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October 21, 2008
Water bills
I'm wondering what an average water bill is for a 3-fam. My bills seem to just keep going higher and higher and I'm now paying about $500 on each bill. This just seems astronomical to me! Is this about what everyone else pays or are we somehow being super wasteful without realizing it. We have two children in the house plus two other couples in the building. We try to let it mellow, take short showers, etc., but can't control our tenants' use of water. I'd love to hear what others pay.
Comments
I would budget $100 per couple. I pay around $70 for one couple right now.
Posted by: vanburenproud at October 21, 2008 9:00 PM
Water and sewer rates have recently increased tremendously (11.5% FY2008? 14.5% FY2009?). Maybe it's the recent rate hike, or maybe your building has a hidden leak, or either you or your tenants have a leaky faucet, a constant drip, or a running toilet. Go to your cellar and look at your water meter when no one is using water. If the meter is turning, then water is running somewhere in your building. It is astonishing that one constantly running toilet can add several hundred dollars to a quarterly bill. For information on how to read your meter, see: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/readmeter.pdf
Posted by: vinca at October 21, 2008 9:02 PM
Our water bill runs around $300 per quarter - we are a 4 family with 4 couples one of them with a child. I dont think we are particularly conservative in our water use, and we all have washing machines. I am surprised by how much some people's bills actually are.
Posted by: newsouthsloper at October 21, 2008 10:16 PM
Our latest bill was $120 something for two months. Two adults and two children, no tenants at the moment. (two family house)
Posted by: czar at October 21, 2008 11:04 PM
We have a 3 family, 4 story brownstone. Total occupancy is 6 adults and 2 or 3 children. We have a garden that takes some watering in July and August.
Here are our actual water bills for the last 5 years:
12/05/03 177.96
05/26/04 385.80 - 2 quarters
10/02/04 196.99
03/08/05 361.64 - 2 quarters
06/08/05 178.19
09/01/05 184.87
12/27/05 222.22
03/07/06 309.36
06/05/06 192.31
08/20/06 245.93
01/09/07 248.46
03/01/07 264.38
06/07/07 248.46
08/20/07 220.75
11/30/07 282.52
02/29/08 298.21
05/30/08 319.14
09/12/08 404.38
You can definitely see the upward trend there.
Posted by: phripley at October 22, 2008 9:32 AM
$140 for 2 summerish months. 4 adults + 1 kid, garden
Posted by: cmu at October 22, 2008 9:33 AM
Take a look at your showerheads...if they were installed before the early 90's they may be using a lot of water (as much as 5-6 gallons per minute).
Post-1992 heads restrict flow to 2.5 GPM. That makes a big difference.
8 people x 10 min shower x 90 days x 2.5 GPM = 18,000 gallons/quarter.
If you're using double that with old heads, you're wasting $144/quarter (combined water/sewer is now approx eight tenths of a cent per gallon).
The water usage is usually stamped somewhere on the showerhead. Same for sink faucets.
Posted by: arches at October 22, 2008 10:58 AM
Bill just came 200$. (per quarter, right? not for 2 months).
3 apts, 2 adults each.
Posted by: Petebklyn at October 22, 2008 4:18 PM
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