I got a visit from the County Water Department

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
Post Reply
schreibdave
Posts: 1123
Joined: April 14th, 2010, 7:01 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
Grass Type: Bewitched, Award and Rhapsody
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by schreibdave » July 8th, 2020, 12:02 pm

I'm sitting in my home office and a County Water Dept van pulls up. The guy gets out with a clipboard. He looks at the clipboard and then he looks at my lawn. Then back to the clipboard. Then he looks at my neighbor's lawns. Mind you we are in a historic drought here. My lawn is an emerald green. Surrounding lawns are the color of coffee with too much cream.

I greet him at the front door and he says "they sent me out here to check for a leak because we noticed that your water usage is very high. But when I pulled up and saw your lawn I knew there wasn't a leak." He said my usage last quarter was 12,000 gallons and this quarter it was 48,000 gallons. I'm surprised it's only quadrupled.

We get most of our water from Lake Ontario which has been OVER full the last several years. A big problem up there is that people with lake front property are getting swamped including the main streets of a few towns. So I figure that putting all that water on my lawn is my civic duty. They should pay me instead of me paying them. Oh well.

User avatar
andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by andy10917 » July 8th, 2020, 12:19 pm

Dave, the same thing happened to me years ago.

schreibdave
Posts: 1123
Joined: April 14th, 2010, 7:01 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
Grass Type: Bewitched, Award and Rhapsody
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by schreibdave » July 8th, 2020, 12:46 pm

I just opened the mail and they also sent me a letter. Can't wait to get the bill.

I joked with the guy that "I had NO IDEA where all that water was going and how there must be some mistake." He chuckled and walked away.

User avatar
PSU4ME
Posts: 1145
Joined: November 29th, 2016, 9:29 am
Location: Metrowest MA
Grass Type: Front: Bewitched/Midnight/Everglade Back: Midnight/Diva/Everest
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by PSU4ME » July 8th, 2020, 3:12 pm

That’s a good bit of usage! They are actively fining people in our area if they are not following rules. I get a slow down every time the water department drives by. I wave :)

User avatar
ken-n-nancy
Posts: 2571
Joined: July 17th, 2014, 3:58 pm
Location: Bedford, NH
Grass Type: Front: KBG (Bewitched+Prosperity); Side: Bewitched KBG; Back: Fine Fescue Blend + Prosperity
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by ken-n-nancy » July 8th, 2020, 3:24 pm

schreibdave wrote:
July 8th, 2020, 12:02 pm
... Surrounding lawns are the color of coffee with too much cream.
Great description!

Thanks for sharing the story!


User avatar
MorpheusPA
Posts: 18117
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by MorpheusPA » July 8th, 2020, 5:47 pm

schreibdave wrote:
July 8th, 2020, 12:02 pm
... Surrounding lawns are the color of coffee with too much cream.
Yellow Ochre. :-) Well, depending on the company and what earth deposit they get it from. Liquitex yellow ochre, anyway.

'Round here, it's because somebody has to flush the toilet 38 times. I don't water the lawn. Garden, yes. Lawn, no.

User avatar
Wally
Posts: 804
Joined: July 16th, 2009, 1:25 pm
Location: NJ
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by Wally » July 8th, 2020, 8:38 pm

schreibdave wrote:
July 8th, 2020, 12:02 pm
I'm sitting in my home office and a County Water Dept van pulls up. The guy gets out with a clipboard. He looks at the clipboard and then he looks at my lawn. Then back to the clipboard. Then he looks at my neighbor's lawns. Mind you we are in a historic drought here. My lawn is an emerald green. Surrounding lawns are the color of coffee with too much cream.

I greet him at the front door and he says "they sent me out here to check for a leak because we noticed that your water usage is very high. But when I pulled up and saw your lawn I knew there wasn't a leak." He said my usage last quarter was 12,000 gallons and this quarter it was 48,000 gallons. I'm surprised it's only quadrupled.

We get most of our water from Lake Ontario which has been OVER full the last several years. A big problem up there is that people with lake front property are getting swamped including the main streets of a few towns. So I figure that putting all that water on my lawn is my civic duty. They should pay me instead of me paying them. Oh well.
How much would you guess all the gallons end up costing you?

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by bpgreen » July 8th, 2020, 11:55 pm

I was cleaning some brewing equipment one day last month and set the hose by a plum tree while dumping things out etc. I forgot and left it running overnight.

To make things worse, even though it was June, it rained off and on that night and the next day, so water was running off my lawn.

My water bill came today. I usually only have to pay the base charges. I was pretty sure I was going to have to pay an overage this month after letting the house run all night. I just wasn't sure how bad it was going to hurt.

I owed an extra two fifty.

I love my native grasses. And my ability to look at dormant patches and hope they die so I can dormant seed with more natives in the fall.

The overage was $2.50, not $250.

schreibdave
Posts: 1123
Joined: April 14th, 2010, 7:01 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
Grass Type: Bewitched, Award and Rhapsody
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by schreibdave » July 9th, 2020, 6:04 am

"How much would you guess all the gallons end up costing you?"

I don't know. I will ask my wife to pull out an old bill and see if I can figure it out. But my bet is a couple hundred dollars more than a low usage quarter. Given that this is my hobby, that's fine with me. If I were a golfer I could spend that much in a weekend.

schreibdave
Posts: 1123
Joined: April 14th, 2010, 7:01 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
Grass Type: Bewitched, Award and Rhapsody
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by schreibdave » August 4th, 2020, 7:14 pm

I got my bill.

$275 for the quarter ending 7/31. I used 56,000 gallons in total. Same quarter last year (prior to doing a 3 side renovation) was 18,000. This was my first season with new kbg on 3/4 of the lawn and my first year in this house with an irrigation system. We had a drought and lots of heat. I don't regret spending the $.

This fall I will be renovating 4000 sq ft in the back so I will use quite a bit of water but since the temps will be cooler and we should get more rain, I shouldnt need too much water on the established sections.

And remember, we do NOT have any sort of watering restrictions. 70% of our water comes from Lake Ontario which is over full.

Runnin Tony
Posts: 16
Joined: September 30th, 2019, 8:43 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA
Grass Type: Tall Fescue
Lawn Size: < 1000
Level: Some Experience

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by Runnin Tony » August 7th, 2020, 8:20 pm

schreibdave wrote:
August 4th, 2020, 7:14 pm
I got my bill.

$275 for the quarter ending 7/31. I used 56,000 gallons in total. Same quarter last year (prior to doing a 3 side renovation) was 18,000. This was my first season with new kbg on 3/4 of the lawn and my first year in this house with an irrigation system. We had a drought and lots of heat. I don't regret spending the $.

This fall I will be renovating 4000 sq ft in the back so I will use quite a bit of water but since the temps will be cooler and we should get more rain, I shouldnt need too much water on the established sections.

And remember, we do NOT have any sort of watering restrictions. 70% of our water comes from Lake Ontario which is over full.
This puts my water bill in perspective. 6,000 gallons used this month ~$70. If the average held for the quarter, $210 for 18,000 gallons. I can't imagine my bill if I used 56,000 gallons. Our county water agency is a rip off...

schreibdave
Posts: 1123
Joined: April 14th, 2010, 7:01 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
Grass Type: Bewitched, Award and Rhapsody
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by schreibdave » August 7th, 2020, 10:17 pm

Yea, and the rate goes up the more you use.

BIGDADDY13
Posts: 44
Joined: May 28th, 2020, 2:06 pm
Location: Northeastern CT
Grass Type: KBG and Fescue
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: I got a visit from the County Water Department

Post by BIGDADDY13 » August 11th, 2020, 5:03 pm

I live with a well and a pool . Does not give me much discretionary water to spend on the lawn, but I do what I can.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests