Water is expensive to treat and deliver.
One of the major reasons your water bill is so high is that it costs a lot of money to treat and maintain the water.
Water treatment and delivery require highly trained personnel and sophisticated facilities. The professionals who work in this industry have often spent years training for their positions, and as a result, are compensated very well for their services. There are also significant maintenance expenses associated with managing the water transmission network: When you consider how many miles of piping it takes to carry freshwater from its source to your faucet, it’s no wonder that water bills are so costly.
It’s also important to note that quite a bit of water gets lost along the way due to leaks in pipes and infrastructure, or because people waste water in their homes by letting taps run or flushing toilets unnecessarily. By being more cognizant of your own water consumption habits at home, you can reduce your impact on both the environment and your wallet.
Water is scarce in some parts of the country, increasing its price.
You may have noticed that your water bill is higher than you’d like it to be. You might be wondering why it’s so high, and how to keep it from going up again. The answer could be as simple as learning a little bit more about where your water comes from, and how much of it you’re using on a daily basis.
To help you out with this important issue, we’ve listed 7 reasons why your water bill is so damn high:
- Water is scarce in some parts of the country, increasing its price
- Water is expensive to treat and deliver
- Water is scarce in some parts of the country, increasing its price
You’re wasting more water than you think.
You’re wasting more water than you think.
Some of your habits might be causing your bill to go up even more than it should. Here are some things that you could be doing differently:
- Stop leaving the faucet running while brushing your teeth! It’s a myth that rinsing with warm water afterwards is better for your teeth. In fact, it’s actually quite harmful because it softens tooth enamel and erodes gums. The tiny amount of soap residue from brushing won’t hurt anything.
- Don’t use the toilet as a trash can! Tissues, paper towels, diapers, cat litter, sanitary napkins—these are all items that do not belong in the toilet bowl. They can cause clogs in drains and septic tanks and make them overflow, which is gross!
- Stop washing dishes by hand! Your dishwasher uses less water per cycle than you would using a faucet and sponge. Also, don’t pre-rinse dishes; this just wastes water. Scrape food remnants off plates instead before putting them in the dishwasher (or trash).
Old pipes cost more money to maintain.
If your home was built before 1990, there’s a good chance that you have old pipes. Older homes are more likely to have galvanized steel or polybutylene pipes in the house and out of date fixtures as well. These older materials were used for decades but aren’t up to current plumbing standards. Unfortunately, if your home is over 20 years old, it’s also likely that your pipes are rusty or leaking.
Old pipes can cost you a lot of money in maintenance and repair bills and will probably need replacing soon — especially copper or PEX piping that has exceeded its lifespan of 80–100 years. Galvanized iron piping generally lasts about 50 years, while polybutylene is estimated to last 10–15 years.
The house may have a leak that you don’t know about.
Check for leaks.
You might be using more water than you think – it’s always a good idea to check your house for any possible leaks.
Toilet tanks can leak along the supply line between the tank and the bowl, or through small cracks in the porcelain that may not be visible. You can test this by adding a few drops of food coloring to your toilet tank (don’t flush). Check back every ten minutes or so: if you see color in the bowl, that means there’s a leak!
Water meter readings should stop moving when all faucets are turned off; if they’re still moving even with everything shut down, you most likely have a leak somewhere. This could be in your showerhead, sink faucet, or pipes. If you hear running water somewhere in your house but don’t know where it is coming from, listen carefully to figure out which room it’s coming from; look for wet spots on ceilings and walls as well – these are warning signs of leaks behind them.
A change in your water meter might be why your bill has spiked.
If you have a water meter, it can be a good way of monitoring your usage and keeping an eye out for excess water consumption. If you notice that your bill has suddenly spiked to an amount you never knew was possible, there’s a chance that your bill has been affected by any number of issues, including faulty equipment or changes in the weather patterns.
One of the most common culprits is a leak. Even if the gushing spigot is not immediately noticeable, it could still be costing you hundreds on your monthly bill. Some leaks are solely due to the weather—temperatures that fluctuate above or below freezing tend to wreak havoc on pipes—but others are caused by equipment malfunctions and can only be fixed with professional help.
Another likely scenario is that your meter itself has gone haywire. This problem is a little harder to detect on your own; if you think this might be happening, contact your city council and ask for their assistance. If they determine that there’s indeed something wrong with the meter, they’ll replace it at no cost to you!
You might not be paying your actual water bill if you own a string of houses or apartments.
If you own a string of houses or apartments, your water bill might include the usage of all your tenants. This is because your water company has only one master meter for a property with multiple units. If you don’t want to keep paying for your tenants’ water, there are a few things you can do:
- You can ask your tenants for the bill and then pay for it yourself. This way, you will also see how much they are drinking per month and try to reduce that amount.
- You can separate the costs by asking the water company to provide separate bills for each unit based on their individual meters if they have them installed already.
- If none of this works out, you can always let us know and we will be happy to help!
Your bill might be high due to factors outside of your control, but there are still things you can do about it.
While rising water prices are out of your control, there are a few things you can do to reduce your bill. Checking for leaks (9) and adjusting your habits (10) can help lower your water usage, but the cost of water itself is up to your city government. You can’t change the price of something by using less—that’s not how supply and demand works.
What you can do is educate yourself on the fees that are being added to each unit of water you purchase from the city of Austin (or whatever city you live in). This way, when it comes time for a vote on these issues, you’ll know what to support.If you’ve ever opened an envelope and seen your water bill, it’s not just the amount that shocks you—it’s the size. The document inside is as large as a small magazine, and it makes you wonder: what the hell are they even charging me for?
Well, we’re here to help! We’ve taken some time and investigated this mystery, and we’ve come up with 7 reasons why your water bill is so damn high.
1. You have a pool/hot tub
2. You have a high number of rooms in your house
3. Your kids like to play in the rain
4. Your town has long winters (that means more indoor plumbing usage)
5. You’re running a bed-and-breakfast out of your home without telling anyone
6. You live somewhere where water is scarce or hard to get to (like a desert)
7. You were born with gills
Why the heck is your water bill so high? I mean, you don’t have a pool or hot tub. You don’t have a leaky faucet. You don’t even have a sprinkler system (you’re not that fancy). But still—you look at your water bill and wonder if the city is just messing with you.
Well, we’ve got some news: they aren’t! The reason your water bill is so high has nothing to do with city shenanigans. It’s actually something much more mundane and boring. And once you hear what it is, you’ll probably be annoyed, because… of course! Duh!
Let’s get down to it. Here are 7 reasons why your water bill is so damn high:
1) Toilets and faucets are sneaky little devils who like to waste water
2) You can’t get enough shower time
3) Your kids waste an ungodly amount of tap water
4) You might have a leak somewhere in your house that you’re not aware of
5) Your sprinkler system has a leak or faulty timer
6) Your neighbor really wants to go swimming, but doesn’t want to pay for electricity—so they use their pool pump illegally (aka
If your water bill is more than you think it should be, there are plenty of reasons why. Most of them can be easily remedied.
The most common reason for high water bills is a leak. The good news is that most leaks are relatively easy to locate. And almost all of them can be fixed with a quick trip to the hardware store or a phone call to a plumber. You can check if you have a leak by turning everything off in the house and seeing whether your meter still runs. If it does, you have a leak somewhere. So start looking!
Another common reason for high bills is an old toilet that’s leaking into the bowl or running constantly. This can happen because of a bad valve or flapper—the device that holds water in the tank and releases it when you flush. Either problem is usually pretty easy to fix, even if you’re not super handy with home repairs. Just watch some videos on YouTube and get after it!
If your showerhead, faucet, or even toilet has been replaced recently, then you may simply just be using more water than normal due to the increased flow rates of newer models. Or maybe you’ve installed new appliances since your last bill, like a dishwasher or washing machine.
You open your mailbox, expecting to see a bill or two. But instead of the usual gas, electric, and credit card bills, you’re stunned to find a notice from your water company saying that your bill has skyrocketed and they’re shutting off your water if you don’t pay up immediately.
But how? You’ve been trying to be so careful with water! You’ve been:
* Taking shorter showers
* Only washing full loads of laundry
* Not watering your lawn
So what happened? And how do you avoid it happening again?
Here are seven reasons why people like you get hit with sky-high water bills—and what you can do about it.
Home water bills can be expensive — after all, you’re paying for a utility that you literally can’t live without. As it turns out, there are a number of different reasons why your bill might be higher than expected.
1. You’re Not On A Budget Billing Plan
Did you know that you can opt in to pay the same amount on your water bill every month? If your monthly budget is tight, this option will make it easier to afford. Simply pay the average bill for the last year and then adjust for the next year so that you’re always paying about the same amount.
2. Your Home Has Leaks
Leaks from pipes and fixtures account for 1 trillion gallons of water wasted each year in the United States. That’s 14 percent of our total drinking supply! Fortunately, there are several ways to tell if your home has leaks: Look at your water meter while no one is using any water in the house, and then look at it again after 15 minutes; if it registered use during that time, you have a leak somewhere in your home. Another way is to check your toilet valves for signs of leaks by adding a few drops of food coloring to your toilet tank; if color appears in the bowl within 15 minutes, you
1. Your water company is lying to you.
2. Your water company is lying TO you.
3. Your water company is stealing from you.
4. Your water company has a monopoly in your area and doesn’t have any incentive to lower prices.
5. Your water company has a monopoly in your area and doesn’t have any incentive to lower prices because your local government regulates them, which is illegal and unconstitutional.
6. You’re paying for your neighbor’s swimming pool, sprinkler system, and/or jacuzzi, but you don’t have those luxuries yourself because…
7. You live in an apartment complex that makes residents pay for their own water bills (even though the landlord has the plumbing hooked up so that it all flows into one main line).
1. You’re not conserving water in your home.
2. You have a leaking toilet.
3. You have a leaky faucet.
4. Your shower head is wasting water.
5. You have a leaky hot water heater.
6. You’re watering your lawn too much (or at all).
7. Your clothes washer is inefficient.
