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In the interest on gauging my conservation efforts I took a close look at my bi-monthly water bill this morning to see how much water my household has used in the past two months. Unfortunately, I don't understand the information on the bill. It simply gives my $ owed, meter number and the previous and current reading (but no units like gallons ect...)
It simply says this:
Previous Reading: 32
Current Reading: 36
Use: 4
So my question is 4 what?
Does it mean my household used just 400 gallons (doubtful) , 4,000 gallons (maybe?) or is my water use measured by some other units?
It would be great if the city made this information clear so residents can better guage whether or not they are doing a good job reducing their water usage!
Great question! I wondered the same thing when I looked at my bill. I'm guessing that's 4,000 gallons, but it should certainly be spelled out a little better. I'd also like to see it rounded one less place to the hundreds, that way we could better see our conservation efforts paying off. I believe the City of Raleigh is revamping the bills to show better consumption information...I just hope they get it done before everyones' bills read 0!
Can't speak for the Raleigh water bill, but mine here in Cary is broken down nicely. Includes household water usage, irrigation water usage, sewer, and trash pickup. There's also a nice little graph -- and it indicates we have used exactly half the water we did this time last year. I also see our water consumption declining from month to month, so I feel good about that too.
The Town of Cary sent a nice fellow over to check the meter for me, and while he was here, he shut-off the meter to the irrigation system since we aren't using it now.
I have wondered what Cary is doing differently that we have 300+ days of water left, in this extreme drought, compared to less than 100 for Raleigh, and yikes! 39 days for Durham?
I believe the readings are in ccf. 1 ccf = 100 cubic feet = 748 gals. So 4 means 2992 gals. Agreed, the readings are very imprecise.
Thanks for that great info. You were dead on. I saw an article in last weeks news and observer that confirms the info you provided.
newsobserver.com | Saving water's simple until you get the bill (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/durham/story/878560.html - broken link)
According to my last bill my wife and I used 6 units or (6 x 748.1 gallons) = 4,488 gallons of water over the past 60 days! That comes out to an average of roughly 37.5 gallons a day per person in my household. So I guess we have some work to do to meet Mayor Meekers request to limit our use to just 35 gallons a day.
I hate the stupid water people. I have fought and fought with them because they said we used 36,000 gallons one month. The two months before we used basically zero they said. I told them that even with the zero readings, we didn't use 12,000 gallons each month. I think either the meter was faulty or they didn't read it and then they made use pay for the water that was used before we moved into the house when the house was on the market for 4-5 months.
Do they use digital meters anywhere? If so, I wish they had them here, because this rickety old thing doesn't inspire confidence. Tie that in with the fact that I saw a black widow in there last time and I have no real desire to look at it!
I have wondered what Cary is doing differently that we have 300+ days of water left, in this extreme drought, compared to less than 100 for Raleigh, and yikes! 39 days for Durham?
Durham's watershed is about 250 square miles.
Raleighs is about 750 square miles, which includes the 250 of Durham. So when Durham's reservoirs are low, raleigh's watershed is about 500 square miles.
Cary's watershed is 1500 square miles.
So, Cary has 6 times the watershed of Durham and 3 times that of Raleigh, serving a population half the size of Durham (and I suspect much less industry as well). That explains why Cary has no current water supply issues.
It would be a great help if they reported cubic feet, rather than 100s of cubic feet. You can get the actual measurement from your water meter (mine is under a plate on the lawn). I have to believe they get that detail when they read it, and then round it off for the bill. Without the actual measurement, it's hard to tell how much you're conserving.
It would be a great help if they reported cubic feet, rather than 100s of cubic feet. You can get the actual measurement from your water meter (mine is under a plate on the lawn). I have to believe they get that detail when they read it, and then round it off for the bill. Without the actual measurement, it's hard to tell how much you're conserving.
I would like to know how to read the new electronic meters. There are two numbers that flash on . First one reads 0.00.Second one reads 000, 118, 797. I am clueless as how to interpret this. Don't know if gallons cfs or what. Sibce I had a completely erroneous water bill last month with old meter, I would like to know how to read and keep up with new one. Please inform.
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That comes out to an average of roughly 37.5 gallons a day per person in my household. So I guess we have some work to do to meet Mayor Meekers request to limit our use to just 35 gallons a day. 
