripping faucet or if they have a crawl space they will look under the house.
Biggest unseen water leak is the toilets.
At night before you go to bed, put several drops of food coloring in the tank reservor..............check again in the morning..............it will usually be gone.

The flaper valve could be leaking just a small but constant flow and the water supply will be filling it up but not a full flow you hear when you flush.

Trsut me............I have ran a water dept and have told this little trick to lots of folks who have called me back and said, that was it.

bluemoonluck · #22 02/23/12, 09:06 AM

When I lived in UT we had culinary water and secondary water.

Culinary water was metered and billed - that's what runs into your house and is safe to drink.

Secondary water came from retention ditches and was piped to the hose bibs outside - turned on mid-April, cut off mid-October. We were billed along with our property taxes for secondary, IIRC it was about $350/year or so.

I'd never want to live in a desert zone without either water shares or secondary water. Otherwise you'll go broke trying to keep anything outside your house alive

TheMartianChick · #23 02/23/12, 09:49 AM

Assuming that there are no leaks and that this is regular usage, keep in mind that you will need to try to repurpose wastewater for the garden. It could be as simple as watering the garden with water that would ordinarily go down the drain like when draining the tup. Put a bucket in the shower to catch some that can be used to for the garden, too.

hmsteader71 · #24 02/23/12, 11:42 AM

Until we installed our 1/6 gallon toilet, our water bill was over $100 a month. Now we've got it down in the $60s and I am so thankful for that. It's outrageous here.

Wendy · #25 02/23/12, 12:34 PM

Quote:

SISTERPINE <> Have you thought about how this bill would compair to the cost of drilling your own well and still not having much water??

Exactly what happened to us. We spent over $400 trying to have a well dug only to have them hit rock both times. Finally got county water hooked up. Our bill is around $65 a month which is half of what we used to spend having water hauled in. We are also in the country, but sometimes you just can't have a well no matter how much you want one.

Michael W. Smith · #26 02/23/12, 01:18 PM

In the town where my sisters lived, their rates had been the same for years. Well - NO MORE!!!! They ended up having to replace the 100 year old water plant with a state of the art water plant.

When the water department found out how much the new plant was going to cost, the prices increased each quarter for a whole year! They found out their old prices were way too low to support the loan payments they have to make now.

You also have to remember, that many water departments have huge yearly upgrades to make. When those old pipes from 75 years ago start to leak, you can keep plugging the holes as they develop or just replace the whole entire water line. Neither is cheap!

And do you have a county owned water plant, or is it a big water company that has stockholders to keep happy? Most stockholders like to see dividend increases each year - so rates keep going up.

Bluesgal · #27 02/23/12, 02:40 PM

Taxes..... 20% of your utility bills are taxes..... Water, Elec, Gas, phone.... I did the math when I moved 1 1/2 years ago.... I used around 700 gallons last month... bill with sewer/trash pickup was $67

Belfrybat · #28 02/23/12, 03:37 PM

Base rate here is $69.00 which includes up to 2000 gal. water, sewer and garbage pickup (including a once a month "bulk" pickup if desired). I never went over the base rate until last summer's drought. But with trying to get young shade trees started, plus garden, plus orchard, I ended up using 5000 gallons some months -- $84.00.

I now have four rainwater tanks which together hold 2600 gallons. They cost me more than buying water would have for the next few years, but with the drought predicted to continue for a while, I figured it was worth the cost. I figure if nothing else, the water tanks will supplement above the 2000 gallons allowed on the base bill.

I also routed the washer drain into the yard to water trees, and instead of letting the water run in the sink or shower to warm up, I catch it in a bucket to use outside.

Sumer · #29 02/24/12, 02:45 PM

We get billed here quarterly about $65. The catch is there is a minimum charge of 10 "units" no matter if you use under that or not. I rarely go over that even watering the garden in the summer. I don't remember how much water makes up a "unit". I don't save a cent if I conserve so I don't.

whiterock · #30 02/24/12, 04:28 PM

I may have saved on water bill today. The bathroom faucets had lost the aerators, One just had a screen the other had completely deteriorated. I went to fill a qt pitcher the other day and it took no time, figure i have been using gallons of water to brush teeth, wash hands and shave that were unneeded.

Catalpa · #31 02/24/12, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wendy

Exactly what happened to us. We spent over $400 trying to have a well dug only to have them hit rock both times. Finally got county water hooked up. Our bill is around $65 a month which is half of what we used to spend having water hauled in. We are also in the country, but sometimes you just can't have a well no matter how much you want one.

Confused by this a bit...why would they stop when they hit rock? Most of the wells around here are in the rock. Often with better quality and quantity of water than wells that terminate in the glacial drift.

I am SO glad to be out on my own well and septic. Yes, I could have a big bill should something go wrong, but I am assured of my water quality and don't have constant annoying fees and taxes and differing measurements and all that nonsense that comes when the government controls your infrastructure.

newcolorado · #32 02/24/12, 05:08 PM

Water and sewer and gas on the town bill here. Each listed. Two week's bill listed more water than i used in a month other place. I will have a big lawn to water. Front an back and then any garden I have room for. New lawn to get it going will take water. Not much rain here. Sewer was more than the water. Gas for two weeks said none used. ? Just a $10 fee. Just got things into my name. Got my first telephone bill and a dilly but I was expecting worse. I had to get two jacks in. Had to buy new phone as mine would not filter. Electric another bill. Water will be my main worry this summer. Washer is an HE and just me to wash for. Water for 2 weeks was $16. Trash here in private haul and I put my with DIL's as she rent/using 3 big things. Dump in county I moved from was $15 for a car load. I think they were up to like $48 on sewer and I wasa on septic tank and not cheap to pump. So have more bills here too. Just moved to this little town. Seems little towns are higher rates.

Sisterpine I feel for you as as I know what it is. It will take me a few months to figure out to budget this in. I can not route any water to the yard. Water off roof will go on the front and back lawns. I plan to frame the garden beds to save water. Small tank toilet.

blooba · #33 02/25/12, 08:10 AM

Do not use me as an example but here in Maryland my water/trash/tax bill for the quarter was over $600 last quarter. But we got flooded and we used alot of water cleaning up the mud and whatnot. So it could be worse but that bill was a big shock.

Everything is expensive here(tax wise) but that flood really cost alot and it was due to all the development upstream with no upgrades to deal with runoff. I thought thats what my taxes are supposed to be used for...lol

sisterpine · #34 02/25/12, 11:11 AM

The basically "dry" well I had drilled in Montana was 450 feet deep and cost 25.00 per foot!

oldasrocks · #35 02/25/12, 11:19 AM

Here in Missouri the last 90 ft of 450 ft was drilled through rock to get to the water. The water shot up to the 130 ft mark as under pressure.

Wendy · #36 02/25/12, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Confused by this a bit...why would they stop when they hit rock? Most of the wells around here are in the rock. Often with better quality and quantity of water than wells that terminate in the glacial drift.

This was a dug well, not a driven well. If they hit rock with their digger, that stops them. They can't dig through rock. There are very few driven wells in this area. We had thought of seeing if we could get one done, but it was easier to have the county water hooked up.

Raven12 · #37 02/26/12, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisterpine

Water bill about 61.00 for one month
water used 17.00 and the rest is sewer, trash, fees, taxes, fees, taxes!

That is far less than I used to pay for all those services. I can't wait for city water again. My well water is the worst.

Catalpa · #38 02/26/12, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wendy

This was a dug well, not a driven well. If they hit rock with their digger, that stops them. They can't dig through rock. There are very few driven wells in this area. We had thought of seeing if we could get one done, but it was easier to have the county water hooked up.

They don't use rotary rigs down your way? Up here we only use the spudders when the geology is such that a thin vein of water might be missed by the high speed rotary. My well is 60' deep, the last 20' are in the sandstone, and I have all the water I could ever ask for. They used a rotary rig and had the well drilled and hooked up inside of one day. (Have I mentioned I love living in Michigan?)

To me hooking up to anything provided by the government is to be avoided - but I'm jaded and very anti-government due to some first hand experience with stoooopid officials.

I hope your hookup was done professionally and that you have plenty of good water. Just one thought: always read all the fine print on the flyers included with your bill. Best wishes!

Wendy · #39 02/26/12, 11:08 PM

Quote:

To me hooking up to anything provided by the government is to be avoided - but I'm jaded and very anti-government due to some first hand experience with stoooopid officials.

I hope your hookup was done professionally and that you have plenty of good water. Just one thought: always read all the fine print on the flyers included with your bill. Best wishes!

We are the same, but when we were spending $200 a month having water hauled in when we had a drought, the $65 water bill now looks good. I was taking laundry to my mom's & we were not flusing toilets every time or taking showers everyday. Yes, water was hooked up by a pro who is also a guy I know really well. Our bill comes as a small postcard. Our water company is actually member owned also.

We have 2 hand dug wells on the place yet. One we use at the barn, but it is not enough for the house too. The other is covered over & we may clean it out & put a hand pump on it. I think it is stupid that they can't re-dig an existing well. I wanted them to dig out the one that is not in use & go deeper. They are not allowed to do that. The guy said years ago when they hand dug the wells & hit rock, they would dynamite through it or pick axe through it & keep going. They can't do that anymore. I don't know why they can't re-dig an existing well & put in the new casing so it's up to code. Who makes up these stupid laws??

Beeman · #40 02/27/12, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisterpine

Keeping in mind that I am not yet used to having a water bill each month. I bout had a stroke when I saw this.

Water bill about 61.00 for one month
water used 17.00 and the rest is sewer, trash, fees, taxes, fees, taxes!

I have not even began my garden yet and this is AZ where it will need lots of water!

For $61 you get water, have the sewage treated and someone picks up your trash, that's a deal! I'm surprised water is that cheap in a place where there is no water. Where does the water dept. obtain your water from?