What is your monthly water / sewer bill in Seattle? (apartment, townhome)

[jwervel16]

Hey all! Wondering if singles or couples here could give me real life $$$ examples of what you're paying for water & sewage in Seattle every month?

I just moved into a small cottage west of Green Lake. I am very conservative with utility use -- low flow equipment (1.0 GPM sinks, 2.5 GPM shower, 1.6 GPF toilet), fast showers, single set of dishes, no hose use, etc. However, the place is set at a fixed rate based on the previous tenants at a $48 monthly total -- $20 for water + $28 for sewer.

Just wondering if this is low or high? My previous apartment included utilities so I have no reference. The only thing that seems fishy is that the bill graph history shows that I'm paying for 50-60 gallons per day. I am positive I use less than this when I add up my day, which is why I'm wondering if I should switch to metered use. If I can save even $10 a month I would like to pursue it.

Would love to hear some numbers from other Seattleites. Thanks so much for your input!

[tortoisegirl]

That sounds totally reasonable. I'm on the eastside in an apartment and our bill is higher (high sewer charges as well), more like $50-60. If you think it would be cheaper with metered use you could test it out. For us the sewer charge and the service fees are the big part of the bill, and the actual water usage doesn't vary much. Water and sewer is definitely something I don't mind paying for as indoor plumbing was a great invention.

[drewba]

Sounds reasonable. We live in a house in unincorporated King County and our bill starts at about $140 every two months. Most of that are base charges for water and sewer that we'd have even if we didn't use a drop of water.

[SaltyDawg]

The trick is that they tend to include your garbage and yard waste fees in your water/sewer bill, which can really drive the price up if you put a lot of stuff out on collection day.

Good on you for your water conservation! I remember as a kid in this area having days in the summer where you could only use hoses for watering, car washing and the like every other day due to drought. The advent of water conservation and new fixtures has done a remarkable job of keeping use from getting out of hand.

We DO have droughts here, despite the rainy reputation.

[Freebird2007]

live in a townhome...just me and the wife. have 3 bathrooms.


our bill is about $74

[j.hinesly]

my land lord in ballard says we use 160 gallons a day- this is a small 2 bedroom-one bath three people we dont use the shower every day and only do three loads of laundry a week. i'm averaging $135 month for water and sewer?

I just moved into a small cottage west of Green Lake. I am very conservative with utility use -- low flow equipment (1.0 GPM sinks, 2.5 GPM shower, 1.6 GPF toilet), fast showers, single set of dishes, no hose use, etc. However, the place is set at a fixed rate based on the previous tenants at a $48 monthly total -- $20 for water + $28 for sewer.

Just wondering if this is low or high? My previous apartment included utilities so I have no reference. The only thing that seems fishy is that the bill graph history shows that I'm paying for 50-60 gallons per day. I am positive I use less than this when I add up my day, which is why I'm wondering if I should switch to metered use. If I can save even $10 a month I would like to pursue it.

Would love to hear some numbers from other Seattleites. Thanks so much for your input![/quote]

[MFetch]

According to our last bill, our daily water usage (for a family of three with a 4 br/2ba home and LOTS of dirty toddler laundry) was about 73 gal per day.