Water Bill

Never realized it wouldn't have any refrigeration. My husband did the ice maker shopping, I only said I wanted one. I suppose I'll pay attention if there is a next time. Thanks!

 

Our sewer is sometimes the same, but more often than not not. I think you are fine, in comparison to the water usage. But don't know if 23 would be too high.

 

We ended up really not watering our yard this year to keep in the Tier 1 bracket. Dead grass which doesn't look good - but I wasn't the only one I see.

 

I missed the pricing memo , otherwise we would have joined the brown grass club too.

 

We're in a SFH with five people and an irrigation system. I tried to be careful with watering and only watered twice a week for 30-45 minutes per zone, depending on the zone size. We did have some patches of brown grass, mostly where the sprinkler doesn't hit very well or there is a slope, but overall it mostly stayed green. Our water bill was less than $200.

 

Hmmmm...............now I'm back to suspecting a leak. I think we max out at 20min/zone and 7-8 zones (1 is only 1 day) for 2 days/week early in the summer and 3 days in August. Family of 5 also. Or maybe my son had the water on in the front for water balloons more than I thought he did.

Does anyone know of a way to monitor water usage in between bills?

 

I researched water conservation for consumers on the Loudoun Water website and other places to see how I can reduce my usage. I suspect a fair amount of our usage goes right down the drain while waiting to get hot water in the upstairs bathrooms. Some websites suggest putting a bucket under the shower to catch the cold water and then use that water for plants or something else. Does anyone actually do something like that??? I'm not too keen on keeping a random bucket of water in my bathroom and using the leftover to water my grass. Plus I think I would more than what would fit in a carryable (for me) bucket to go from upstairs to downstairs and outside. So we waste gallons of water just waiting for warm/hot water upstairs.

I saw some "instant hot water" or "on demand" water heater systems - not just the full-on tankless water heater type things but also ones that can be attached under a sink to heat water at a single location. Has anyone tried these?

If we replaced our gas water heater with a tankless one would it still take 2-5 minutes to get hot water upstairs?

I think I'll see if there is a kitchen sink faucet that works with motion activation like some public restrooms. That would help me, too.

Any other ideas?

 

Hmmm.... Automatic Sensor Faucets

 

What about using the cold water that comes out while waiting for the hot to refill the toilet tanks? Then you wouldn't have to carry it as far.

 

How do I do that if the tank is already full? When I flush do I hurry and pour the bucket of water into the tank before it fills on its own?

 

That reminds me of the "Sink Positive."

 

I need these for all the bathrooms the kids use!

 

They've been popular in Europe and Asia for quite some time. The first time I used one in 1991, I wasn't sure if I was washing my hands with gray or fresh water. I walked away with an icky feeling until someone clarified it for me.

 

Once your bucket is full place it beside the commode and instead of flushing next time just dump the bucket of water into the bowl. This way you won't use the water in the tank but you'll be using the fresh water you would have discarded otherwise.

Water from a dehumidifier can be used the same way too, and it's free!

 

Turn off the water to the toilet? Then when you flush, the tank won't be able to fill and you can add your water.

 

Yeah, I guess so. It just seems weird and I'm lazy. Not that any of you who do that are weird, I'm just sayin'.

Do the low flow toilets really save enough water for the savings to be noticeable on the water bill? I guess I've found my next obsessive research project, huh? I do that a lot...just check the HVAC threads!

 

I guess I need to be happy we didn't have a $1,250 bill :scaredeyes:!

http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/new_water_b343ills_leave_residents_soaked/

 

I, for one, would greatly appreciate a monthly water bill! Not only to be able to budget better, and see how much usage, but I quite frequently forget we have one until it shows up...

 

I bought the HydroClean Water Saving Fill Valve and the HydroRight Dual-Flush Converter at Home Depot yesterday. I haven't installed them yet but hope it works for saving water as promised!

 

The dual-flush converter cost about $18 at Home Depot and was very easy to install. It looks like if you use the "liquid only" flush (#1) only about 1/4 of the water in the tank is used instead of the whole tank like a regular toilet flush. The installation was easy - just remove the flapper and handle, put the converter in, and attach the new push button. It took a little while to calibrate it just right with the toilet valve so that there was enough water in the tank to flush everything down but not so much that water was wasted. Once I got it worked out, though, it looks like it will save us some water. If it turns out not to save a LOT, I'm pretty sure it will save us at least the $18 we paid for it.

The only down side is that the push button to flush is kind of hard to press in all the way. So if you have kids under 5 they might need help. On the other hand, if you have kids under 5 they probably won't be able to flush the cat down the john.