Spokane7
55°
July 25, 2009 in City
Water tab merits a few lashes with a dry noodle
I was brought up to be exceedingly stingy with water.
I was raised in the arid West, where a brown trickle of water was styled “the South Platte River.” Water was rationed; neighbors turned in neighbors for gross sprinkling violations.
And that’s why I was absolutely appalled to see the following number this week on my city of Spokane water bill: 42,636 gallons.
Are you kidding me? How in hell could I have used 42,636 gallons of water during one billing cycle? Me, a guy who turns off the faucet while brushing?
Yet there it was, the cold, wet facts, taken right off of my water meter.
Then I began to add up all of the ways we use water at our house. There’s the dishwasher, the washing machine and the shower. There’s the hose for spraying the skunk smell off the dog.
Not to mention the 12 ounces I use while brushing my teeth.
But then, of course, I had to come to terms with the real culprit: My Big Fat Green Lawn.
Actually, it’s not that fat and it’s not that green. It is, in fact, a light khaki brown right now because, as my wife will tell you, I’m stingy with the watering.
But it is definitely “big.” We have a double lot – a giant backyard. This big lot should prove to be a key selling point if we ever put the house on the market, assuming the buyer is like me and fails to think through the implications.
The implications being: That’s gonna be twice as much to mow. And twice as much to water.
Resulting in a bill for 42,636 gallons of water for two months.
Frankly, this is probably no larger than my previous midsummer bills. However, the city of Spokane used to list water usage only in “units” of 100 cubic feet. Hey, 57 units of water. That doesn’t sound like much.
But now, the city lists it in gallons, a clever ploy to alarm homeowners such as myself about their profligate ways. I called up a friendly fellow at the city’s water department and tried to get him to tell me whether I’m really a massive water hog. First, he tactfully told me that no, they have plenty of residential customers who go way over 42,636 gallons per billing. After all, my bill for water consumption was only $38.95, which doesn’t sound that bad. But then, after a little prodding, he conceded that yes, I’m “a little on the high side.”
In fact, 42,636 gallons would fill up two decent-size backyard swimming pools.
What can I do about this, other than (1) letting my lawn revert to sagebrush, (2) showering with friends or (3) hiring a rainmaker?
Well, the city does have a program called Get More Green for Less Green, in which the city will pay me $100 to take 1,000 square feet of my lawn and turn it into rocks or gravel or a cactus farm or something else that needs no watering. So maybe that should be our summer project.
Mostly, though, we’ll just have to try to be as stingy as possible with our watering. That, and cut back on dog-washing. Let’s just pray the dog doesn’t get skunked.
Reach Jim Kershner at jimk@spokesman.com or (509) 459-5493. Reach Jim Kershner at jimk@spokesman.com or (509) 459-5493.
Jim Kershner’s this day in history 
Betty on July 25 at 6:06 a.m.
But it isn’t the cost of the water that breaks the back of that bill—it is the cost of all those add-ons for all the other things a Utility bill from Spokane brings—all goodies we shall pay for years, with everything tacked on that bill and now they have figured out a way to charge more for water according to usage—and of course that cookie they hold out for changing your yard to not take watering—remove lawn and flowers and use finishes that don’t require water and you will get $100—no way I can afford to do that and it will be the landscapers working for the wealthier homeowners that will bring that money in—what a crazy concept!
Bob_Knows on July 25 at 8:50 a.m.
So what if you use water? We have a very large river flowing through the middle of town. The water for the lawn goes back to the aquifer anyway. If we lived in Tuscon, AZ, water might be scarce, but not here. Rationing water is ridiculous.
Spokane doesn’t want to become an ugly dust bowl by requiring Zeroscaping like Albuquerque, NM, and some other cities.
If we all went out an pissed on the lawn or garden we would save millions of flushes, and wouldn’t have to buy as much chemical fertilizer. Can’t do that, of course. Natural recycling is verboten. You would probably get arrested by the blue gun thugs.
Betty is right. Its not the cost of the water, or the plumbing, but the cost of TAXES that are added to the water bill. They are limited on property tax, so the corrupt politicians nail you on your water bill.
polistra on July 25 at 1:06 p.m.
Ditto Bob. If we were drawing water from a distant reservoir as LA does, or if we were pulling from a “locked” aquifer like the Ogalalla, it would be different. But the Spokane aquifer is simply an underground branch of the river. The city pulls the water from the aquifer. When you use it on your lawn it soaks down through the gravel back to the aquifer, then back to the river through the bottom of Loon Lake. When you use it for household purposes, it goes through the sewer back to the river directly. When we use a lot we’re not “wasting water” but we may be overstressing the processing capacity of the wells and the sewers.
1960 on July 25 at 4:50 p.m.
To live a life of low impact is better than to waste a very valuable resource. Water conservation is forward thinking and far reaching.