Looking to install irrigation meter. Upside/downsides? (Boston, Natick: insurance, how much)

[ThisDamnLife]

I'm a relatively new homeowner in Natick. We are closing to completing an yr in our home but I just received my first 'summer' water bill & it was ~$240. This was a huge shock to us as all our previous bills were in the 100-120. Our lawn is ~5k sq ft.

Putting some thought into it we figured out the increase should be directly attributed to us watering the lawn (even though a small additional increase could also be because of extended family visiting us for about couple of months). So, we started looking into the natick town website and have so far collected details on the irrigation water rates as well as the process to apply/commission a irrigation meter.

Hereunder are the questions we've for somebody whose done in these (preferably) in natick or at any other town within the G Boston area

1. Did you really find a difference (ie., reduction) in the net bill amount you paid (over a period of months) once the irrigation meter was installed?

2. What are the cons of installing a irrigation meter in your experience?

3. Do plumber's consider this a 'special' kinda work thereby making them costly to hire?

4. In your experience, things to consider or ask a plumber (aside from normal questions like do you've valid license or insurance) before we hire them for this work?

5. Any other thing that I might 've missed out but based on your experience we should factor in.

[MikePRU]

1. My house had two meters when I bought it so I couldn't say how much the second meter has saved me. Plus, different towns treat the 2nd meter differently (many don't even allow it). I would call Natick Water & Sewer to find out what kind of "discount" they give you on the outside meter and based on your current bill try to estimate how much that would have saved you.

2. The only con to having an outside meter is the cost of installing it. Definitely make sure you're aware of the cost of installation vs the savings on your bill before committing to it. If you have an irrigation system it's typically worth doing.

3. Most plumbers I know just charge by the hour. The rate is the same no matter what you're having them do.

4. I don't like to hire plumbers "out of the phone book" so to speak. I ask around to see who has had a positive experience with their plumber recently. You could ask for references, but no one is going to hand you a bad reference.

5. Seems pretty straight forward to me.

[Parsec]

When I lived in Natick I irrigated my lawn twice a week for about 4 months per year. I had 6 zones which I ran for 1 hour each, so basically I ran my sprinklers 12 hours per week which is a lot more than the average homeowner. That's what you gotta do if you want the greenest lawn on the block (you need about 1" of water per week). I don't remember specific numbers, but when I asked my plumber for a quote I calculated the breakeven point to be something like 5 years. It wasn't worth it in my opinion because I knew I would be moving in a few years so I skipped it. You should calculate it for your specific water output though. If you don't know how much water you're using from your irrigation system, you can do the tuna can test (google it) and calculate it based on volume (# of inches from the tuna can test times 5000 sf) and convert to gallons from there. However, my neighbor had a separate meter so she didn't pay for the sewer portion of the water bill on her designated irrigation meter. She had it installed because she knew she would be living there the rest of her life. Turn it into a breakeven algebra problem and you'll be able to figure out if it's worth the cost or not.

[ThisDamnLife]

Thanks, Mike & Parsec for the response.

I don't plan on installing a sprinkler system - yet - but we are planning on seeding the lawn this fall. I spoke to my neighbor whose got a sprinkler system - and hence a irrigation meter - to get an idea. They said the process as far as they could remember took about a month & it cost about $600-700.

Parsec,
I'll try the "tuna can" test this weekend.