Our overall utility bill (which doesn't include gas) typically jumps from about $100 / month to $250 / month when it's the high water months. Much of that increase is due to sewer being included in the water cost. Just this morning, though, we had a new meter installed that will measure just the outdoor water (eliminating sewer costs for outdoor usage). It's about a $550 bill. So it will be made up in about 6-7 months of high outdoor water usage. Our first water bill was a real shocker too. I understand!

Our lot is about 1/3 acre. We put the majority of the water to use in our back yard since we spend so much time there. Our front yard we'll let go dormant. We also water several different perennial beds all over our property.

The price of water varies greatly throughout the country. It also seems to be higher if a private company runs it instead of a public utility company.

How often are you watering your lawn? You might be able to reduce your water bills if you are watering too much. So far this seems to be the best advice for watering lawns that I've seen to conserve water. My area has barely had a day without rain so I haven't put it to the test yet but the advice is what I always heard about watering your lawn. Water down to the root zone and only water when your lawn needs it.

lamcon,

That's a great idea getting a separate meter for outdoor water. I've never heard of that before.

I had the option a few years back of getting unmetered water for irrigation use. It would have cost me $85 a year at that time (I think it's up to $90 or $95 now) and it would have cost me $700 to get the water to my property, then I would have had to pay a licensed plumber to connect it (has to be done by a licensed plumber because of the danger of getting untreated water into the drinking water system if done wrong).

The claim was that it would pay for itself in 2 years, but when I looked at my water bills, I figured it would take more than 20 years so I passed. The treated water use dropped so much when almost everybody else got the irrigation water that the city lowered the amount of water included in the base rate and hiked the rate for going over.

So I cut back even more on water and started planting grass that uses much less water. Last year, I spent $65 on water for the lawn and will probably spend less this year.

Noob, It's pretty common practice up here. Just wasn't one of those things we knew about when we built the house or else we could've probably saved ourselves a couple of hundred dollars on labor and a lot more on water. We got educated on the subject rather quickly.

I have about 20,000 ft2 and between mid-May and mid-Sept when the sewer bill is capped it costs me $56 to put down one inch of water on the lawn. It is double that the rest of the year.

When we first moved into the house two years ago I had no idea how much water cost and had a $600 water bill each of the first two months.

Every time it rains I see it as literally "pennies from heaven".

-Mike

My water bills are usually in the $100 range per month. I water about once per week, sometimes less. I haven't had to water yet this year because NJ is now officially a rain forest.

lamcon:

What does "increase is due to sewer being included in the water cost" mean? Do you pay for run off water into the sewer system?

Also, how does an outdoor water meter reduce your bills? Do you need to pay for run off rain water in the sewer systee?

I don't get it.

-Adam

Aman32,

What our village does (and most of the surrounding area) is when you run your water, they automatically assume it's going down the drain (indoors) when you're done with it. So not only do you pay the cost of water, but you also pay the cost of the sewer for that water. The village has no idea where I'm putting the water, they just assume it's going down the drain.

So even if I water outside, they still assume, the water is entering the sewer systems, even though it isn't. So to offset that, a second water meter can be installed that just monitors outdoor water usage. The village knows that water isn't going down a sewer drain. So they don't charge sewer for that water usage.

I'm not sure how other areas are, but our sewer charge is more expensive than the water charge. So essentially we'll decrease our water bill by more than half by installing a new meter. It cost about $550 to install. But we'll easily make that up in about 5-6 months of peak outdoor water usage just because we won't be paying for sewer on top of it.

Does that make more sense?

Yes, that makes sense to me. Thanks for the clarification.

$3 a month for all the reclaimed water I need. It waters the grass , plants and fills the pond. Much water needed in Arizona.

I live on n temescal valley ca. My water bill does not go down after I have stopped watering my grass stopped washing all my cars got rid of all plants that needs water take short showers do not use my dish washer anymore what the hell do I need to do