Is Your Water Bill Too High?

Typical water usage for a 1/4 acre residential property.

1. A sprinkler system has 6 zones using 12 gallons per minute and the system runs for 3 hours every other day (May 1st thru Sept. 30th). This would be 76 days of running 3 hours each day. For a total of 228 hours and 164160 gallons of water used. Sycamore sewer bill would be: $628.18, $2.87 per 100 cubic feet of water (approx 750 gallons). A second water meter usually would pay for itself in less than two years but there is no water savings.

2. A rain sensor can be installed for approximately $140. If water usage is reduced 10% there would be a sewer savings of $62.79 and approximate water savings of $65.64 ($3.00 per 100 cubic feet) for a total savings of $128.43, The rain sensor pays for itself in less than two years.

3. A new controller and weather station can be installed for approximately $750. The weather station is programmed with the soil type, sun or shade, degree of slope, Plant or grass, Type of sprinkler head, etc. and then it monitors rain, wind, temperature and calculates how long the system should run for. With a 30% reduction in water usage and thus 30% reduction in sewer bill, there would be an annual savings of $385.29. The weather station would pay for itself in less then two years. This would reduce the water and sewer demand on the city’s infrastructure.