Cost of water in Union County (Apex: home, school, live)

[FLtoNC]

I have heard that the water & sewer bills in Union County can get quite expensive. Can anyone who lives there shed some light on this? I am scared we are going to have $200 - $400 monthly water bills. Also, how is the quality of the water? If you have a filter through your refrigerator, is it suitable for drinking?

[resident]

Union County does their water on a Tier system. the first X amount (I think 3000 I don't have my bill in front of me) is billed at a rate of 2.something per 1000 gallons of water, the next tier is 3.00 something for each 1000 gallons between 3000 and 8000 (so for about 5000) then it is higher for Tier 3, the sewage is billed at a rate of 3.something per 1000 gallons and they have a cap of 10000 I believe. You can also check the union county site and contact the public works or water facility as well.
I think it is more expensive too but we don't pay trash where I am and the electric and gas hasn't been too bad so I t hink for us it has been a wash.

I will say I am home and we have kids..so we cook a lot, do a lot of dishes and laundry plus 5 ppl showering at least once a day.

[flyingscotsman]

Water and Sewer Rates

Rates or fees listed in these web pages are subject to change without prior notice.
Please call (704) 296-4210 for verification. Last update April 18, 2005.

Monthly Base Charge
Monthly Service Charges
Additonal Fees
Water & Sewer Capacity Fees
Tap Fees
Fire Connection Fees





Monthly Base Charge:

Water Sewer
Meter Size Monthly Amount Monthly Amount

¾" $ 5.00 $ 9.25
1" $ 12.60 $ 23.31
1 1/2" $ 25.05 $ 46.34
2" $ 40.05 $ 74.09
3" $ 112.70 $ 208.50
4" $ 250.45 $ 463.33
6" $ 350.60 $ 648.61

(Residential accounts are normally ¾")





Monthly Service Charges:
(in addition to the monthly base charge)

Base Facility Charge (Fixed amount varies by meter size)
Volume Charge Water per 1,000 Gallons of metered usage
Residential Customers (standard ¾” household meter) and Irrigation meters

First 3,000 Gallons $2.10
Next 5,000 Gallons $2.45
Next 4,000 Gallons $3.45
Next 6,000 Gallons $5.45
Over 18,000 Gallons $9.45

Non Residential Customers - $2.45

Volume Charge Sewer per 1,000 Gallons of metered usage - $3.30 **

Sewer Cap Rates

A year round sewer billing cap for 12,000 gallons maximum per billing cycle is in effect for residential customers with a ¾” meter. The rate for sewer up to 12,000 gallons remains at $3.30 per 1,000 gallons.

** Fairfield Sewer - $15.00 (base fee) plus $4.35 per 1,000 gallons used
(example: billed for 4,400 gallons - 4.400 x $4.35 = $19.14 + $15.00 = $34.14)

[saralee]

I decided to actually take a look at our bill to try and answer your question.

Prior to moving here people had us really frightened about the expense of water. You should have seen me with the timer every time my husband walked into the shower ... it's a wonder we're not divorced already.

So, while I am trying to be helpful, please forgive my ignorance ... reading this bill is a bit confusing to me but I'll give it a shot.

Also, for the record, there are two adults and two children in my home. We run the dishwasher and washing machine daily. With the exception of my 13-year-old, who we have to threaten with bodily harm to convince to bathe, we all shower daily too. My boys have also been known to do naughty things like spray one another with the hose from the kitchen faucet.

Here goes ...

Our bill covers 29days, 4700 gallons (anyone know if that is excessive or on par?).

Consumption charges were Tier 1 @ $2.10 per 1,000 gallons = 3,000 gallons for $6.30.

Tier 2 @ $2.45 per 1,000 gallons = 1,700 gallons for 4.17.

Then there was a current base facilities charge of $5.00.

And finally, a late penalty charge of $5.00 (we never received our very first bill).

Boy, this was more fun than deciphering our phone bill!

Does any of this help or make sense? I hope so.

Good luck!

Sincerely,

Sara

[flyingscotsman]

This was from mecklenburg County showing an average usage of over 8000 gallons so 4700 seems good to me.

Water & sewer charges for a RESIDENTIAL customer:

Your monthly bill for water & sewer services basically includes four components:

1. A fixed (administrative) water charge of $1.80 per account.
2. Water Usage charge
Residential users pay a usage charge of $1.28, $2.10 or $4.14 per Ccf of metered water usage, depending on the amount of water used. One (1) Ccf is defined as 100 cubic feet (equal to 748 gallons of water) but is basically your meter's measuring unit or multiplier. The average residential customer uses about 11 Ccf.

$1.28 $2.10 $4.14


Metered Ccf Usage 0 - 11 Ccf/mo. 12-22 Ccf/mo > 22 Ccf/mo.


3. A fixed (administrative) sewer charge of $1.80 per account.
4. Sewer Usage charge
Residential Customers pay $2.98 per Ccf of metered water usage to cover the cost of wastewater collection and treatment. However residential customers do not pay for sewer usage beyond 18 Ccf of metered water usage (which means your maximum sewer usage charge would be $55.44 per account each month). (18 ccf x 2.98 + 1.8 = 55.44)


EXAMPLE of a typical bill using 11 Ccf (8,228 gallons):

$1.80 water admin charge +
$14.08 water usage (11 x 1.28) +
$1.80 sewer admin charge +
$32.78 sewer usage (11 x $2.98) =
$50.46 TOTAL

[resident]

Ohh Meck is cheap LOL...Our bill runs around 70-80 and we run our dishwasher daily, wash clothes daily (more than a load ), wash dishes by hand, flush toilets (have a preschooler who likes to do this!), plus sometimes I will stand in the shower if I want!

[flyingscotsman]

Originally Posted by resident

Ohh Meck is cheap LOL...Our bill runs around 70-80 and we run our dishwasher daily, wash clothes daily (more than a load ), wash dishes by hand, flush toilets (have a preschooler who likes to do this!), plus sometimes I will stand in the shower if I want!

By chance do you know how many gallons you use in a month?

[slvrcts04]

I just got my first water bill the other day and I was afraid to open it after hearing all of the horror stories. It wasn't too bad...$86 for 33 days using 8300 gallons(family of 4). It's still alot compared to my water bill in NY. That would have been my quarterly bill there.

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by FLtoNC

I have heard that the water & sewer bills in Union County can get quite expensive. Can anyone who lives there shed some light on this? I am scared we are going to have $200 - $400 monthly water bills. Also, how is the quality of the water? If you have a filter through your refrigerator, is it suitable for drinking?

well it can be if you water your lawn every day and forget to turn it off at night. but for normal family use it should be well under$125/mo. You can request a seperate meter system for your lawn- the water you use indoors has a sewer charge, the water you use outside shouldn't (but unless you have a sep. meter your paying double).

[shaylahc]

When I lived in Apex, NC, our average water bill was $100 a month. Sounds like Union County might actually be cheaper for us LOL.