Suburb of Atlanta, GA. Sewer rates are roughly twice the cost of water.
3000 gallons of water $8.49 sewer $16.23Note that there is no allowance for irrigation of lawn or garden - sewer cost is based on water used, which is only reported to the nearest 1000 gallons.
If there was space in the yard and I had the $$, there'd be a 15,000 or 20,000 gallon tank for collecting rainwater. I already do that, but on a small scale - about 350 gallons of storage.
Markem wrote:
They probably read the meter monthly from the road, electronically. The manual once a year reading is probably to check to make sure the electronic reading is correct/on par/no glitches.
Sonny
Likewise my water/sewer bill for 2011 was $776 and I used 97,000 gallons of water. It was very dry and I watered my yard A LOT. There is a small up charge for usage past 10,000 gal per month.
In 2012 my water/sewer bill was $752 and I only used 61,000 gallons of water.
So the billing actually encourages you to use a lot of water.
I used 36,000 gallons less, last year, and only saved $24.
If I used no water at all I would only save $100 over last year.
usage. I wish it was. Maybe I'll have to go bug the county commissioners. Doubt that'll get me very far :-). OTOH, our water bill is $14 a month up to some limit which few seem to reach. And they only read the meter once a year to bill for any overage.
facility. That flat rate may stay the same for a decate or more, while others' rate/gal will go up every few years.
One would think. Unfortunately in my water district I also pay a MUD tax every year and that is double my annual water and sewer bill. Having said that I moved out of Houston 2 years ago. I have seen maintenance crews in our neighborhood doing minor repairs down in the drains each summer. In Houston noting is repaired until it becomes a safety problem.
(winter/summer) water is used and many are complaining. To avoid higher rates for usage/sewer, many folks have purchased or made rain barrels, to avoid paying more. Though my town has not done that, I plan to build a cistern this summer.
My sewer is based on water consumption. I'm not sure of the exact amount as I don't have a bill handy, but the combined water and sewer works out to about $60 a month.
Sewer rates can be very high in areas that are close to sea level or where you have to do a lot of pumping. Those 1.6 gallon flush toilets are starting to make more sense these days as sewer rates increase.
You are very uninformed. Dishwashers save water and use nowhere near 50 gallons. Energy Star models use about 4 gallons. Less than had washing.
I took it out and replaced it with a stack of drawers anyway. We don't save dirty dishes that long.
Ah, soooo - more room for clean ones to through out when dirty ;-)
make that "throw".
Ok.
You mean the double flush toilets?
Actually, no. The meter is in the basement and is not remotely readable. This is a *small* electric company. In fact, I can do the once a year reading myself and send it to them :-).
OOPS! I meant "water company" not "electric company" although they actually are both. The electric meter is outside and does get read once a month.
Not any more. Sure, they used to be triple flush, but the new models work very well. We have a few of them at work and have been trouble free for five years now.
I have found that it depends on the quality of the unit. I am in a new neighborhood. Brand X builder used single flush commodes that the home owners were not happy with. Our builder DR Horton uses the large elongated single flush bowls and there has never been an issue. The Brand X home owners are having their units replaced with The DR Horton style.
For many, it has paid for itself to install a separate shallow well pump to provide water, to water the lawn, wash the car, and fill the swimming pool. So only the cost of elect with no other water / sewer bill. A couple of hundred dollars should install one. Ground water is usually shallow enough for a well point to be hand driven down to it. Where I live I have good water for this purpose at 25-30 feet.
Probably should have mentioned, the trouble free ones we have are all Kohler, but some other brands are good also.
This will depend on where you are, hand driving a well point will only work in soft sand or loose gravel. I live in an are where there is hard-pan clay about 2 feet down, it would be impossible to hand drive a point down into that material, and if you could, it would not produce any useful water in the solid clay. I had to drive two 5/8" diameter sharpened ground rods 10 feet long and it took all day just to drive them into the heavy clay, I was getting about 20 hits with a 15 pound sledge to move the rods an inch. I was exhausted when I finally finished.
Not around here - The last well I had, in Boise ID, had to go down over
250' to hit water. Most of the northwest, except near the coast, is sagebrush country.
Next time afix a garden hose (somehow) to a 10' section of conduit. Let the water do the drilling.
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