Money Grubbing Bastages! 3 Month Water/Sewer/Trash Bill $241.21!!!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Money Grubbing Bastages! 3 Month Water/Sewer/Trash Bill $241.21!!!

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:02:05 AM EDT

They've added a $1 a gallon increase on the SEWER portion of my bill, which drove the price up to this ungodly amount. Water was $71, trash $61.41, and $108.00 down the drain, literally. All of this has doubled over the last 3 years, pretty much. Time to quit bathing, and peeing outside lol.

For these prices, the bill should be hand delivered by Anna K wearing knee pads

BTW, I'm in Arlington

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:04:37 AM EDT

[#1]

LOL, ya think that water bill's high? Move to Los Angeles...

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:08:04 AM EDT

[#2]

We had an issue with that locally, turned out the groundwater was seeping into the sewer lines and upping the volume. Might be worth looking into.

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:14:20 AM EDT

[#3]

Holy bejeezus!

Is your ass sore? Cuz you are sure getting fuct!

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:16:16 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
We had an issue with that locally, turned out the groundwater was seeping into the sewer lines and upping the volume. Might be worth looking into.

Well, I've been jousting w/ the county for a while now...my water usage DOUBLED after they put a new meter on a little over a year ago. The guy came out, and told me to make sure my toilets didnt' leak (I had on that would run periodically). I fixed the toilets, and this is the first bill that would have reflected the change, but not for the whole 3 months.

Still, I know something is fishy here. They claim I'm using 30,000 gallons of water in 90 days, while before the new meter, it was only around 12,000 or so. Coupled with the $1/gal increase in the sewer fee, the bill has gotten out of hand.

WTF could they possibly need a $1 increase for sewer? I called the county board this monring, but havent' heard back yet.

Coupled with the $75K/year increase in my real estate assessment, it's beginning to get expensive to live here!

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:16:33 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
They've added a $1 a gallon increase on the SEWER portion of my bill, which drove the price up to this ungodly amount. Water was $71, trash $61.41, and $108.00 down the drain, literally. All of this has doubled over the last 3 years, pretty much. Time to quit bathing, and peeing outside lol.

For these prices, the bill should be hand delivered by Anna K wearing knee pads

Impossible... Check your increments...

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:22:13 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Quoted:
They've added a $1 a gallon increase on the SEWER portion of my bill, which drove the price up to this ungodly amount. Water was $71, trash $61.41, and $108.00 down the drain, literally. All of this has doubled over the last 3 years, pretty much. Time to quit bathing, and peeing outside lol.

For these prices, the bill should be hand delivered by Anna K wearing knee pads

Impossible... Check your increments...

Probably per 1000 gallons....

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:22:46 AM EDT

[#7]

The sewer increase is do to two things.
1. Age of the sanitary sewer . Anything over 50 years old needs to be inspected and repaired.
2. The need to contain the storm water and the pollutants in it. The more run off the worse the problem downstream.

The tax increase is common all over the country.

I thank you because there is a chance some of that money will end up in my pocket. I hate to say it but I am a sewer expert and in VA .

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:30:41 AM EDT

[#8]

What county? Guess I'd better warn the Missus before she opens the new bill.

She sees a bill like that and she'll pop a gasket!

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:35:22 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
They've added a $1 a gallon increase on the SEWER portion of my bill, which drove the price up to this ungodly amount. Water was $71, trash $61.41, and $108.00 down the drain, literally. All of this has doubled over the last 3 years, pretty much. Time to quit bathing, and peeing outside lol.

For these prices, the bill should be hand delivered by Anna K wearing knee pads

Impossible... Check your increments...

Probably per 1000 gallons....

Yes, my bad....per 1000 gallons.

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:37:08 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:

I thank you because there is a chance some of that money will end up in my pocket. I hate to say it but I am a sewer expert and in VA .

well, then at least have the decency to come by my house and drop off some mags or ammo lol.

Posted: 10/26/2004 10:51:48 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Quoted:

I thank you because there is a chance some of that money will end up in my pocket. I hate to say it but I am a sewer expert and in VA .

well, then at least have the decency to come by my house and drop off some mags or ammo lol.

If h was smart, he would come by and drop off some beer.

Posted: 10/26/2004 11:03:03 AM EDT

[#12]

Why the new meter?

Contact the water department, ask if your water usage is similar to other households in the area.

See if they will put a new meter in, that one seems like it's registering in liters, instead of gallons.

Posted: 10/26/2004 11:27:32 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Why the new meter?

Contact the water department, ask if your water usage is similar to other households in the area.

See if they will put a new meter in, that one seems like it's registering in liters, instead of gallons.

Already did this...they came out and replaced the "new" one with another new one...with pretty much the same results.

Posted: 10/26/2004 12:14:50 PM EDT

[#14]

Perhaps your old meter was defective. The effective life of a meter is about 10-20 years, sometimes a lot less.

Most municipalities charge between 100% and 200% of the water usage for sewer service. There is no metering of your input into the system. Yours is about 153% of your water bill. Just about in the middle of the scale. One locality near here charges 200%. But part of their system is ancient and they have some major I&I issues.

Our costs to treat the wastewater are increasing every day. We've seen a 10% - 25% increase in the cost of just about everything. So it isn't like there isn't a reason for any increases. If the system is aging, add in the cost of treating increased I&I.

There is a whole lot more to it than you think. Cleaning water isn't cheap by any means.

Posted: 10/26/2004 12:16:09 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
The sewer increase is do to two things.
1. Age of the sanitary sewer . Anything over 50 years old needs to be inspected and repaired.
2. The need to contain the storm water and the pollutants in it. The more run off the worse the problem downstream.

The tax increase is common all over the country.

I thank you because there is a chance some of that money will end up in my pocket. I hate to say it but I am a sewer expert and in VA .

Does Arlington run a combined system? I wasn't aware of any system in VA that ran a CS.

Posted: 10/26/2004 1:08:42 PM EDT

[#16]

It's all the new EPA waste water/ storm runoff regs that are the cause. Cities with combined storm/sanitary have to split it up and that costs millions and millions of dollars to do plus building updated treatment plants to meet new EPA cleanwater standards..

I pay 3x as much for my sewer rate with all the stormwater/treatment surcharges etc than I pay for the water to begin with..

Posted: 10/26/2004 1:23:24 PM EDT

[#17]

Damn. That's rough! 3 months of water + garbage runs me about $80. I assumed water was more expensive in a desert or something, but not in Virginia. That's harsh.

Posted: 10/26/2004 3:31:29 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
They've added a $1 a gallon increase on the SEWER portion of my bill, which drove the price up to this ungodly amount. Water was $71, trash $61.41, and $108.00 down the drain, literally. All of this has doubled over the last 3 years, pretty much. Time to quit bathing, and peeing outside lol.

For these prices, the bill should be hand delivered by Anna K wearing knee pads

BTW, I'm in Arlington

sounds more like its time to tee into your domestic water service, and screw 'em back.

BTW, I'm in Arlington, too.

Posted: 10/26/2004 8:30:35 PM EDT

[#19]

Yeah, the irony is not lost on me that the water is MORE expensive going down the drain than it is coming out of the tap. Where's the WTF cat when you need him lol. Well, one thing I'm gonna do is quit hand washing the dishes. I probably waste lots of water doing that...it's dishwasher city from now on. We'll see it that has any effect.

Posted: 10/26/2004 8:31:19 PM EDT

[#20]

my water bill last month was $14

Posted: 10/26/2004 8:42:35 PM EDT

[#21]

I just bought a new house in a new subdivision. I started pissing out back 3 months ago when I got my first water bill.

Posted: 10/26/2004 8:46:46 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
my water bill last month was $14

$12.95here

No sewer, no trash, electric around $40.

Posted: 10/26/2004 9:05:10 PM EDT

[#23]

G/F has water, gas and electric bill combined; averages $500/mo. The water portion is usually $300 of that.

CW

Posted: 10/26/2004 9:10:01 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
G/F has water, gas and electric bill combined; averages $500/mo. The water portion is usually $300 of that.

CW

$300!!

Id stroke out if I got that.

Im bitching about $12.95 cebuase I use less then 1000 gallons but I get charged for 1000

Posted: 10/26/2004 9:11:00 PM EDT

[#25]

Water bill is around $150 a month but that's irrigating a lawn that's nearly an acre total. This was also a hot dry summer so this month will be considerably less. I suspect my average bill year round will be under $100 and that includes sewer and trash pickups. Huntington Beach CA At our last house here it was a typical size lot and the bill was around $50.

Posted: 10/26/2004 9:34:07 PM EDT

[#26]

Make yourself a meter bypass, and unhook the meter for a couple of weeks at a time and then hook it back up, (make sure the meter is hooked back up Before they come to read it.) bet you'll see a drop in the amount of water used then... I have a friend of mine who did this for several years, after the little berg he lived in decided their water was worth more than the price of gold..his bill dropped considerably, the key here is not to get greedy and leave it hooked up all the time, or run your mouth and tell someone if they catch you doing this, they will jam it up your ass, with an estimated bill that they figure you owe, and it will be high.