Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Rental bill looked like: $52 bill, water was $14 and sewer was $27 and rest were the fees (service fee, trash admin fee, another random water fee). If you cut your water, then you cut your sewer too...
Home bill (Cary) looks like: total $75 - water base charge ($3), Sewer base charge ($3), water usage ($15), sewer usage ($39), garbage $15.
I have two teens so water (daily showers) usage fairly high. plus the "instant hot water" doesn't help since we never run out of hot water. But it sure is nice! I often holler to GET OUT when I hear it going on a bit too long. even to myself!
Start watching your water meter and write down the beginning usage and end usage every single day.
We rented at a large complex in Cary 2010- 2011 and this is what happened to us:
The water/sewer bills were outrageous and made no sense: a family of 3 would have had to be totally submerged in water 24 hrs a day AND we would have been paying for the outside watering of the whole complex, for any these bills to make sense. It was bad..
We started at the beginning and had our apartment checked, checked and rechecked for leaks. They checked our place out top to bottom, several times. Nothing at all leaking... Finally, after getting to know the maintenance guys (they are great btw) they told us a secret: the water company the complex had to use, routinely overcharged people. Period. They knew it, management knew it, but it kept happening. Nobody lived there long enough to do anything, or they thought it too much of a hassle to fight it. And, since no one bothered to bring them direct proof with their complaints, there was nothing the management could do.
Challenge accepted! The guys showed us where the inside water meter was, at the hot water tank, and we kept a log of the readings every single day. It probably took a whole 35 seconds...
When the bill came none of the numbers matched up of course. We kept a copy of the bill and took the original to the rental office along with a copy of our own record of usage, right to the manager. She took it up with the water company directly. Every month we got a nice juicy adjustment!
It wasn't the ideal solution obviously as it appears the company is still up to their tricks, but it was worth it to us fight it- they really ticked us off :-) but you've got to have the proof... and make the time. It probably won't stop the water company but you will feel better and get your adjustment.
Start watching your water meter and write down the beginning usage and end usage every single day.
We rented at a large complex in Cary 2010- 2011 and this is what happened to us:
The water/sewer bills were outrageous and made no sense: a family of 3 would have had to be totally submerged in water 24 hrs a day AND we would have been paying for the outside watering of the whole complex, for any these bills to make sense. It was bad..
We started at the beginning and had our apartment checked, checked and rechecked for leaks. They checked our place out top to bottom, several times. Nothing at all leaking... Finally, after getting to know the maintenance guys (they are great btw) they told us a secret: the water company the complex had to use, routinely overcharged people. Period. They knew it, management knew it, but it kept happening. Nobody lived there long enough to do anything, or they thought it too much of a hassle to fight it. And, since no one bothered to bring them direct proof with their complaints, there was nothing the management could do.
Challenge accepted! The guys showed us where the inside water meter was, at the hot water tank, and we kept a log of the readings every single day. It probably took a whole 35 seconds...
When the bill came none of the numbers matched up of course. We kept a copy of the bill and took the original to the rental office along with a copy of our own record of usage, right to the manager. She took it up with the water company directly. Every month we got a nice juicy adjustment!
It wasn't the ideal solution obviously as it appears the company is still up to their tricks, but it was worth it to us fight it- they really ticked us off :-) but you've got to have the proof... and make the time. It probably won't stop the water company but you will feel better and get your adjustment.
Hang in there!
Oh I am SO doing this!!! Going to check the hot water heater now. Thank you!
Not adding up@$67 for 421 gallons. Cary charges about $4 for 1000 gallons of fresh water and about $9 for 1000 gallons of sewer water (at the lowest tier). Maybe you have a one time set up or some fee or a service charge by the apt.
I wonder if that was actually 421 "units" of usage, where each unit is actually 5 or 10 gallons. Unless the OP was out of town for most of the month, 421 gallons is improbably low - only 7 gallons per person per day. That's only two flushes of a low-flow toilet and a snappy two minute shower.
I wonder if that was actually 421 "units" of usage, where each unit is actually 5 or 10 gallons. Unless the OP was out of town for most of the month, 421 gallons is improbably low - only 7 gallons per person per day. That's only two flushes of a low-flow toilet and a snappy two minute shower.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,777 posts, read 15,781,748 times
Reputation: 10886
Our water bill here in Chapel Hill is almost consistently $70 per month. We are a family of 5. I just looked up our bill and it says that we use 4 units per month for water ($1.06 per day) and 4 units per month for sewer ($1.22 per day). We don't water our tiny lawn or wash our cars, and we have a rain barrel to use to water our garden.
I WFH, so I am home all day. DH is home most of the day.
Are you sure it's not in cubic feet? That is around 3150 gallons which would cost $31.50 @ $0.01/gal + $25 for trash + $10 for something else they are charging you = $67
I find it very hard to believe that you're only using 421 gallons in a month.
I WFH, so I am home all day. DH is home most of the day.
For SWR, a rate of $0.091 per gallon means $91 per 1000 gallons (Cary charges 10% of that).
For WTR, a rate of $0.0408 per gallon means $40.80 per 1000 gallons (Cary charges ~10% of that).
At $67 for 421 gallons, your apartment/ water management company is into a major ripoff. A Cary water bill for 421 gallons would come to:
A whopping difference between a Cary bill and what you are being charged.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
