The $100 Myth
Myth: $100 Per month water bills are common on City metered water.
Truth:
Here is part of the text of a message from Bill Lewis, Yuba City's Utilities Director:
Members of the Ad Hoc Advisory Commitee "have been questioning what the monthly water bill would be and (saying) that bills of $100 per month are common:
The streets that were used to calculate the typical surface water customer use were: Jamie Way, Cartagena Drive, Pheasant Drive, Shelby Ct, Blue Oak Drive, Falling Rock Ct, Spring Creek Ct, Stephen Way, Libby Lane, and Wallace Way. 2006 data was used. There were over 200 homes used in the survey. Average lot size was 8172 feet which is comparable to the average lot size in Region 2/3. The average customer was charged the minimum bill during months of November through March. Typical usage will change depending on the weather conditions and how wet the spring months are. The minimum bill is $17.36 per month for surface water.
We checked existing metered Region 2/3 groundwater customers to determine what their water usage bill would be on surface water. Average bill will be lower in the winter and higher in the summer for a total increase of $11.21 per year - based on 2007 data. Seventy percent of the metered groundwater customers use less than the minimum amount of water ($17.36 per month) in the months of October - February 2007.
In order for a surface water customer to have a $100 monthly bill they would have to use over 2300 gallons every day. This amount of water would fill 3 typically sized (18 ft x 36 ft x4.75ft) swimming pools in one month. A typical lawn sprinkler system will use about 10 gallons per minute - allowing 500 gallons per day for inside house water use - typical is around 325 gallons per day inside use - the lawn sprinklers would have to run 3 hours every day. A drip system at 2 gallons per minute would have to operate 15 hours every day. Even with multiple stations this is an excessive amount of water.
For an $80 bill the daily use would have to be 1850 gallons per day - this is equal to almost 2.5 swimming pools of water - an excessive amount.
Based on actual metered groundwater customer data 90 percent of the customer's water usage summer bill (highest 4 months) will be less than $57 per month and 70 percent will be less than $43 per month. The average customer summer bill will be less than $36 per month."
Truth:
Real Rates For Real Homes
These are two homes served by City surface water that we picked to examine their water rates. If you don't believe these numbers, then call a friend who receives surface water. Ask them what they pay. These amounts DO NOT include sewer. They also are not paying any sort of conversion fee. |
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| Brown Avenue, 10,453 Sq. Ft. lot (.24 Ac) | Residence off Stabler Lane, 8,711 Sq. Ft. (.20 Ac) lot with pool | ||
| August 2008 | $25.03 | ||
| July | $22.23 | ||
| June | $17.36 | June | $39.06 |
| May | $17.36 | May | $32.55 |
| April | $17.36 | April | $32.55 |
| March | $17.36 | March | $17.36 |
| February | $17.36 | February | $17.36 |
| January 2008 | $17.36 | January 2008 | $17.36 |
| December 2007 | $17.36 | December 2007 | $17.36 |
| November | $17.36 | November | $18.45 |
| October | $21.55 | October | $26.04 |
| September | $21.31 | September | $36.89 |
| August | $16.61 | August | $45.69 |
| July | $29.58 | July | $34.27 |
| June | $16.61 | June | $20.77 |
| May | $16.61 | May | $32.19 |
| April | $16.61 | April | $25.96 |
| March | $16.61 | March | $63.64* |
| February | $16.61 | February | $16.61 |
| January 2007 | $16.61 | January 2007 | $16.61 |
| 2007 Average | $18.62 | 2007 Average | $29.52 |
| 2008 Average | $18.93 | 2008 Average | $24.96 |
| * Owner had the swimming pool resurfaced and this amount included filling it. | |||
Here is part of the text of a message from Bill Lewis, Yuba City's Utilities Director:
Members of the Ad Hoc Advisory Commitee "have been questioning what the monthly water bill would be and (saying) that bills of $100 per month are common:
The streets that were used to calculate the typical surface water customer use were: Jamie Way, Cartagena Drive, Pheasant Drive, Shelby Ct, Blue Oak Drive, Falling Rock Ct, Spring Creek Ct, Stephen Way, Libby Lane, and Wallace Way. 2006 data was used. There were over 200 homes used in the survey. Average lot size was 8172 feet which is comparable to the average lot size in Region 2/3. The average customer was charged the minimum bill during months of November through March. Typical usage will change depending on the weather conditions and how wet the spring months are. The minimum bill is $17.36 per month for surface water.
We checked existing metered Region 2/3 groundwater customers to determine what their water usage bill would be on surface water. Average bill will be lower in the winter and higher in the summer for a total increase of $11.21 per year - based on 2007 data. Seventy percent of the metered groundwater customers use less than the minimum amount of water ($17.36 per month) in the months of October - February 2007.
In order for a surface water customer to have a $100 monthly bill they would have to use over 2300 gallons every day. This amount of water would fill 3 typically sized (18 ft x 36 ft x4.75ft) swimming pools in one month. A typical lawn sprinkler system will use about 10 gallons per minute - allowing 500 gallons per day for inside house water use - typical is around 325 gallons per day inside use - the lawn sprinklers would have to run 3 hours every day. A drip system at 2 gallons per minute would have to operate 15 hours every day. Even with multiple stations this is an excessive amount of water.
For an $80 bill the daily use would have to be 1850 gallons per day - this is equal to almost 2.5 swimming pools of water - an excessive amount.
Based on actual metered groundwater customer data 90 percent of the customer's water usage summer bill (highest 4 months) will be less than $57 per month and 70 percent will be less than $43 per month. The average customer summer bill will be less than $36 per month."