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Ok, Cary sent me a bill for $69 for 5,960 gallons for the month of Feb. We weren't water the lawn or washing cars. There's 2 of us and an infant and for 4 days we had 4 guests. But, good grief, that sounds like a lot.
That's almost identical to our town of Cary bill. It hovers between $65.00 and $75.00, but that is for the entire bill, not just the water part of (sewer etc is included). We also don't water anything or wash cars. We just use regular household water for showering, dishes, plumbing and laundry. I learned on this forum that you can go online on the Town of Cary website that shows your average daily consumption, which is more helpful than what they put on the bill (which I find difficult to interpret).
We used 4020 gallons for 4 people (2 adults, 2 toddlers), including the couple of times we discovered our 4-year-old had left the water running when washing her hands, and including the fact that our washer is ancient and uses a lot of water. Our total bill is $52.
So we used about 32 gallons/person/day last month (it was a 32 day billing month). It sounds like you are at about 62 gallons / person / day (not counting your guests).
I don't think your cash total is high, but I would wonder if maybe you have a toilet running or have a leak somewhere. Put a little food coloring in your tank and see if it shows up in the bowl. My husband replaced all our flush mechanisms and that has helped a lot. We also put in new shower heads. We discovered we had an external leak in a faucet that lead to a hose outside a while back, and fixing that helped too.
Sounds cheap to me! We have more people, so more showers and more washing dishes and more laundry, etc...we never get away under $100 and we are limiting showers to as close as 3 min. as possible. More people just means more water no matter how you slice it. I'd love a $69 water bill!
Doesn't sound too bad to me. My wife, our 4-year old daughter and I used 5170 gallons last month and were billed $47.11 (including sewer and trash).
We live in Carrboro.
Our usage includes normal bathing and toilet use, and the dishwasher and top-loading washing machine running every other day each on average. I have a feeling the washing machine is undoubtedly the biggest water guzzler.
The online service with the Town of Cary is great in that you can check your water consumption. You only need your bill to look at your account online, and you can access the account without having to agree to pay the bill online. (I'm still stuck doing the check-writing and mailing thing, myself.) Another nice feature is that the office will share with you how your consumption compares to that of others, like yourself -- ie. for a family of four, or a couple, etc.
My husband and I were very pleased to find out we are below average use here, as I was feeling we could do more to conserve, but just didn't know what else to do.
What sent our bill soaring through the roof was irrigation, when we could use it. You know, I haven't missed it -- watering the lawn or the bill -- and the lawn has survived. Of course, it looks like we have quite a bit of Bermuda in the lawn now, as opposed to the fescue, and we sure haven't suffered through this next long, hot summer.
Almost overlooked the reason for the thread: your Town of Cary water bills seem in-line with ours. Water is just expensive, due to be even moreso, I'm afraid.
Last edited by RDSLOTS; 03-15-2008 at 07:39 AM..
Reason: not through 'chatting'
One summer before the water restrictions we watered our lawn with a sprinkler several times per week (we don't even have an irrigation system). There was one particular month where our Town of Cary bill was $220.00!
I vowed I would never water my lawn again (and stuck to it), so I am pretty happy with my $70.00 bill now!
Last edited by lamishra; 03-15-2008 at 08:11 AM..
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