Water bill question

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Aqualoon

Aqualoon

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2009
1,787
52
81
Minnesota
Moving here shortly and I have never paid my own water bill before. So for those home owners out there (guesses are just fine) how much more do you pay because of your tanks? Currently just a 160g and a 75g but want to add a 125g at the new place. As far as water changes go do two a week around 20% or so. As for other details - 1 person household so it's not like I have a family of 6 as well.

Hard to ask those who aren't in the hobby as they aren't moving out several gallons of water on a weekly basis.
 
You first bill will be higher from filling tanks. After that it is just water changes. Estimate how many gallons of water you will change a month and find out what your water company charges for a unit of water. Here a unit is around 750 gallons. That runs about $3 per month. If you have a sewer service charge on top of the water bill, that is 2X per unit of water as the water here. So in my case changing 750 gallons of water will run me $3 for the water and $6 for the sewer service charge.
 
Hello; My water company allows the use of 2000 gallons for a base fixed rate. Water use over 2000 gallons will result in an extra charge. I live alone and have three tanks set up currently. I have not yet exceeded the 2000 gallons per month useage.
I suggest checking for leaks right away. Toilets can have leaks that can go unseen as the water leaks from the tank into the bowl. This can be checked with a dye placed into the tank. (my water company gives the dye tablets out free.)
I checked the water line into the house by turning off the water in the basement and comparing the meter after many hours/days. This led to finding a pinhole leak in the supply line to the house.
After fixing the pinhole leak my water heater pressure relief valve began to vent water. I discovered very high water pressure and had to replace the pressure reduction valve in the ground near the water meter.
 
Water is really cheap. Where I live (where water is sometimes rationed), 1,000 gallons costs $2. I'd be more concerned about food, heat and electric.
 
I've paid my own electric for awhile now so I have that figured into the budget. As odd as it may sound I have never paid my own water bill before. I'm trying to make a new budget with this new house and I had no clue what to even put in for the water each month ($50, $100, $150, etc?) so this helped a lot. I of course wasn't looking for something exact just something to go on to get a decent estimate.
 
I have a two person household, a pool that I have to top off with around 500G a week in the summer time (evaporation rate is crazy during hot summer months), a 770G aquarium that I change out 200G per week on and my water bill has never been more than $50 per month and on average it's about $35 per month.

I get charged about $6 per 800G used.

To get a more precise estimate, if you find out what your municipality charges you can try to do the math.

- Shower on avg. = 2.5GPM: If you take a 15 minute shower every day = 1,125G per month for showers
- Water changes on aquariums: Doing weekly 20% water changes on 235G = 188G per month
- Laundry Machine: Can use around 40G per load- One load per week = 160G per month
- Dishwasher: ~6 gallons per load- One load per week = 24G per month
- Toilet Flushing, hand washing, teeth brushing etc, add another 300G per month

Total ~1,800 Gallons per month

The big variable is going to be your garden (if you have one). Lawns can really drink up a lot of water in the hot summer months (my irrigation is from well water, so I don't pay for that, otherwise I think my lawn would easily double my water bill in the summer time). I'm considering removing my lawn and going with native landscaping because even though I don't have to pay for the water, I still have to pay for the electricity the well pump consumes.

Congrats on your new place. I would saw go ahead and add that 125G...it's going to have a pretty miniscule impact on your water bill and if you set it up using efficient equipment, it will have a small impact on your electric bill.
 
I have two 450 gallon and one 350 gallon tAnk all on drip systems and our water bill is about 400 bucks every 3 months.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
If you have an automatic sprinkler system take that into account also. I go through 18,000 gallons a month during the summer and my monthly bill is usually about $170.

Sent from the black hole that is my world.
 
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