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It seems to me that they are missing the basic step that could help solve this more than anything... tiered pricing for water, based on consumption rates. Most people are interested in saving money more than saving water, in spite of best intentions. A local town we used to live in went to a tiered system where they charged $4/1000 gal. for the first 15K gallons used in a quarter, then it went to $8/1000 gals if you went over 15K, and if you went over 30K it went to $16/1000 gals. This caused a lot of people to rethink their watering plans. They also adjusted the calendar so that Jun-Aug was in the same quarter. Just like high gas prices cause people to rethink driving a Hummer 30 miles to work ever day, receiving a water bill that surpasses your mortgage would certainly have people rethinking there water use habits. And by pricing in teirs, you are attacking the people that are using more, while not putting water costs out of reach for those that are conserving it. I hated this system when they did it, but it did work I believe.
It seems to me that they are missing the basic step that could help solve this more than anything... tiered pricing for water, based on consumption rates. Most people are interested in saving money more than saving water, in spite of best intentions. A local town we used to live in went to a tiered system where they charged $4/1000 gal. for the first 15K gallons used in a quarter, then it went to $8/1000 gals if you went over 15K, and if you went over 30K it went to $16/1000 gals. This caused a lot of people to rethink their watering plans. They also adjusted the calendar so that Jun-Aug was in the same quarter. Just like high gas prices cause people to rethink driving a Hummer 30 miles to work ever day, receiving a water bill that surpasses your mortgage would certainly have people rethinking there water use habits. And by pricing in teirs, you are attacking the people that are using more, while not putting water costs out of reach for those that are conserving it. I hated this system when they did it, but it did work I believe.
They looked into it and basically said they couldn't do it this year because their software wouldn't support it but they may implement it in the future. Pretty lame excuse.
Meeker said Monday that the city's billing software system couldn't accommodate tiered rates, but that managers were looking to upgrade to a new program in the next couple of years that could handle tiered-rate billing.
I agree that tiered pricing is part of the answer. Also, the bills need to show more detail (usage in gallons and cubic feet, not ccf, which is hundreds of cubic feet), so that people can know how well they are conserving. Still, I don't believe we can conserve our way to an adequate water supply, and more has to be done to find another source.
Just saw a guy on the news who was filmed being fined $1,000.00 for violating the new restrictions. He says he thinks it is unfair that he was fined without getting any warning first and plans to file an appeal.
No warning huh? I wonder what rock this guys has been living under for the past 3 months!
Not for long. Raleigh will be taking water from Cary very soon.
Cary/Raleigh currently has no pipeline from Cary to Raleigh. The current pipes go the opposite way and cannot be used in reverse, so if Raleiigh is going to use Cary water, they better start digging soon!
I know Durham has been purchasing water from Cary for quite some time now. Just FYI.
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