The Water Bill...oh the humanity! (Cincinnati, Dayton: house, water heater, gated)

[t45209]

So, who else is stinging from the pain of the water bill increase this year? My usage went down by around 700 cubic feet, and yet the bill was $40.00 more than it was before. That's $275 for a house of three people for the quarter. It wasn't that long ago that I was paying $95 and thought it was a lot.

The Feds and their mandate for this new sewer are killing me.

[ArtVandalay84]

I live by myself and my most recent bill was $180. Highway robbery.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by ArtVandalay84

I live by myself and my most recent bill was $180. Highway robbery.

That's insane. How many gallons each month are you using? Do you live in OH or KY? I was averaging about $40 a month in my house in the KC area each month for water and sewer. I am going to have second thoughts about moving to NKY if my water bill is going to be four times what it is here.

Is this per month or per quarter?

[Ohioan58]

Warren county water... I don't have the last bill in front of me to quote cubic yards or feet, but two people, a detached house, with washing machine and dishwasher - about $22 for a two month period (we are on a septic system so the bill is 1/2 what it would be if we were on sewers.)

In summer months when I have the sprinkler running on the vegetable garden 2-3 times a week, it's more like $40/2 months.

Sorry...

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by Ohioan58

Warren county water... I don't have the last bill in front of me to quote cubic yards or feet, but two people, a detached house, with washing machine and dishwasher - about $22 for a two month period (we are on a septic system so the bill is 1/2 what it would be if we were on sewers.)

In summer months when I have the sprinkler running on the vegetable garden 2-3 times a week, it's more like $40/2 months.

Sorry...

That seems reasonable. I'd like to hear what people in NKY are paying for water.

[natininja]

Warren County doesn't have 100-something-year-old combined sewers. Know what, though? When WarCo's sewers get to be ridiculously old and need updating, the amount of sewer-per-capita will be much less than in Cincinnati and HamCo. So the cost of fixing them per capita is likely to be even more absurd. Though, fortunately, WarCo will never have the combined sewer problem, which is a bear for sure.

Covington probably does have combined sewers.

[restorationconsultant]

Its all about the water quality mandate and EPA regulations ALL big cities are getting hit. MSD solution is to spend millions on things like daylighting creeks and expensive 'green' solutions. Portland solved their problem very cheaply, they simple seperated the built in Gutters, cost about 275 bucks per house. Got their overflow issue resolved.

Everyone will pay for the 'developments" the city/county is wanting to do. Those on well or septic will eventually be forced to go on city system.

[kjbrill]

When I originally moved to Mason they operated their own water system using a well field on the north side of town. When the city began to rapidly expand it became obvious there was going to be a problem as the wells were draining the aquifier faster than its replenishment rate. So Mason contracted with Cincinnati Water Works to provide water to Mason. At first it supplemented Mason's wells to lessen the drain on the aquifier but now all Mason water is from Cincinnati. One side benefit is the Cincinnati water is much softer than the extremely hard well water as the wells were sunk in limestone. For the first number of years I averaged replacing the hot water heater every 4 years as it was completely full of sediment by then. I would watch the service people struggle with trying to wrestle the old one up my basement steps as it was so damn heavy due to the sediment. I religiously bought them from Sears as they would give me an 8 year warranty, free removal and installation, and pro-rated price on the replacement.

Mason has its own wastewater treatment plant which has been expanded several times and is a modern facility. Cincinnati Water Works handles all of the billing. For water and sewer we average about $65 per month. At those rates we do not water any grass, etc.

When I lived in Madeira years ago there was a problem with sanitary sewers backing up whenever it rained in the lowest elevation which was the downtown business district. The City had a law prohibiting surface water from being directed to the sanitary sewer but enforcement had been lax. Roof gutters are surface water as are drains in exterior stairwells, at the bottom of driveways to underneath garages, etc. The city sent crews around to climb up on roofs and inject water with a dye in it to determine where it came out. Same thing with any drains in exterior stairwells, driveways, etc. Those found to be in violation were sent a notification giving them 90 days to correct the problem. At the end of 90 days if the problem had not been corrected a hefty fine kicked in until compliance was achieved. Several homeowners tried to take the issue to court but they lost. My father had to install a sump pump to exhaust the water from the drain at the bottom of the driveway to his underneath garage. The drain previously had a pipe under the basement floor which connected to the sanitary sewer. This had to be severed.

But an actual combined sewer system is the worse. In the strict sense this is a sewer system which has both sanitary and storm sewers in the same pipe. Here I am not talking about just certain surface water being directed into the sanitary sewer, I am talking about all of the storm sewer drains along the roads, etc. being directed there. In addition there may be industrial waste directed into the same sewer. This is an unmitigated disaster.

OBTW, when I lived in Madeira our water was provided by the Indian Hill Water Works This originates from wells alongside the Little Miami aquifier and still supplys areas outside of Indian Hill. We were accustomed to bills on the order of $25 a quarter. We move to Mason and the bills were higher per month, and have been steadily increasing. So I understand your pain. But a combined sewer system, I don't know if I have ever lived in an area with one of those.

[natininja]

Cincinnati, along with many old cities, has a big problem with combined sewer overflow. When there's a big storm, people get poop in their basements. The Mill Creek and the Ohio also get their share of poop. It's not a happy situation. Go ahead and blame the EPA if you want. After all, why do we need the EPA when we could have poop instead?

[CarpathianPeasant]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

When I originally moved to Mason they operated their own water system using a well field on the north side of town. When the city began to rapidly expand it became obvious there was going to be a problem as the wells were draining the aquifier faster than its replenishment rate. So Mason contracted with Cincinnati Water Works to provide water to Mason. At first it supplemented Mason's wells to lessen the drain on the aquifier but now all Mason water is from Cincinnati. One side benefit is the Cincinnati water is much softer than the extremely hard well water as the wells were sunk in limestone. For the first number of years I averaged replacing the hot water heater every 4 years as it was completely full of sediment by then. I would watch the service people struggle with trying to wrestle the old one up my basement steps as it was so damn heavy due to the sediment. I religiously bought them from Sears as they would give me an 8 year warranty, free removal and installation, and pro-rated price on the replacement.

Mason has its own wastewater treatment plant which has been expanded several times and is a modern facility. Cincinnati Water Works handles all of the billing. For water and sewer we average about $65 per month. At those rates we do not water any grass, etc.

When I lived in Madeira years ago there was a problem with sanitary sewers backing up whenever it rained in the lowest elevation which was the downtown business district. The City had a law prohibiting surface water from being directed to the sanitary sewer but enforcement had been lax. Roof gutters are surface water as are drains in exterior stairwells, at the bottom of driveways to underneath garages, etc. The city sent crews around to climb up on roofs and inject water with a dye in it to determine where it came out. Same thing with any drains in exterior stairwells, driveways, etc. Those found to be in violation were sent a notification giving them 90 days to correct the problem. At the end of 90 days if the problem had not been corrected a hefty fine kicked in until compliance was achieved. Several homeowners tried to take the issue to court but they lost. My father had to install a sump pump to exhaust the water from the drain at the bottom of the driveway to his underneath garage. The drain previously had a pipe under the basement floor which connected to the sanitary sewer. This had to be severed.

But an actual combined sewer system is the worse. In the strict sense this is a sewer system which has both sanitary and storm sewers in the same pipe. Here I am not talking about just certain surface water being directed into the sanitary sewer, I am talking about all of the storm sewer drains along the roads, etc. being directed there. In addition there may be industrial waste directed into the same sewer. This is an unmitigated disaster.

OBTW, when I lived in Madeira our water was provided by the Indian Hill Water Works This originates from wells alongside the Little Miami aquifier and still supplys areas outside of Indian Hill. We were accustomed to bills on the order of $25 a quarter. We move to Mason and the bills were higher per month, and have been steadily increasing. So I understand your pain. But a combined sewer system, I don't know if I have ever lived in an area with one of those.

While I do not wish to discuss this entire post as I don't know enough about it all, I'd like to suggest you (kjbrill) check out the aquifer business and re-assess the posting.

To the best of my knowledge there is only ONE aquifer, the Great Miami, which supplies the northern part of the Cincinnati area -- and the entire city of Dayton, Ohio, since 'way back when -- and now supplies not only Dayton and the northern part of the Cincinnati but suburbs as well.

If the Mason wells were draining the aquifer faster than its replenishment rate, chances are the wells were not sunk deep enough in the beginning. Again, as I understand it, this is what happened to Huber Heights and Oakwood, both of which have had aquifer wells.