Water cost?

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
Do you have any idea how much you pay a month for water?
I found out that I sure didn't.
Taking a look at your utility bill occasionally can be very enlightening.
My water bill this month: $49.38 for 3,600 gallons.
Seemed like a bargain to have plenty of good water and good pressure.
I happened to look at the details of the bill and found:

Curbside recycling - $2.45 - Pick up of cans, bottles, papers. I understand and believe in that.
Sewer service - $14.49 - The sewage treatment plant probably doesn't operate for free.
Tax - $0.91 - OK, gotta fund the government.

Now it gets confusing.
Miscellaneous collections - $0.50 - This I haven't a clue about. Didn't even know I had any miscellaneous to be collected.
Water availability - $5.62 - Do we pay for the use of the Des Moines river?
Sewer availability - $11.91 - The sewer lines have been in place over 50 years. Shouldn't they be paid for by now?
Storm water service - $4.00 - The storm drains have also been in place over 50 years. We sure are slow paying for things.

Now the kicker!
Water charges - $9.50 - The product and service I thought I paid $50 for cost me less than $10.
Now the water really seems like a bargain.
The sewer isn't bad.
Recycling is definitely worth $2.45
But what the heck is going on with the $22.03 that they buried in the bill?
Could it possibly be a way to collect more money without raising fees? Nah, that would be almost deceitful.
I'm afraid to ask. They might shut off my sewer service. :)
 
CharlesW said:
Do you have any idea how much you pay a month for water?
I found out that I sure didn't.
Taking a look at your utility bill occasionally can be very enlightening.
My water bill this month: $49.38 for 3,600 gallons.
Seemed like a bargain to have plenty of good water and good pressure.
I happened to look at the details of the bill and found:

Curbside recycling - $2.45 - Pick up of cans, bottles, papers. I understand and believe in that.
Sewer service - $14.49 - The sewage treatment plant probably doesn't operate for free.
Tax - $0.91 - OK, gotta fund the government.

Now it gets confusing.
Miscellaneous collections - $0.50 - This I haven't a clue about. Didn't even know I had any miscellaneous to be collected.
Water availability - $5.62 - Do we pay for the use of the Des Moines river?
Sewer availability - $11.91 - The sewer lines have been in place over 50 years. Shouldn't they be paid for by now?
Storm water service - $4.00 - The storm drains have also been in place over 50 years. We sure are slow paying for things.

Now the kicker!
Water charges - $9.50 - The product and service I thought I paid $50 for cost me less than $10.
Now the water really seems like a bargain.
The sewer isn't bad.
Recycling is definitely worth $2.45
But what the heck is going on with the $22.03 that they buried in the bill?
Could it possibly be a way to collect more money without raising fees? Nah, that would be almost deceitful.
I'm afraid to ask. They might shut off my sewer service. :)
Click to expand...
Consider your self lucky the little town that I live in charges about $ 85.00 for that much water with all the extra charges.
They need more money and plan to raise the fees.
People who live in our capitol Indianapolis complain about 20 bucks a month the small towns are becoming too expensive to live in.
 
black bart said:
Consider your self lucky the little town that I live in charges about $ 85.00 for that much water with all the extra charges.
They need more money and plan to raise the fees.
People who live in our capitol Indianapolis complain about 20 bucks a month the small towns are becoming too expensive to live in.
Click to expand...
I do.
I grew up pumping water from a well.
Never did a hose and bucket wash at my own home until I was 20 years old.
No hose since their was no water supply to connect it to.
It was bucket wash and bucket rinse.:)
 
Not sure how your water system is connected in your house but I do belive your sewer rate is based on water usage... you just washed the car? It looks GREAT!!!!...... the water you just used just went on your sewer bill.. not sure if its worth it but you might want to think about 2 water meters in the house.

meter 1 total water usage (water bill)
meter 2 water that does NOT go in to the sewer.. Car washing, Pool refilling, dog washing... you get the message.

subtract meter 2 from 1 and that is your sewer usage


my fuzzy math makes your water $1.37 a gallon.. if its real good water you can bottle it and resell it for a few dollars...:bigups
 
My water, garbage and sewer are about $110 a month on an average, a tad more in the summer for water alone and a tad less in the winter but that's the average overall
 
Haha - got you all beat (so far). My water is less than $15 a month. :D

One good thing about Alabama - the cost of living is pretty cheap. It sort of helps cancel out the obnoxious Alabama football fans and the backwards people.
 
black bart said:
Consider your self lucky the little town that I live in charges about $ 85.00 for that much water with all the extra charges.
They need more money and plan to raise the fees.
People who live in our capitol Indianapolis complain about 20 bucks a month the small towns are becoming too expensive to live in.
Click to expand...

Living in Indy, our water bill is about $20.00 a month but the sewer and garbage collection is added to the bill making it about $55.00-$60.00 a month and thats with the inground pool. not really too bad. Paul S
 
Beercan31 said:
Not sure how your water system is connected in your house but I do belive your sewer rate is based on water usage... you just washed the car? It looks GREAT!!!!...... the water you just used just went on your sewer bill.. not sure if its worth it but you might want to think about 2 water meters in the house.

meter 1 total water usage (water bill)
meter 2 water that does NOT go in to the sewer.. Car washing, Pool refilling, dog washing... you get the message.

subtract meter 2 from 1 and that is your sewer usage


my fuzzy math makes your water $1.37 a gallon.. if its real good water you can bottle it and resell it for a few dollars...:bigups
Click to expand...
I have 2 water meters 1 is for washing the cars and underground automatic sprinklers. In the summer the meter for the sprinklers runs $125.00 per month for water and the one for the house is around 60 bucks
 
The sewer charge is based on water usage, but my water that doesn't go in the sewer system is not all that much. Most of my car washing is done with rinseless or waterless washes and I don't water the lawn. I'm not sure if I would ever recover the cost of installing a second meter. Good point, though.

I think your math is very fuzzy. :D
$50 divided by 3,600 gallons is about 1.4 cents per gallon. :)
And I think it is pretty good water.
Des Moines Water Works Treated Water Quality:
Sample results 12/8/2009, 12/9/2009
Parameter----Fleur Treatment Plant----L.D. McMullen Water Treatment Plant
Chlorine mg/L------------1.03-----------------------.95
Nitrate mg/L--------------6.17---------------------6.99
Hardness mg/L (gr/gal)--152 (8.89)------------148 (8.65)
pH-------------------------9.75---------------------9.33
Fluoride mg/L-------------0.96----------------------0.91
 
My intent was to point out how little of my "water" bill was actually for water.
Only $9.50 out of the almost $50 bill.
 
CharlesW said:
My intent was to point out how little of my "water" bill was actually for water.
Only $9.50 out of the almost $50 bill.
Click to expand...
Yep same here the sewage runs twice as much as the water.

Trash pickup it $12.95 per month goes up on Jan.1 and every year thereafter to the end of the contract the city has with the company that picks it up.

The federal government built a reservoir and forced everyone to build a new sewer treatment plant the idiots running things here built it on top of 30 feet of gravel and could not understand why it would not hold water.:crazy2:

They recently built concrete holding tanks in the same location so now our little town owes Millions for building not 1 but 2 treatment plants.. :surrender
 
They have been rebuilding the sewage system in our town for over a decade. Our last water bill I can find (September) shows this:

Water $60.56
Sewage $35.77
Garbage $13.58
Sales Tax at 7.75% 1.12 (levied on trash pickup only)

Total bill $111.03

Water usage
Present 222680
Previous 210790
Used 11890

Do they not use a decimal point? There is NO WAY we could have used 11,890 gallons. 1189 I can believe, for our house is about 1600SF and we have ONE bathroom.

I truly hope we didn't use 11,890 gallons and that it's missing a decimal point.
 
My water bill is figured in gallons I used 3600 gallons last month.
Here the water don't cost much but the sewage sure does.
 
We have a community well (private water system) and a septic tank so water rates are low. I take our garbage to the a county center rather than pay someone to haul it off.

I did have to install a water softener since the water is fairly hard and alkaline. Since installing it, I have not used 4 bags of salt. We also have a lot of iron so need to do something about that. The whole house water filter is not removing that.
 
JaredPointer said:
I think water is measure in cubic feet or cubic meters, not gallons used.
Click to expand...
Possibly, but it has been measured in gallons any place I have lived.
I do think natural gas is measured and billed for by the cubic foot.
As noted in my earlier post, 3,600 gallons was my use last month.

Having spent my early years pumping water from a well and carrying it in a bucket, hauling trash to the dump, using an outdoor toilet, the money is well worth it. :)
 
black bart said:
I have 2 water meters 1 is for washing the cars and underground automatic sprinklers. In the summer the meter for the sprinklers runs $125.00 per month for water and the one for the house is around 60 bucks
Click to expand...

That is where it sits at my house as well, BlackBart. With the way things have been going this year it looks as if the budgeted 200 dollars a month for sewer and water will have to suffer sans the underground lawn water system for my home this spring. Thus saving me money that I really don't have to spend.
 
occupant said:
They have been rebuilding the sewage system in our town for over a decade. Our last water bill I can find (September) shows this:

Water $60.56
Sewage $35.77
Garbage $13.58
Sales Tax at 7.75% 1.12 (levied on trash pickup only)

Total bill $111.03

Water usage
Present 222680
Previous 210790
Used 11890

Do they not use a decimal point? There is NO WAY we could have used 11,890 gallons. 1189 I can believe, for our house is about 1600SF and we have ONE bathroom.

I truly hope we didn't use 11,890 gallons and that it's missing a decimal point.
Click to expand...

It depends on how many people are in your household. If I remember correctly one could say an average per person is between two and three thousand gallons a month in a normal household.
 
Living in the country - private well, spectic tank, 23 acres to separate me from the neighbors. Water bill - guess it would be the cost of the electricity to run the pump.
 
Bobcat said:
Living in the country - private well, spectic tank, 23 acres to separate me from the neighbors. Water bill - guess it would be the cost of the electricity to run the pump.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you are new to country living because when the pump needs replaced you will learn the cost of water.
 
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