Holy water bill! (neighborhood, electricity, cheap)

[MrIrrigation]

No the sprinkler system flows much more then the house fixtures for example ONE sprinkler head could flow 4Gal/min. now consider about 50 heads doing that. You are likely being charged a sewage fee based on the water going thru to sprinklers ..a lawn meter would help you out.
TXLI00006659

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by MrIrrigation

No the sprinkler system flows much more then the house fixtures for example ONE sprinkler head could flow 4Gal/min. now consider about 50 heads doing that. You are likely being charged a sewage fee based on the water going thru to sprinklers ..a lawn meter would help you out.
TXLI00006659

They've had over four years to figure it out. Plus, those dollar amounts pale in comparison to some of the bills folks in Avery Ranch are getting from the City of Austin. So bad, KVUE did an investigation report just last week. City doesn't care and doesn't answer to anyone.

[TexasRedneck]

It's not the city's job to "figure it out". It's the water users' job to figure out how to minimize the impact.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

It's not the city's job to "figure it out". It's the water users' job to figure out how to minimize the impact.

Nobody said it was the city's job.

Many residents turned away by program to fix high water bills | KVUE.com

[TexasRedneck]

In the case of the woman involved in that story, I'd be looking at the meter several times a day - I'd also do a flow test on it. But - I can't tell you how many folks I've seen that had stuck commodes that would ignore them....until the bill arrived. You can't just complain to the city - you have to be proactive on the issue.

And I'm not above letting that meter meet with an "accident"....evil grin

[spchtx]

Our CP water bill went up about $80 this month, and was over $200. Last years bill at this time was about $40-$50 less. I keep forgetting to call and ask what the heck happened!

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by spchtx

Our CP water bill went up about $80 this month, and was over $200. Last years bill at this time was about $40-$50 less. I keep forgetting to call and ask what the heck happened!

Step one - look at both bills, and see what your usage was. Maybe you used more water - maybe you have a commode running continuously to drain. Everyone ignores those things (or don't hear them) - let me give you an idea of the impact:

Relatively slow leak into the overflow - .25 gpm x 1440 (minutes/day) = 360 gal/day, or 10,800 gallons/mo

Average leak in the overflow - .75 gpm x 1440 = 1,080 gal/day, or 32,400 gallons/mo

THOSE kinds of numbers will hit your pocketbook quick - and there's not a thing the city can/will do about it. It behooves you to learn how your meter functions, and how to tell if there's a leak by looking at the meter. Most will have a small triangle in the center of the dial that turns based on flow rate. If you see it moving when there's no water flowing (that you know of), you DO have a leak.

[Trainwreck20]

It SEEMS that the problem for some people is the city is estimating usage for some meters and actually checking them (physically) every few months only. Over any length of time, the actually use vs bill use will be correct; however, because of the tiered system, if you have several months under-estimated followed by a physical reading that 'catches up' the deficit, you are penalized significantly by having a very large month that jumps into the higher tiers of billing.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

It SEEMS that the problem for some people is the city is estimating usage for some meters and actually checking them (physically) every few months only. Over any length of time, the actually use vs bill use will be correct; however, because of the tiered system, if you have several months under-estimated followed by a physical reading that 'catches up' the deficit, you are penalized significantly by having a very large month that jumps into the higher tiers of billing.

Something that should be classified under fraud !

[rangergrit]

Originally Posted by Cantfixstupid

They should help get a bench mark on the problem. Especially since they can see the same data history we have on usage. If the city cared about water usage they would offer some help.

You seem to think the city hires really smart people.