What does your water bill run?

[vhoffman]

Mine is way more than it should be. It runs from $80 to $100 a month (includes sewer but nothing else). That's with two teens and one adult. We run the dishwasher between 2 and 3 times a week. My big users are laundry and showers. The kids will fairly often go through a couple of outfits a day, and DD puts on clean pjs every night. If I don't keep on them, they leave the towels on the floor, which means a new towel every day for each of them. I probably average 6-9 full loads of wash every week for 3 people! And probably only one load is for my stuff!

And showers? My DS is the king of the Hollywood shower. He can spend at least 30 minutes in there! And he usually takes one in the morning and one at night.

Last summer, the kids were with their grandma or at camp for 3 weeks out of the month. I was out of town one of those weeks. That water bill? $20!!! So I'm thinking that my bill under normal usage would be around $40-50 a month.

I hear you about the towel thing. I finally bought everyone their own color towel set, they get fresh towels 1x week--one bath towel, one hand towel, one wash cloth. If they throw it on the floor, that's where they find it when they need to dry off. That's it! I keep the supply of fresh towels locked up! Its amazing how quickly they learned to hang up their towel when all they had to dry off with was a damp one from the floor. I flet yucky the first time dd complained that she only had a damp towel to dry off with, but stuck to it, she quickly learned the towel she tosses on the floor is hers. This only works with seperate colors for each family member! It reduces by about 80% the amount of towel washing I was doing--about a load a day! I've learned NOT to keep a stocked linen cabinet, otherwise everyone just grabs another towel whenever. The only towels in the house are those on the towel racks, or on the floor, however the user choses. Has helped with the water bill!

 

[vhoffman]

Actually I was just thinking -- our water bill is close to our electric bill!

Last month's water bill = $76

Last month's electric bill = $86

Something's out of wack here--water and electric cost almost the same

 

[jonestavern]

Water bill? What water bill? No water bill here, we have a good old-fashioned well Actually the only plus to having a well is the fact that it's free

Well here, too.
We still take water saving precautions: no water running while we wash hands, brush teeth, rinse dishes, low flow toilet & washing machine, low flow water spigots~
We have a rain barrel & will be getting more.

I would like to install a system that re-routes used water(grey water) from sinks & laundry to use for flushing toilet~
Well water is dependent on water supply in the earth, which supply differs from place to place~

also, there is costs for pumps & other equipment--we just got a new in ground pump replaced (it was 34 years old) to the tune of $900. +; so not cheap, done very infrequently, but someting to bear in mind~
Wells can & do run dry = $$ for having water, temporarily, trucked in or for fracturing or in a worst case, digging deeper, which is $$$$$!

Of course, some poor souls blow a lot of money drilling & don't find water--not often here in NH, but it does happen

Jean

 

[vhoffman]

From everything I'm reading here, our water bill is high compared to the rest of you. Its partly consumption, but mostly the cost of the water itself. There's only so much we can do to conserve!

Well, we just have to go with it and keep the bill down as much as reasonable.

 

[izzyBandlivismom]

I NEED TO MOVE!!! Our water & sewer bill is $150 a month. Yes, a MONTH!! We are in wisconsin. I think I need to get out of here!

 

[vhoffman]

I NEED TO MOVE!!! Our water & sewer bill is $150 a month. Yes, a MONTH!! We are in wisconsin. I think I need to get out of here!

Our combined water and sewer has run about that much in the summer! We're thinking about moving, too, not because of the water bill, but it probably would be lower.

From what I've read on this board, our cost-of-living here (central Texas, town north of Austin) is sky-high. Its deceptive, the cost of houses is relatively low compared to many of the places we're considering, but when you factor back in the sky-high taxes, utilities, insurance, etc., we might be better off with a more expensive house and not so much in taxes, etc.

I figure for the same house payment in other locations we could buy a nicer house and build up equity faster.

 

[Kimkimba]

I always think our utilities are high - in the Philly area.

Water runs about $50 a month.

Electricity runs about $300 a month, and it doesn't seem to matter much what we do. I am a SAHM.

We have oil heat. We've managed to use only 200 gallons this winter so far and have 150 coming tomorrow that should get us through til spring. We do not keep it too warm.

I think sewer is in with our taxes so it's escrowed.

Trash is private - $50 for 3 months.

 

[TinkerKim]

Between $30 and $38 a month here in middle Tn.

 

[rwenzel2]

Water bill - on average - $26. Cost to flush water bill (sewer) - $98. Go figure!!!!! Elec - in months we DON'T run any A/C or heat - at least $275, and in the summer (TX) $475.

 

[vhoffman]

Water bill - on average - $26. Cost to flush water bill (sewer) - $98. Go figure!!!!! Elec - in months we DON'T run any A/C or heat - at least $275, and in the summer (TX) $475.

Wow! $275/month without ac? We're in Texas, too, and spend ~$400/month in the summers, but last month's electric bill was $86. But we did every trick available to conserve electricity, usual for this time ~$200/

 

[LorieR]

Winter water bills runs around $32 a month - summers are at least $70 a month. Electric budget is $190 a month, gas $12 a month, and oil is $217 a month (for 11 months) but before this "global warming" in the northeast we had a credit of $900!! Just got a delivery and we are now $550 ahead.

 

[jsmla]

I NEED TO MOVE!!! Our water & sewer bill is $150 a month. Yes, a MONTH!! We are in wisconsin. I think I need to get out of here!

Wow, I wasn't goint to post but we have 5 people living in two houses plus we have to water two pastures with a total of 4 horses in them and our total water/sewer/trash runs $150-200/month. I don't think we could afford to live in Wisconsin!

Jennifer

 

[threekidsandasheltie]

we have well water here so its free, but since it uses a pump I have to pay electric on the pump. it sucks when the power goes out because we also loose water.

 

[MomofKatie]

We pay $5 per month for garbage pickup, and around $25- $30 per month for H2O, which includes sewer charges. We've never had a H2O bill over $40, and that was during the summer when DH was re-seeding the lawn and watering every day.

 

[DVC-Don]

It runs $118 to $150 per quarter. Minimum charge is $90 per quarter even if you don't use any water.

 

[PaulaSue]

Our water bil is average $29 a month for 2 adluts and 3 DDs. Summer it goes uup a little with a babypool to fill every few days but that is only $2 or $3 dollars more it seems.

 

[blanq]

I am amazed how much people pay for water! My water bill runs about $25 per quarter, so less than $10 per month. It has never been more than $30 in the 16 years I have lived in my home. We pay $70 per quarter for sewage and $70 per quarter for garbage pickup.

 

[mickeysaver]

Water alone.....somewhere between $7 to $21 a month. We don't have kids, but we have 4 cats and 4 dogs.....we have lots of additional stuff to be washed outside of our own stuff. We have a septic tank. Our garbage bill is separate too. Maggie