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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

DC Water has to cover its costs somehow. If the choice is to have the people who leave a hose on or delay fixing a leak bear the costs of the water they use, or spread those costs across everyone, I prefer the former. Why should I have to pay because you left a hose on? Let's incentivize responsible behavior.

This would be a reasonable response except that DC water also raises rates to maintain revenue levels when water use goes down. So I could ask you why I should have to pay more for my water because you installed a low flow toilet.

The fees go up if you use more water, and they go up if you use less water. Either way, DC Water has become accustomed to a certain amount of revenue to live on, and it's not going to give that up. We'll all be paying the same even after this sewer project is completed. DC Water will just find other "needs" to spend the money on.

DC Water's salary data is public information. They have (not very helpful) customer service reps earning six solid figures.

There’s a whole lot of people there who make $200k+

It seems very DC that drinking water costs an arm and a leg, and the flunkies who work at the water plant make a quarter-million dollars a year.

Only the CEO. And if you think that the only people who should make $250K work for law firms, in finance or are doctors, then you are part of the problem.

Look at their full payroll and tell me you don’t think it’s massively bloated. I’d love to see a comparison of it between any other municipal water utility.

The sheer number of people there making more than $200,000 is astounding. Some make more than $300,000.

[Anonymous]

Even if we accept that DC has to pay for the new tunnels and treatment facilities, the fact is that suburban people (which is most of this country) don't pay anything near what city people pay. Most don't pay sewer. Most don't pay for new infrastructure. So that's why DC Water seems more expensive... others are paying on the cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax Water is billed quarterly and we average about 100 a month for a family of 5. The majority cost is for the sewer portion, not the water usage.

I rebuilt the toilet internals and replaced the stem valves in the tubs/showers to prevent running and leaking, and cut the bill by about 30%.

Everything in DC is a racket.

Huh, this is exactly what we pay in DC? I guess DC isn't that expensive then. My bad.

Same (family of 4). Our is actually lower than that, as we are getting a bill every 2 months now, and it is usually $125-$130 for 2 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax Water is billed quarterly and we average about 100 a month for a family of 5. The majority cost is for the sewer portion, not the water usage.

I rebuilt the toilet internals and replaced the stem valves in the tubs/showers to prevent running and leaking, and cut the bill by about 30%.

Everything in DC is a racket.

Huh, this is exactly what we pay in DC? I guess DC isn't that expensive then. My bad.

Same (family of 4). Our is actually lower than that, as we are getting a bill every 2 months now, and it is usually $125-$130 for 2 months.

In DC??? Our bill was that per month, also a family of 4 who only bathe our two kids twice a week. 1600 sq foot row house, all newer appliances, renovated bathrooms and no leaks (other than twice that we had a toilet running issue and I got the alerts). Dishwasher nightly and just replaced one this year which didn't change anything.

I swear DC is a racket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

DC Water has to cover its costs somehow. If the choice is to have the people who leave a hose on or delay fixing a leak bear the costs of the water they use, or spread those costs across everyone, I prefer the former. Why should I have to pay because you left a hose on? Let's incentivize responsible behavior.

This would be a reasonable response except that DC water also raises rates to maintain revenue levels when water use goes down. So I could ask you why I should have to pay more for my water because you installed a low flow toilet.

The fees go up if you use more water, and they go up if you use less water. Either way, DC Water has become accustomed to a certain amount of revenue to live on, and it's not going to give that up. We'll all be paying the same even after this sewer project is completed. DC Water will just find other "needs" to spend the money on.

DC Water's salary data is public information. They have (not very helpful) customer service reps earning six solid figures.

There’s a whole lot of people there who make $200k+

It seems very DC that drinking water costs an arm and a leg, and the flunkies who work at the water plant make a quarter-million dollars a year.

Only the CEO. And if you think that the only people who should make $250K work for law firms, in finance or are doctors, then you are part of the problem.

Look at their full payroll and tell me you don’t think it’s massively bloated. I’d love to see a comparison of it between any other municipal water utility.

The sheer number of people there making more than $200,000 is astounding. Some make more than $300,000.

The bottom end of the salary structure was more interesting to me. I was amazed at how many basic jobs were making $100k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if we accept that DC has to pay for the new tunnels and treatment facilities, the fact is that suburban people (which is most of this country) don't pay anything near what city people pay. Most don't pay sewer. Most don't pay for new infrastructure. So that's why DC Water seems more expensive... others are paying on the cheap.

Who doesn’t pay sewer? Everyone on WSSC pays sewer.

The big difference between DCWater and WSSC is that the state of Maryland levies a storm water protection charge in the homeowners property tax bill. DCWater apparently collects this fee directly through the water bill.

[Anonymous]

I have water bills from 15 years ago in my files and it is amazing how water is now regularly $200 a month. 15 years go it was $45. Same house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have water bills from 15 years ago in my files and it is amazing how water is now regularly $200 a month. 15 years go it was $45. Same house.

It's amazing how things cost more than they used to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

DC Water has to cover its costs somehow. If the choice is to have the people who leave a hose on or delay fixing a leak bear the costs of the water they use, or spread those costs across everyone, I prefer the former. Why should I have to pay because you left a hose on? Let's incentivize responsible behavior.

This would be a reasonable response except that DC water also raises rates to maintain revenue levels when water use goes down. So I could ask you why I should have to pay more for my water because you installed a low flow toilet.

The fees go up if you use more water, and they go up if you use less water. Either way, DC Water has become accustomed to a certain amount of revenue to live on, and it's not going to give that up. We'll all be paying the same even after this sewer project is completed. DC Water will just find other "needs" to spend the money on.

DC Water's salary data is public information. They have (not very helpful) customer service reps earning six solid figures.

There’s a whole lot of people there who make $200k+

It seems very DC that drinking water costs an arm and a leg, and the flunkies who work at the water plant make a quarter-million dollars a year.

Only the CEO. And if you think that the only people who should make $250K work for law firms, in finance or are doctors, then you are part of the problem.

Look at their full payroll and tell me you don’t think it’s massively bloated. I’d love to see a comparison of it between any other municipal water utility.

The sheer number of people there making more than $200,000 is astounding. Some make more than $300,000.

They must be friends with the mayor.
DC is so corrupt.

[Anonymous]

DC Water is just begging for a congressional investigation at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax Water is billed quarterly and we average about 100 a month for a family of 5. The majority cost is for the sewer portion, not the water usage.

I rebuilt the toilet internals and replaced the stem valves in the tubs/showers to prevent running and leaking, and cut the bill by about 30%.

Everything in DC is a racket.

Huh, this is exactly what we pay in DC? I guess DC isn't that expensive then. My bad.

Same (family of 4). Our is actually lower than that, as we are getting a bill every 2 months now, and it is usually $125-$130 for 2 months.

In DC??? Our bill was that per month, also a family of 4 who only bathe our two kids twice a week. 1600 sq foot row house, all newer appliances, renovated bathrooms and no leaks (other than twice that we had a toilet running issue and I got the alerts). Dishwasher nightly and just replaced one this year which didn't change anything.

I swear DC is a racket.

Yes, in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax Water is billed quarterly and we average about 100 a month for a family of 5. The majority cost is for the sewer portion, not the water usage.

I rebuilt the toilet internals and replaced the stem valves in the tubs/showers to prevent running and leaking, and cut the bill by about 30%.

Everything in DC is a racket.

Huh, this is exactly what we pay in DC? I guess DC isn't that expensive then. My bad.

Same (family of 4). Our is actually lower than that, as we are getting a bill every 2 months now, and it is usually $125-$130 for 2 months.

In DC??? Our bill was that per month, also a family of 4 who only bathe our two kids twice a week. 1600 sq foot row house, all newer appliances, renovated bathrooms and no leaks (other than twice that we had a toilet running issue and I got the alerts). Dishwasher nightly and just replaced one this year which didn't change anything.

I swear DC is a racket.

We have a similar profile (albeit with more frequent bathing) and bill averages $200 per month in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have water bills from 15 years ago in my files and it is amazing how water is now regularly $200 a month. 15 years go it was $45. Same house.

I've got twenty years of my water bills kept on a spread sheet and our usage is supposedly up quite a bit despite our having done quite a few things to reduce our usage.

But the new fees are a big part of it but we also get these mystery spikes that come and go and no one can ever figure it - I don't mind the fees to fix a needed infra issue but I'm really skeptical about my usage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have water bills from 15 years ago in my files and it is amazing how water is now regularly $200 a month. 15 years go it was $45. Same house.

Sounds like most of it is from the impervious surface fees which are proportional to the size of your house and amount of concrete/asphalt on your property. If you're paying that much in impervious surface fees you must have a pretty big house in which case I have zero sympathy for the extra $150 a month compared to the hundreds of thousands in equity you gained in that same time period.

"Oh, woe is me, it costs so much to pay for the water in my million dollar house!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have water bills from 15 years ago in my files and it is amazing how water is now regularly $200 a month. 15 years go it was $45. Same house.

It's amazing how things cost more than they used to.

With inflation, costs double, on average, per 20 years.

Going from $45/month to $200/ month isn't just a routine cost increase.