How many gallons of water does your household use and cost per month?

[Herr Kutz]

Around 200 gallons a month.
I can't even imagine how any one person can use 50-100 gallons a day.
That's an insane amount of water.

If anyone wants to get an idea of who does and who doesn't shower, read this thread.


I split water with the tenant (female) on the other side of the duplex and, between the two of us, we've been using about 4-4.5k gallons per month since September. The duplex is set up in such a way that you can't wash cars and I'm pretty sure she's not watering anything in the backyard which only she has access to.

We moved in around mid July and what I don't get is the 14.5k gallon use for July and nearly 12k gallon use in August. There must have been a leak or something because for two months it went sky high and then we've been using a steady amount of water since September.

Anyway, I don't live in a desert so I'm not going to shower in pee water like some of you are obviously doing.

 

[waffleironhead]

I have a well, so no idea.
My rental in Madison uses about 1800 gallons a month for a bill of ~$12. (two adults)
Add in all the other related fees, water, sewer, stormwater, urban forestry(WTF?) and the bill is ~$40 each month.

 

[Loop2kil]

No idea how much I use...Drilled well so it only cost a little electricity to run the pump.

 

[nisryus]

Family of three and normal monthly usage is between 2,000 to 2,300. Now during summer time here in Austin, it would be 4,000 or more due to watering the lawn..

 

[rh71]

If I had cheap water like most of you I would be thrilled.

Well our $10/mo. of cheap water is easily offset by the $16k/yr in property taxes.

 

[HumblePie]

Family of three and normal monthly usage is between 2,000 to 2,300. Now during summer time here in Austin, it would be 4,000 or more due to watering the lawn..

Water the lawn? Who does that anymore?

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

I've never outright paid for my water. Until now it's always been rolled up in the rent.

Now that I moved into a fancy apartment, its a $40 monthly fee for unlimited water, sewer, and garbage.

You people must live somewhere where water is in short supply.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I share a townhome with a larger home (mine's 1200sqft vs their... 2500sqft?), the entire place is billed together then split based on number of residents (we pay 1/3rd). I still think I'm getting shafted since his kids play with water hoses all summer, but the bills aren't bad. With the exception of one quarter ago of $175, we've been paying right at $100/quarter, so around $35/mo. We probably use a lot of water though, the GF pees like every 13 minutes, I swear.

Water the lawn? Who does that anymore?

No kidding, survival of the fittest. If grass won't grow without artificial amounts of water, replace it with rocks.

 

[HumblePie]

No kidding, survival of the fittest. If grass won't grow without artificial amounts of water, replace it with rocks.

Yah, my HOA was trying to get at me for leaving my yard with scrub, rocks, and even cactus They said it wasn't to guidelines of a manicured lawn. I said it was natural Texas landscape and the guidelines said I could landscape my yard how I saw fit. Won that round

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Yah, my HOA was trying to get at me for leaving my yard with scrub, rocks, and even cactus They said it wasn't to guidelines of a manicured lawn. I said it was natural Texas landscape and the guidelines said I could landscape my yard how I saw fit. Won that round

No kidding, I'd argue a counter-suit might be in order for playing their part in drought conditions and reducing water reservoirs to encourage the growth of invasive foreign species.

 

[HumblePie]

No kidding, I'd argue a counter-suit might be in order for playing their part in drought conditions and reducing water reservoirs to encourage the growth of invasive foreign species.

Problem is the builder is still in charge of the HOA and they are royal PITA. They mostly try everything they can to make themselves money. They want every house perfect looking so they can sell more houses and if it isn't perfect they go to extreme to try to wrangle money out of the homeowner instead.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Problem is the builder is still in charge of the HOA and they are royal PITA. They mostly try everything they can to make themselves money. They want every house perfect looking so they can sell more houses and if it isn't perfect they go to extreme to try to wrangle money out of the homeowner instead.

Yep, it's a racket and a half. In-laws have an HOA, you can't cut down a dead tree without paying their 'Arborist' a $500 fee to inspect the tree to verify it's dead.

This is in hilton head island SC, they don't have many dead trees standing anymore since the hurricane. They do have a lot of damaged homes though!

 

[HumblePie]

Yep, it's a racket and a half. In-laws have an HOA, you can't cut down a dead tree without paying their 'Arborist' a $500 fee to inspect the tree to verify it's dead.

This is in hilton head island SC, they don't have many dead trees standing anymore since the hurricane. They do have a lot of damaged homes though!

Do it during the middle of the night and say a tree ninja stole it. So long as the neighbors wont tattle how would they know it wasn't so?

My HOA also has a bunch of stipulations about stuff I can or can't change about my yard, but so long as I do it during the night I can see Fairies did it for all I care. Now trying something that requires a city permit... that's a bit different.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Do it during the middle of the night and say a tree ninja stole it. So long as the neighbors wont tattle how would they know it wasn't so?

My HOA also has a bunch of stipulations about stuff I can or can't change about my yard, but so long as I do it during the night I can see Fairies did it for all I care. Now trying something that requires a city permit... that's a bit different.

This one might actually be a city permit, or city requirement, or something. HHI is one of those 'naturalist' areas where signs can't be bigger than x, businesses can't take down certain types of trees, etc. I just know the HOA is nuts about stuff like that.

The in-laws also knew someone who had a dead tree fall over, they got fined by the HOA for that too (rubbish, and not taking care of their property).

 

[Svnla]

The cost of just the water is not bad but the extra fees/add ons such as trash pickup, EMS/ambulance fee, sewerage fee, and on and on = big bucks. IIRC, the water cost alone is about $10-$15 but after all the fees/add ons, the total cost is about $75.

 

[nakedfrog]

It's actually illegal to go off grid in a lot of places.

Do you have any examples?

 

[NoCreativity]

About 4200 gallons/$50 per month. Two adults and two young kids.

 

[HumblePie]

Do you have any examples?

Most major cities. You can't just drill your own well and make your own septic system because you want to. Most, if not all, major cities force you to use the city supplied hook ups to your house if you buy a house in the domain of the city.

 

[nakedfrog]

Most major cities. You can't just drill your own well and make your own septic system because you want to. Most, if not all, major cities for you to use the city supplied hook ups to your house if you buy a house in the domain of the city.

Ah, I sort of generally figure any time someone is talking about going "off grid" they're not doing it in city limits.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Do you have any examples?

Lots here: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=illegal+to+go+off+grid&t=hc&ia=web

Specific case: http://www.cantechletter.com/2015/08/should-canadians-have-a-right-to-live-off-the-grid/