Water Meter Installed!

Save water, save money and 'save the earth'? It sounds too good to be true but it's the real deal, folks.

I heard about the City of Chicago's free program to install water meters from several friends last year and thought it was a great idea to increase water awareness. Even though we live next to the largest source of fresh water in the world with our proximity to Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes, that does not mean water is an unlimited resource we can take for granted.

In some parts of the country, water aquifers are drying up and many Western states are already experiencing water supply issues. Add population growth, climate change and trends of increasing water usage per American citizen and it's pretty clear that we should pay attention to our water and use it more wisely.

Homeowners in Chicago are charged flat fees for water and sewer services based on the size of the building and accompanying yard areas. Our original water bill from the City of Chicago assessed the charges for our single family home in the city as follows:
 3 floors 26' wide building
(0001) Hose Frontage 31" to 62"

With the existing un-metered system in Chicago, home and building owners are charged basically by the square foot instead of actual usage. How then are the actual charges calculated?

The Chicago City Council legislates the cost of water and sewer services and publishes the rates on the city's web site per 1,000 gallons (water) and per 1,000 cubic feet (sewer). Rates for 2014 jumped up from 2013.

"Effective January 1, 2014, the water rate will increase by 15% and the sewer rate will increase from 92% to 96% of the water charge. The metered water charge will be $3.32 per 1,000 gallons (or $24.80 per 1,000 cubic feet)."

Okay, so that's how the system works and it means some people pay for water they haven't actually used, and maybe some intense gardeners are getting a deal. But it's hard to know what's fair or equitable with this type of system. I mean, how are people going to know how much water they pay for or possibly waste each year if they don't know how much water they actually use, right?

According to the EPA, the average American uses 300 gallons of water each day - and about 70% of that water is used indoors. About 27% is used in toilets, 22% for washing clothes, 17% for showers and 16% via faucets. This gives us an idea of what we use water FOR on an average day.

I was skeptical at first but any Chicagoan would be when they hear the city is going to give them something for free that will also save them money. What's the catch, I wondered, but I checked it out.

The program is called Meter Save - and it is voluntary and free for homeowners in the city and surrounding suburbs that get their water supply from the City of Chicago. Besides getting the meter installed for free, the city guarantees that homeowners will not pay more than their previous water bills for a full seven years if they opt in to the voluntary program.

And, to sweeten the deal even further, the city includes a water saving gift - such as a rain barrel or water conservation kits for indoor or outdoor use. I picked the rain barrel and can't wait to install it this spring near our front yard, as we already have one in back.I'm told the city is a little backed up with deliveries of rain barrels but since it's still below freezing, that's not a problem.

When I called to sign up last June, the crew that came to the house said our water shut-off valve, what they called the "buffalo box" needed to be repaired or replaced. They showed me the valve in the parkway in front of our house and that it was bent at an odd angle. If there was a problem, they couldn't shut off the water supply to our house. They advised me to have the valve fixed before getting a water meter installed and they put in a request to have the city fix it.

Once the city fixed the valve (in December), MeterSave called me back to re-schedule the installation and on Jan. 3rd, two commercial plumbers and an inspector arrived again on time. In less than 30 minutes, they had the water meter and electronic reader installed in our home. It was fast and painless.

We'll now get our water bills every 2 months instead of every 6 months and we can see the meter turn to gauge our water usage whenever we like. The city workers will drive by and electronically read the meter for our future bills and we're on our way to conserving water - and money. Voila!