is MUD#58 high water bill legal ? (Victoria, Katy: how much, new home, purchase)

[Victorialu]

I just received my first water bill $470.48. holy high !
never had this high water bill in life.
we just moved here from another state. new to west lake at Katy TX. like to know MUD#58 NFBWA fee is legal?
$117.60 for NFBWA fee.
we have two people in my home 3300 sf (according to builder) one level and lot size is about 16000 sf according to builder Meritage Home.
builder construction manager set up my water timer to 15-25 minutes, total 7 zones. I hand wash dishes, once a week laundry. purchase water in cooking. my water bill in one month is more than my food cost. super high water bill from MUD#58! are they legal ?
also need your smart ideas how to reduce my water bill !
thanks

[WRM20]

Turn off your sprinklers. That's probably 1000 gallons or more every time they run.

[DSL_PWR]

I just went through something very similar with mud #156. Yes the fee is legal as long as they are pulling ground water. They have to replace the ground water to keep the land from sinking in the void when the water is pulled so they charge you for that. Once they start pulling surface water or start using other wells that are not associated with the sediment refill (whatever program that is) then the fee should go down or so I was told by our mud. It was a 2011 reform law that was passed and is upheld unfortunately.

[ethanw]

$470.48 for watter? Thats effing INSANE.

[elnina]

Water Conservation: 25 ways to conserve water in the home and yard | Eartheasy.com

[Rip808]

Originally Posted by Victorialu

I just received my first water bill $470.48. holy high !
never had this high water bill in life.
we just moved here from another state. new to west lake at Katy TX. like to know MUD#58 NFBWA fee is legal?
$117.60 for NFBWA fee.
we have two people in my home 3300 sf (according to builder) one level and lot size is about 16000 sf according to builder Meritage Home.
builder construction manager set up my water timer to 15-25 minutes, total 7 zones. I hand wash dishes, once a week laundry. purchase water in cooking. my water bill in one month is more than my food cost. super high water bill from MUD#58! are they legal ?
also need your smart ideas how to reduce my water bill !
thanks

Were in the same mud district, but I think your sprinklers are running way too long. I would cut that time in half. Also, make sure that you don't have a leak somewhere, that seems very excessive.

[elnina]

^^^ I agree. OP, are you sure that the water meter was set on ZERO when you moved in?
Check the meter. Turn off everything for an hour and check the meter. This includes turning off automatic icemakers, water-softening systems, and automatic sprinkler systems, which may otherwise cycle on during the test.
For residential customers, your water meter displays water consumption down to a tenth of a gallon, providing you with some very accurate use information.
Calculating the amount you’re using is as simple as writing down the numbers from the readout, before and after an activity, and then subtracting. So, go to your water meter, open the lid, and write down the numbers from left to right, taking note that some of the numbers have a white background and some of the numbers have a black background. The numbers on the dial with a white background indicate 1000's of gallons. The numbers with a black background indicate hundreds, tens, and single digits. (You are billed only for each 1000 gallon of use. Your billing shows only the white digits.)
If everything is off and there is still movement, you have a leak.
Report back - if you have a leak, we will tell you how to detect leak.

[ilikeme]

How many gallons was the bill for? Each sprinkler zone should not need to run for more than 15 minutes max. Cut down the time on the zones that are longer.

[trbstang]

And how often are the sprinklers running? Daily, every other day, or what? I'm running mine 15 min per zone every 3 days and occasionally run them manually if the grass looks dry. Sprinklers make a big difference. For reference, my winter bills with the sprinklers turned off run $50 or so, while the summer is $100-140, for a family of 6. And you have a larger than usual lot, so it will take more water. Mine is almost 11,000 sqft so yours is 50% more, so expect more water usage.

And the NFBWA fee is just like my RWA fee for surface water conversion, but ours run about 45% of my total bill - $52 of my $118 bill, based on 26,000 gallons of water. Looks like your MUD is charging a pretty high rate, but we would need to know how much water you used. Best thing is to conserve, and use less.

[Meyerland]

I would only run the sprinklers when the grass looks distressed. Our last home we ran them often and had a high bill. Our new home doesn't have sprinklers, so I manually do it. We spend much less, and the lawn looks the same.

I think you are either over watering or have a leak.