How much is your water bill ????

[Debralynn]

What is your typical monthly water bill, your family size and gallons used?
My family of four has been using 4,000 gallons per month, about $45 worth.
Is this average use for a family of four? I would like to know how much water everyone uses. Any water saving tips???? (Besides the basic, run the dishwasher only when its full) Thanks. Debralynn

[buffygirl]

Our bill is usually about $50-$60, we use about 6000-8000 gallons per month as I recall. We are in a MUD. Sounds pretty normal to me.

Kim

[kwormann]

Mine is either 9 or 16 every month for 2 people usage

[Becky13347]

We pay about $130-$150 every three months; so that's $45-$50 per month for a family of 5.

[TraditionsGirl]

Ours is $40-$50 per month for a family of four.

[Robyncz]

Wow! I think 4000 gallons a month for a family of 4 is pretty good!

We use between 10,000 and 20,000, depending on the time of year, but I'd say we average about 12,000 gallons a month. We live in Texas and we have a sprinkler system--and we have to water at least once a week almost year round, so that makes a difference.

Our bill runs between $25 and $40 a month.

[DanaSD]

we pay $100-150/month during the summer months but thats because we're in AZ and we have a pool and landscaping. Its under a $100 in the winter. We have 4 people in our house - not sure how many gallons we use.

[sneezles]

Wow! I think 4000 gallons a month for a family of 4 is pretty good!

We use between 10,000 and 20,000, depending on the time of year, but I'd say we average about 12,000 gallons a month. We live in Texas and we have a sprinkler system--and we have to water at least once a week almost year round, so that makes a difference.



Agree with all that and if I remember correctly the minimum bill in Houston was 5,000/gal per month.

[mrswaz]

Wow! Yours sounds nice to me.

We get our bill every three months, and while we are due for a new one any day now, the last one was 21,000 for 3 months for a family of four, and it cost us $230. Those 3 months billed were summer months though, when the wading pool and sprinkler were in daily use and the garden was watered twice a week.

I expect our next bill will be around the $200 mark. Our water is pricey here.

[charley]

My family of four has been using 4,000 gallons per month, about $45 worth.
Debralynn


I'm impressed that you use so little, but not with the high price you have to pay.

Our usage is measured in cubic feet. (Had to find a conversion chart to figure gallons :p ). Two adults ... and I garden, so use water as needed. Bill is around $20 during summer months.

Last month's bill was $16.95 for 8200 gallons.

[JackieO]

I expect our next bill will be around the $200 mark. Our water is pricey here.

And you're not even paying for that pricey 30-mile pipeline from Manitowoc that's bringing us Lake Michigan water!!! :eek:

Our combined water/sewer bill for the last quarter was $240....that would cover the summer months when my teen-age son (the assistant tennis pro) was taking about three baths a day! :eek: Sorry I don't have the gallons used or the breakout for the sewer fees......

[Grace]

Odd how you all pay for water....

We get a bill every 6 months - it's a flat rate based on our lot size. We don't have water meters so I have no earthly idea how much we use. The bill is $100 every six months. So basically, I feel like we don't pay for water.

[BucknellAlum]

I can't believe how different the water bills are! A lot of people around here are still on wells, don't know how that works. We are on public water -our last bill was for $39. for 5250 gallons (one month) for a family of 4.

In the spring, we reseeded part of the lawn and put in some perennials, the July bill was $82 for 13,500 gallons!

I would say our average is about $40.

[Casey1230]

Well, as I'm moving back into the 'city' and will have a water bill.. this is a timely thread. I have a well and septic here and no bill! The owners of the house that I'm buying gave me their water/sewer bills..... they put in a sprinkler system (9000sqft lot... very small) and their summer bills were $200 a MONTH!.. two people. I don't think that I'll be watering the grass there! YICKS! Winter rates were around $20... Virginia is high with the sewer rates at over 100% of water usage which I hate.. in the summer, the water is NOT going into the sewer, but into the ground... ah well.... city life!

[MusicMom]

Our last bill was $105 for 3 months- 16,000 gallons for a family of four in suburban Northern VA (including two teenagers) The rate is $1,70/1,000 gallons water service and $2.68/1,000 gallons for sewer service.

DD just did a project about water conservation. She is now using some type of timer distributed by the water authority to limit her showers. :D

[clairea]

My bill is usually about $50/month. Almost 2/3 of that is sewer, so the water is less than $20/month. I'd have to pull out a bill to see how many gallons we used, though. I do know it is comparable to the number of gallons we used in Atlanta (inside the city), for which our bill was about $150/month (again, the largest portion of that was sewer charges).

[BucknellAlum]

Any water saving tips???? (Besides the basic, run the dishwasher only when its full) Thanks. Debralynn

Here is something I found that summarizes most of the usual water conservation tips:

http://www.americanwater.com/49ways.htm

[barbara-cook]

Not sure how many gallons we use. There are usually 3 of us here most of the time, with a weekly visit from my step daughter. We usually pay about $60-$70 for a quarter. It's more in the summer - more showers, a little lawn and garden watering, and probably more laundry. I think I do about 8-10 full loads a week (including sheets). The dishwasher gets run about every other day (full only, of course!). We just put in an "efficient" flush toilet, so I'm curious to see if that makes any difference....

An interesting tidbit - Barilla (the pasta maker) just opened a new factory south of here and one of their reasons for locating the factory here was the inexpensive and plentiful water supply.....I'm sure we'll see more of that in the future.

[Phoenixcooking]

We pay about $40 on average for 2 people DD is back home now so I think it will go up I am not how many gallons. We have a pool and but we converted to desert landscaping that is all drought tolerant and that saved about $25 a month.

[slknight]

We paid $64.21 for our last water bill and that's for the quarter - so I guess that's just a little more than $20 a month. The bill before that was $100. I'm wondering if our bill is measured in something else because it has the usage as 1,800 for the quarter. That's clearly not gallons. :confused: Is that cubic feet? If so, according to a conversion calculator (http://www.easysurf.cc/cnver6.htm#cfg4), that would be 13,464.94 gallons for the quarter or about 4488 gallons a month (family of 3).

[LakeMartinGal]

Our normal usage, for 2 people, is from 1700 to 4800 gallons/month, and the bill is $25 to $35. We don't pay sewage, as we have a septic tank, and we irrigate from the lake. Water's cheap around here, when it rains!;)

[boisewinesnob]

Our bill for October was $25.04 for a family of 4. It says 2200 gallons.
In the summer when oldest DS is home from college and (the biggie) we have our sprinklers on, it's more like 5-6k gallons and around $35-38.

One thing that I liked about living in Boise was that our sprinkler system was on an irrigation program. MUCH cheaper, because the water wasn't treated and came to your property on a different set of pipes (so you wouldn't accidentally drink it). But our actual water to our house was included with our sewer and garbage bill and I don't remember how much that was.

[Peweh]

It's just DH and I and we get billed every 6 months but it's usually about $150. Not sure how many gallons but I think it's funny how they pro-rate the usage, first X gallons are so much a gallon then it goes down for more; last year when we filled our 10,000 gallon pool our bill was $4 LESS than the previous bill!!

[semmens]

I have a well and septic, so even with a pool I have no water costs. I do get it tested now and then, and last year it tested as being purer than any bottled water.

Our well is quite deep, but we do try to conserve; we never water our lawn.

[wallingjan1]

Our water and sewer is a combined bill of $440/yr, and it is unmetered. We came from a well and septic so I thought that was a lot but I feel better after reading some of your prices. We do try to conserve anyway.

Pam

[Blissful_in_TX]

I'm late on this, but we averaged $100 each month for the last 6 months (2 adults, 2 small kids). The house we are building is going to be on a much larger lot, and they just announced a huge rate hike, so it is going to cost a fortune to water that *bleeping* lawn. This has been a huge source of arguement between me and DH. :(

It was really weird how they calculated the water bill when we lived in El Paso.....they took the 3 winter months when you by far use the least amount of water, and they would average it out and say that should be your water usage for the next year. So when you go over that "average" in the summer months (obviously), you would get charged escalating "penalty" rates. :mad: From a strictly financial perspective, it made more sense to let water run down the drain in the winter months so you wouldn't have to pay inflated rates for the rest of the year.

[Vanessa]

I was just reading the posts to DH we moved and we are in well and septic. Because of the drought this year we did not reseed yard etc (1 1/2 acres)
now redading post I see some states have quite high water bills. In MD our electric bills soared but I loss track of water bills.
We are only two but when we lived in a townhome (til 2 1/2 yrs ago) we paid around $13 a month on average.

[Cookin4Love]

Our bill includes water, sewer, and trash pick up. In the summer, it runs around $200 a month. In the winter, it drops to about $150. There are only two of us, but we have a large lot and lots of landscaping. OTOH, our DD lives in an apartment by herself, and pays around $25.

[gertdog]

I just got a bill in the mail today- we are a family of three, and our usage for the past three months was just under 14,000 gallons, and cost $60. So, about 4500 gallons/$20 per month. We do not water our lawn, but do some targeted watering for the raised beds during the summer, so I expect our usage will drop a little bit on the next bill now that the growing season is over.