water bill question (Apex, Cary, Holly Springs) (month to, new house)

[mammaKwon]

Hi! we are trying to buy a new house in Apex, Cary, Holly Springs or Fuquay areas. The thing is we just use a lot of water- we just do.... THankfully, we currently live at a place where it's septic and well, but I've heard of some horror stories of crazy water bills from my friends in Cary. So we decided not to move to Cary. However, I am beginning to wonder about Holly Springs and Apex too. I tried to read their water rates on the website and I just cannot understand it. haha...
Are these three cities similar in their rates? How about community water? OR county water? There are so many options...
OR should I just stay away from houses with city water/sewer and just find septic/well?


Thanks!

[TsarinaO]

I have no comparison, but Apex water is about $6 base fee, and then about $0.006 a gallon to get the water and $0.009 a gallon to take it away via sewer. So effectively 1.5 cents a gallon.

[m378]

I would not rule out an entire town/area because of a water bill.

Don't forget that septic and well cost money as well, it's just not spread out month to month.

[Stede Bonnet]

What is your average monthly water usage where you are now? Its easy to take that and calculate what the bill would be for the same amount in Apex or HS. I'm sure if you call the utilities office they will be happy to tell you. I can't imagine its so high as to be a factor in determining where to live.

[twingles]

I don’t know where you’re moving from but yes it can be shocking. On LI our water bill was $8 month. Here the lowest it’s even been is $75 but that includes garbage and sewer fees. We are in Cary. That said the highest it's been is $125 when everyone (including 3 teens) is home, my son is known for taking ridiculously long showers (although he's gotten better since he went to college). We don't water our lawn and honestly even though most people here have an irrigation system I almost never see people in my neighborhood sprinkling their lawn (we disconnected the irrigation system).

Here’s the thing. Water is a resource and needs to be protected and treated. You’re going to pay for it outright (like I do now) or you can pay for it in hidden fees (taxes). But your going to pay. I hear the water bill has increased dramatically in my old neighborhood so there you have it.

i honestly can't imagine finding a house or even a town I wanted to live in and giving it all up for the water bill. I mean honestly if you can afford to move most places in this area you should be able to afford the water bill unless you are literally using 1000 gallons a day and then you have a serious problem and should pay out the nose for that privilege.

[Gearcrasher]

The killer is the rate tiers. The more water you use the higher the rate per gallon becomes. Some developments have separate meters for drinking water and irrigation. This makes a massive difference because you are not paying sewage fees for the irrigation water. Of course there are still homes in the area with septic and wells. Our bill for two people in Cary runs about $75 mo. We stopped watering lawn a few years ago when graduated rates were put in.

[BoSox 15]

Originally Posted by mammaKwon

However, I am beginning to wonder about Holly Springs and Apex too. I tried to read their water rates on the website and I just cannot understand it. haha...

You can't understand this? (for ease of use I simply googled "Holly Springs Water Rates" and this was the first link)

How are you able to understand a house purchase but not an estimate on water?

What kind of home business are you running that you are making a home purchase based on your water bill? I'm just not following.