Lost in the shuffle
With all of the Election Day hoo-ha yesterday, it was kind of easy to miss this:
Tiered rates are a necessity, although i think the system Durham has adopted is more complicated than it needs to be. I think it would also be better to have a lower base rate, and significantly higher rates at the top tiers.
Here's something that confused me:
Are there residential water customers in the city with both indoor and outdoor meters? How does the city propose to measure that? I'm pretty certain if i run the drip irrigation system in my vegetable garden on a Saturday evening, that's going to show up as indoor water, no?
UPDATE: Matt explains the details over at the Bull's Eye.
Water users will pay higher rates starting July 1, the City Council decided Monday night, against the objections of the local Chamber of Commerce and one council member.
The increase is needed to help pay for nearly $250 million in capital needs, such as building a new intake on Jordan Lake and fixing leaky water pipes, officials said. The five-tiered system, under which customers will pay higher rates the more water they use, also is intended to discourage waste.
Tiered rates are a necessity, although i think the system Durham has adopted is more complicated than it needs to be. I think it would also be better to have a lower base rate, and significantly higher rates at the top tiers.
Here's something that confused me:
The average city customer uses about 800 cubic feet, or about 6,000 gallons of water, per month.
If all that water comes from indoor taps, those customers pay $15.06 per month now. Under the new system, they will pay $19.93 per month.
Currently, outdoor irrigation is subject to a double rate, $3.12 per 100 cubic feet. Under the new system, outdoor water will cost $3.87 per 100 cubic feet, the same as the Tier 5 rate.
Are there residential water customers in the city with both indoor and outdoor meters? How does the city propose to measure that? I'm pretty certain if i run the drip irrigation system in my vegetable garden on a Saturday evening, that's going to show up as indoor water, no?
UPDATE: Matt explains the details over at the Bull's Eye.
Labels: drought, Durham, local government
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4 Comments:
You can set up a separate meter for your outdoor irrigation, etc. Apparently the second saves you money b/c in some places you don't pay the sewer charges, just the incoming. Though if the irrigation rates are higher, I guess it's a wash?
By
Valerie at We Love Durham, at 9:24 AM
So, how do i do that? Just call up the water department and ask for a separate meter? The lack of sewer charges might make the outdoor water about the same price as the indoor, then. Also, if Durham ever does what Cary does, and allows you to use that treated wastewater for irrigation, would you be able to use the second line for that, or would they need to come back and install yet another line/meter?
By
Barry, at 9:45 AM
When we had our irrigation system installed 5 years ago we had the choice to either hook it up directly to the city water or go through our normal water hookup. We chose the later, not really knowing any reason not to except that it would take longer because we needed to get the proper permits to connect directly to the city water. I'm not sure how we would go about changing it now, though. We'd need to disconnect our irrigation system from it's current connection and put in a completely new connection. Sounds like a lot of work for little gain.
By
Tanner Lovelace, at 10:28 AM
I dug ditches for an irrigation company 25 years ago and we always hooked up directly to the water main, using a second meter. As a shovel man, I wasn't really on top of the "why", but my understanding was this allowed the owner to pay for the water but not the corresponding sewer treatment (since the water went to the storm drains not the sewer line).
Also, if you wanted to use gray water on your lawn, you would have to wait for the city to build the entire infrastructure to supply you with said gray water (new mains, pump stations, etc.). This is probably unlikely to happen for residential customers; commercial users (e.g. golf courses), maybe.
By
Unknown, at 11:15 AM
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