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

[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.

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!"

In DC, the rich are more likely to have homes/SFHs with yards with more permeable surfaces, whereas the poor are more likely live in rowhomes with yards that don't have permeable surfaces. Just saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!"

In DC, the rich are more likely to have homes/SFHs with yards with more permeable surfaces, whereas the poor are more likely live in rowhomes with yards that don't have permeable surfaces. Just saying.

Not just poor people but poor people with kids. When you have children you use waaaaaay more water.

[Anonymous]

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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.

It's pretty incredible. From top to bottom, salaries at the....municipal water plant?.. are really, really high.

[Anonymous]

DC water is a total shakedown. Most of what you pay isn’t for the water you use, but rather a forced donation to the “clean river fund.” We pay roughly $200-250 PER MONTH for two adults and two kids. Half of that is the forced donation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC water is a total shakedown. Most of what you pay isn’t for the water you use, but rather a forced donation to the “clean river fund.” We pay roughly $200-250 PER MONTH for two adults and two kids. Half of that is the forced donation.

I think you meant to type user fee.

https://www.dcwater.com/cleanrivers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC water is a total shakedown. Most of what you pay isn’t for the water you use, but rather a forced donation to the “clean river fund.” We pay roughly $200-250 PER MONTH for two adults and two kids. Half of that is the forced donation.

And the federal government is already paying to clean the river.

It's seems pretty obvious that the water plant has more money than it knows what to do with when even low level employees there make six figures.

[Anonymous]

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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.

I'm the PP single person with the bigish house/hardscape. You are wrong. The IAC pass-the-burden-onto-current-customers fees have been billed for about a decade, not two years ago.

100 years of deferred maintenance of the combined sewer overflow system is now on the back of a few thousand District property owners. Yippee.

[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.

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!"

People generally don’t have a problem paying taxes that help alleviate the suffering of poorer people or which result in better public services. But DC Water’s tariffs amount to a tax that sustains one of the most bloated payrolls of any public utility in the world and for no discernible benefit to any DC resident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!"

In DC, the rich are more likely to have homes/SFHs with yards with more permeable surfaces, whereas the poor are more likely live in rowhomes with yards that don't have permeable surfaces. Just saying.

The impermeable surface charge is set by how many total square feet of impervious surface you have on your property, not what proportion of your property is impermeable. SFHs are entirely impermeable and take up much larger footprints than rowhouses, so they rightfully get charged more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC water is a total shakedown. Most of what you pay isn’t for the water you use, but rather a forced donation to the “clean river fund.” We pay roughly $200-250 PER MONTH for two adults and two kids. Half of that is the forced donation.

And the federal government is already paying to clean the river.

It's seems pretty obvious that the water plant has more money than it knows what to do with when even low level employees there make six figures.

The federal government is contributing like 10% of the project cost:

The Anacostia River Tunnel project is part of DC Water’s $2.6 billion Clean Rivers Project that aims to significantly reduce combined sewer overflows in the District of Columbia for improved water quality.

“We look to Congress to make it easier for this new venture to be successful and create the conditions that allow us to work with regional partners and neighboring states to rebuild other infrastructure projects like our roads and mass transit system,” says Mayor Bowser. “Congress has a responsibility to help us move forward.

Today’s Anacostia River Tunnel Project Tour was also joined by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Environmental Protection Administrator Gina McCarthy, DC Department of the Environment Director Tommy Wells, and DC Water Chief Executive Officer and General Manager George Hawkins.

DC Water has received $210.8 million in federal funding for the project to-date. The rest of the project cost is paid for by local ratepayers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the PPs are realizing that DC water bills are so baked with fees, they cost 3 times what the burbs cost.

That is likely why the OP is complaining - yes, it could be as much as your cable bill or more.

Our water bill is normally $200+ per month, which is outrageous.

Ours as well. And we're just two people in the house. Two loads of laundry a week, two dishwasher loads a week, two (short) daily showers. It's ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I’m planning to reach out to my councilmember about this issue. Others should as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the PPs are realizing that DC water bills are so baked with fees, they cost 3 times what the burbs cost.

That is likely why the OP is complaining - yes, it could be as much as your cable bill or more.

Our water bill is normally $200+ per month, which is outrageous.

Ours as well. And we're just two people in the house. Two loads of laundry a week, two dishwasher loads a week, two (short) daily showers. It's ridiculous.

This makes zero sense. Ours was 120-140 a month, family of 4, dishwasher every single night, lots of laundry.

[Anonymous]

Thinking twice about watering the trees...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the PPs are realizing that DC water bills are so baked with fees, they cost 3 times what the burbs cost.

That is likely why the OP is complaining - yes, it could be as much as your cable bill or more.

Our water bill is normally $200+ per month, which is outrageous.

Ours as well. And we're just two people in the house. Two loads of laundry a week, two dishwasher loads a week, two (short) daily showers. It's ridiculous.

You have a leak. Most common is a running toilet.