Gouged by the DC government for...drinking water?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours was routinely $120-$140-ish per month. Family of two parents and two young kids so ran the dishwasher every day and lots of laundry.

DC bakes in a lot of fees. I'm looking at paying far less per month in NOVA.

What does NOVA charge?

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1131879.page

Generally a lot less for water, but you might have to pay for private garbage pickup which DC doesn't charge.

I live in Arlington and get trash/recycling/compost (including bulk items) plus can schedule free electronics recycling for curb pickup included with county services. And as a family of 5, my private water bill is about $80-90ish/month. Been here a decade and have yet to break $100 ever on a water bill. I’m surprised to hear a water bill being high, but makes sense if there are fees baked in.

[Anonymous]

^^ Oops meant that bill is per quarter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:check for leaks

+1. Sounds like there is a leak somewhere.

I've found that usage really only moves the bill up or down 10-20 dollars, after the 100 dollar(ish) base rate calculated from your house/apartment foot print square footage.

Not if there’s a leak. A leaky toilet can costs hundreds of dollars.

No PP. if you don’t live in the District of Columbia, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s very easy to confirm that there’s not a leak by going to the website of DC water.

Each water bill has anywhere from $85-$115 as a starting point. That’s just fees and pass through costs for rebuilding the infrastructure. Water usage is usually about 40 bucks and I don’t think that’s what is complaining about. The big chunk of the bill is sewer fees. Again you get dinged there it’s a pass-through cost for upgrading the infrastructure in the district of Columbia.

As a point of reference, I am a single person but living in a big single-family home That’s relevant because they charge you for all your impermeable surfaces such as roof, driveway, patio, etc. My water bill is routinely $200 a month and I am absolutely certain I have no leak

They charge for water based on…the size of your driveway?

Yes, there's an impervious surface change. A bigger driveway causes more runoff. If you replace it with permeable pavers you can reduce the water bill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC charges a lot for water. Always has.

Is that because there are more exemptions in DC? For example, does anyone know if gov or subsidized housing have to pay for water?

Yes, dcha pays for the water it uses. And so do the owners of project-based section 8. For hcvp, either the landlord or the tenant pays DC water.

[Anonymous]

DC water is an independent agency with its own board. It's not the DC government.

[Anonymous]

DC Water is a disgusting disgrace of an agency. In most jurisdictions, if you have some sort of plumbing accident - like a leaky toilet, broken pipe, hose left on - you can get a one-off waiver. DC Water will never ever do this. I had my Councilmember request such an exception on my behalf, the CEO agreed, and then never replied to any one of my follow-up emails. Their agents have access to real-time usage data, but they refuse to push this to customers - so if you have a leak or similar such plumbing misadventure, you don’t find out about it until up to 3 days and hundreds of dollars later. And this is nothing compared to those who have been overbilled to the tune of thousands of dollars and had to go to hell and back to get it corrected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:check for leaks

+1. Sounds like there is a leak somewhere.

I've found that usage really only moves the bill up or down 10-20 dollars, after the 100 dollar(ish) base rate calculated from your house/apartment foot print square footage.

Not if there’s a leak. A leaky toilet can costs hundreds of dollars.

No PP. if you don’t live in the District of Columbia, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s very easy to confirm that there’s not a leak by going to the website of DC water.

Each water bill has anywhere from $85-$115 as a starting point. That’s just fees and pass through costs for rebuilding the infrastructure. Water usage is usually about 40 bucks and I don’t think that’s what is complaining about. The big chunk of the bill is sewer fees. Again you get dinged there it’s a pass-through cost for upgrading the infrastructure in the district of Columbia.

As a point of reference, I am a single person but living in a big single-family home That’s relevant because they charge you for all your impermeable surfaces such as roof, driveway, patio, etc. My water bill is routinely $200 a month and I am absolutely certain I have no leak

They charge for water based on…the size of your driveway?

Yes, there's an impervious surface change. A bigger driveway causes more runoff. If you replace it with permeable pavers you can reduce the water bill.

That is very stupid. I also like that they charge you for water because you have a roof. How about just charging people for the amount of water they use, and not making up lots of superfluous bullshit?

[Anonymous]

You should confirm that the water bill is in fact a monthly charge. DC Water recently changed to charging for two months at a time (at least for my neighborhood), so prices looked like they doubled but they didn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:check for leaks

+1. Sounds like there is a leak somewhere.

I've found that usage really only moves the bill up or down 10-20 dollars, after the 100 dollar(ish) base rate calculated from your house/apartment foot print square footage.

Not if there’s a leak. A leaky toilet can costs hundreds of dollars.

No PP. if you don’t live in the District of Columbia, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s very easy to confirm that there’s not a leak by going to the website of DC water.

Each water bill has anywhere from $85-$115 as a starting point. That’s just fees and pass through costs for rebuilding the infrastructure. Water usage is usually about 40 bucks and I don’t think that’s what is complaining about. The big chunk of the bill is sewer fees. Again you get dinged there it’s a pass-through cost for upgrading the infrastructure in the district of Columbia.

As a point of reference, I am a single person but living in a big single-family home That’s relevant because they charge you for all your impermeable surfaces such as roof, driveway, patio, etc. My water bill is routinely $200 a month and I am absolutely certain I have no leak

They charge for water based on…the size of your driveway?

Yes, there's an impervious surface change. A bigger driveway causes more runoff. If you replace it with permeable pavers you can reduce the water bill.

That is very stupid. I also like that they charge you for water because you have a roof. How about just charging people for the amount of water they use, and not making up lots of superfluous bullshit?

Because they have to cover their expenses and one way to do that is as good as another. Did you miss the part where they are rebuilding the entire sewer piping from scratch? And it's underground? And labor costs are at a historic high?

Or should it be a charity? If so, I'm willing to consider that, but as it's currently not the DC government and not subsidized, I'm not sure where the magical money for a free water and sewer system should come from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:check for leaks

+1. Sounds like there is a leak somewhere.

I've found that usage really only moves the bill up or down 10-20 dollars, after the 100 dollar(ish) base rate calculated from your house/apartment foot print square footage.

Not if there’s a leak. A leaky toilet can costs hundreds of dollars.

No PP. if you don’t live in the District of Columbia, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s very easy to confirm that there’s not a leak by going to the website of DC water.

Each water bill has anywhere from $85-$115 as a starting point. That’s just fees and pass through costs for rebuilding the infrastructure. Water usage is usually about 40 bucks and I don’t think that’s what is complaining about. The big chunk of the bill is sewer fees. Again you get dinged there it’s a pass-through cost for upgrading the infrastructure in the district of Columbia.

As a point of reference, I am a single person but living in a big single-family home That’s relevant because they charge you for all your impermeable surfaces such as roof, driveway, patio, etc. My water bill is routinely $200 a month and I am absolutely certain I have no leak

They charge for water based on…the size of your driveway?

Yes, there's an impervious surface change. A bigger driveway causes more runoff. If you replace it with permeable pavers you can reduce the water bill.

That is very stupid. I also like that they charge you for water because you have a roof. How about just charging people for the amount of water they use, and not making up lots of superfluous bullshit?

Because they have to cover their expenses and one way to do that is as good as another. Did you miss the part where they are rebuilding the entire sewer piping from scratch? And it's underground? And labor costs are at a historic high?

Or should it be a charity? If so, I'm willing to consider that, but as it's currently not the DC government and not subsidized, I'm not sure where the magical money for a free water and sewer system should come from.

1. Didn't this project begin, like, 15 years ago? Are we just going to pay these fees forever?

2. The federal government has already kicked in hundreds of millions of dollars for this project

3. In the past couple years, Congress has approved almost $1 trillion for infrastructure and green projects just like this one.

Seems like they've already received quite a bit of money through these absurd fees, and from the largesse of the federal government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC water is an independent agency with its own board. It's not the DC government.

“Independent” should be in quotation marks. All members of the board are appointed by the mayor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC Water bills increased quite a lot (tripled?) about two years ago due to DC Water's Clean River Project. Basically, our sewers have stayed the same since colonial times and they are now being rebuilt. We are footing the bill. I has to be done. No getting around it.

and, ironically, water usage is down because of low flow toilets, faucets, etc so they have to charge more to cover the costs.

Don't get me wrong, I support efforts to consume less but in areas like ours, where there is not a potential water shortage, that comes with some unintended consequences.

There absolutely is a potential water shortage in our area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:check for leaks

+1. Sounds like there is a leak somewhere.

I've found that usage really only moves the bill up or down 10-20 dollars, after the 100 dollar(ish) base rate calculated from your house/apartment foot print square footage.

Not if there’s a leak. A leaky toilet can costs hundreds of dollars.

No PP. if you don’t live in the District of Columbia, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s very easy to confirm that there’s not a leak by going to the website of DC water.

Each water bill has anywhere from $85-$115 as a starting point. That’s just fees and pass through costs for rebuilding the infrastructure. Water usage is usually about 40 bucks and I don’t think that’s what is complaining about. The big chunk of the bill is sewer fees. Again you get dinged there it’s a pass-through cost for upgrading the infrastructure in the district of Columbia.

As a point of reference, I am a single person but living in a big single-family home That’s relevant because they charge you for all your impermeable surfaces such as roof, driveway, patio, etc. My water bill is routinely $200 a month and I am absolutely certain I have no leak

They charge for water based on…the size of your driveway?

Yes, there's an impervious surface change. A bigger driveway causes more runoff. If you replace it with permeable pavers you can reduce the water bill.

That is very stupid. I also like that they charge you for water because you have a roof. How about just charging people for the amount of water they use, and not making up lots of superfluous bullshit?

They charge you for having a roof that creates stormwater runoff that they have to deal with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:check for leaks

+1. Sounds like there is a leak somewhere.

I've found that usage really only moves the bill up or down 10-20 dollars, after the 100 dollar(ish) base rate calculated from your house/apartment foot print square footage.

Not if there’s a leak. A leaky toilet can costs hundreds of dollars.

No PP. if you don’t live in the District of Columbia, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s very easy to confirm that there’s not a leak by going to the website of DC water.

Each water bill has anywhere from $85-$115 as a starting point. That’s just fees and pass through costs for rebuilding the infrastructure. Water usage is usually about 40 bucks and I don’t think that’s what is complaining about. The big chunk of the bill is sewer fees. Again you get dinged there it’s a pass-through cost for upgrading the infrastructure in the district of Columbia.

As a point of reference, I am a single person but living in a big single-family home That’s relevant because they charge you for all your impermeable surfaces such as roof, driveway, patio, etc. My water bill is routinely $200 a month and I am absolutely certain I have no leak

They charge for water based on…the size of your driveway?

Yes, there's an impervious surface change. A bigger driveway causes more runoff. If you replace it with permeable pavers you can reduce the water bill.

That is very stupid. I also like that they charge you for water because you have a roof. How about just charging people for the amount of water they use, and not making up lots of superfluous bullshit?

Because they have to cover their expenses and one way to do that is as good as another. Did you miss the part where they are rebuilding the entire sewer piping from scratch? And it's underground? And labor costs are at a historic high?

Or should it be a charity? If so, I'm willing to consider that, but as it's currently not the DC government and not subsidized, I'm not sure where the magical money for a free water and sewer system should come from.

1. Didn't this project begin, like, 15 years ago? Are we just going to pay these fees forever?

2. The federal government has already kicked in hundreds of millions of dollars for this project

3. In the past couple years, Congress has approved almost $1 trillion for infrastructure and green projects just like this one.

Seems like they've already received quite a bit of money through these absurd fees, and from the largesse of the federal government.

The increased prices only started two years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC Water bills increased quite a lot (tripled?) about two years ago due to DC Water's Clean River Project. Basically, our sewers have stayed the same since colonial times and they are now being rebuilt. We are footing the bill. I has to be done. No getting around it.

and, ironically, water usage is down because of low flow toilets, faucets, etc so they have to charge more to cover the costs.

Don't get me wrong, I support efforts to consume less but in areas like ours, where there is not a potential water shortage, that comes with some unintended consequences.

There absolutely is a potential water shortage in our area.

No there isn't. We are not California or Arizona. We aren't Maine either but there is no danger of running out of potable water in DC.