Hi,
I wanted to ask whether there is any discontent amongst you all regarding the billing method from Seattle Public Utilities for sewer services. The sewer service is charged at $10.280 per CCF. The total CCF of water read off the meter is then used to calculate the sewer cost. However, not all household water goes down the sewer, for example, cooking, drinking and gardening. So, the billing of sewer is an inaccurate charge to the household. Please share your thoughts.
Well, cooking and drinking water end up in the sewer at some point, unless you have an outhouse or composting toilet. In which case, you should look into tax credits and/or utility exemptions.
With gardening water, of course, you have point, but there are really only 2-3 months of the year when you need to water a garden here, and if paying the sewage charges for that water really chaps your hide, it's not all that expensive to implement a rainwater collection system, and then your garden will be "off the grid".
The water rate calculation is an approximation that's reasonably accurate for most customers, and probably more cost effective for the utility and the rate payer than implementing equipment to measure each individual's actual sewer usage. And sewage treatment is an absolute necessity in a city. With 608,000 people, you can't just empty everyone's toilet directly into the Sound and the lakes.
What do you think would be a better way to calculate the charges?
sumlov -- the info you presented is inaccurate.
How is my wastewater bill calculated?
If you are a single family residential customer, your sewer bills are based on actual water usage during the winter period, November through April. If you use more water in the summer (May through October) than in the winter, your summer sewer bill will be based on your average winter water usage. This way, you are not assessed sewer charges for lawn and garden irrigation, car washing and other outdoor uses where the water does not enter the wastewater system. If you use less water in the summer than in the winter, your summer sewer bill will be based on your actual summer water usage.
For non-residential and multifamily residential customers, sewer bills are based on actual water usage at all times of the year.
http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Billing/Rates_Summary/index.asp (scroll down and click on 'Sewer (Wastewater) Questions and Answers' under 'Drainage and Sewer Rates')
Thanks for that metrognome! I've wondered the same thing but never done anything about finding the answer.
How does it feel to use the most expensive water and sewer systems in America? And we have all that surplus at our disposal.
I Wonder: I guess it feels better than it does for the 15,000 people around the world who die EVERY DAY (around 5 million a year) from lack of access to clean drinking water.
Zenguy
Member Profile
Can you provide a source for the claim that we have "the most expensive water and sewer system in America"?
I also question the statement of "all that surplus at our disposal". Water is a fast diminishing resource all over the planet, and not a single drop of it - from the vastest oceans to the tiniest rivulet - is now unpolluted.
Seattle doesn't get as much rain as everyone seems to believe, either. We get the same amount of annual rainfall as Chicago. It's just more spread out. We really don't pay nearly enough for water, but with the big oil companies buying up and privatizing water resources worldwide - we will.
"Seattle water customers pay higher wastewater-treatment rates compared with other large cities, but the city has limited control over the rates because of its 45-year, nonnegotiable contract with King County to provide sewage treatment."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014748348_spuaudit12m.html
CJB, its about waste. I'm happy for you that you feel good about it.
Its not about annual rainfall. It's when we have a peak year. Not drawing drama up about drinking water, that was someone else's point. This is about resources and how they are managed.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015160495_fishkill27m.html
IW: You're not making a very strong case for waste and you seem to be comparing apples to oranges without drilling down to specifics.
This graphic suggests that we're up there but not the MOST expensive:
And even if we are overcharged here for the very high quality water we have (a possibility considering the system is a municipal monopoly), again, I'm of the mind that it is a luxury to have the problem of being overcharged and griping about it as opposed to being among the vast population of people in the world who simply don't have it at all. Access to clean water is a calamitous problem.
And considering the 35 billion liters of bottled water Americans purchase annually, it doesn't seem as though overpaying for water alarms most people. So I give you points for originality ;-)
Zenguy
Member Profile
If you read the entire article it does attribute the large majority of the amount assessed to "higher-than-expected costs associated with building the new Brightwater treatment plant and less-than-expected development in the county'.
So what is the alternative? Don't build new treatment centers and quit treating water? You want a reality check, try moving outside the City's service area and get a bill from a water treatment company that does not even know how much water you use.
Yep, our world is 60% water, with less than 1% of that being drinkable...frightening.
Maybe its not a water problem, but a population problem. Thanks, I knew you could find a way to justify it.
Sumlov, you definitely raise a point for us. We divert all our grey water to a reed bed that filters the water for the garden. So, essentially I should not be paying sewage for the diverted water. However, Seattle Public Utilities have no way to account and rebate us for the grey water that we recycle instead of sending down the sewers. And, yes, I agree that the sewage charge is the expensive one relative to the water charge.
Here Chris, you have your graphs, I have another source for you:
http://www.bv.com/Downloads/Resources/Brochures/rsrc_EMS_Top50RateSurvey.pdf
I'll let you split the hairs.
I think there are a couple of issues here that make comparing rates difficult.
First is funding:
"King County's wastewater utility is entirely funded by the ratepayers who invest in our programs and services through their monthly rate and capacity charge bills."
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd/About/Finances.aspx
I wonder if other cities' cheaper rates are subsidized by other taxes.
Second is structure. When the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle (now the King County Wastewater Treatment Division) was formed as a special purpose government in 1958, it's primary purpose was to clean up Lk Washington, which is where most sewage was dumped ... untreated. It took a massive effort to build the current system of pipes and treatment plants to build the 'wholesale' sewage treatment system which collects wastewater from local utilities. Currently, 17 cities and 17 local sewer utilities in King and parts of Pierce and Snoho counties (based on watersheds) collect wastewater from homes and businesses and divert it into King County's treatment system.
Thirdly is history. The county has been under a federal mandate to upgrade treatment levels, reduce levels of industrial chemicals and reduce Combined Sewer Overflows. All this is expensive, but our local bodies of water are much cleaner as a result.
Sources of info:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd.aspx and
"Seattle and King County propose spending more than $1.3 billion on combined sewer overflows, raising rates that already are among the highest in the country. Yet it will make little difference to the water quality of Puget Sound."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015778941_overflows31m.html
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