Your water bill makes up a significant portion of your budget. But have you ever really looked at how much you actually pay and what your water bill consists of. This is even more relevant after the recent introduction of new water billing rules.

In this post, we’ll look at this question in more detail and, as such, at water costs in the Hills District.

Average Water Costs

On average, you can expect that every member of your household will use about 340 litres of water for washing, cooking, and drinking. This equates to about 10 kilolitres of water per month or 30 kilolitres per person per quarter. In turn, this results in a water bill of about $70 per person.

Considering this, larger households tend to pay more on their water bills with the average being about $372 per quarter for households of five or more people. Conversely, smaller households pay far less, and their average bills come to about $220 per quarter. The average water bill for all households amounts to about $246 per quarter.

What Your Water Bill Consists of

Now that we’ve looked at the average water costs in the Hills District, let’s look at what this amount is made up of. Your water bill consists of two separate components – fixed and consumption charges. Fixed charges are charged for supplying the service and applied to every home, flat, dual occupancy, and other dwellings using water.

As such, these fixed charges include drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater service charges. You can think of fixed charges as those necessary for the operation and maintenance of the water delivery infrastructure. For this reason, unlike consumption charges, these fixed charges are calculated based on a daily rate, no matter how much water you consume.

The next part of your water bill is your water consumption charges. As such, unlike fixed water charges, these charges will vary based on how much water you use and, as a result, will vary depending on the season, the size of your home, how many people live in your home, and the size of your garden. Also, the rates for these consumption charges (charged by kilolitre) vary based on dam levels.

Tips for Reducing Your Bills

Understandably, considering how much water costs, it might be a good idea to lower your water consumption and, thus, reduce your bills. Luckily, there are a few ways in which you can do this:

• Save rainwater. Saved rainwater is ideal to water your garden, wash your car, or fill your bird bath. Fortunately, saving rainwater can also be quite inexpensive.

• Fix leaks. While there’s only a few drops from a leaking tap every minute, it adds up over time. To find a leak if it’s not easy to spot, you’ll need to turn off all your taps and check your meter to see if you’re still using water.

• Shorten showers. Showers make up a significant portion of your overall bill. So, it makes sense that, by shortening your showers, you’ll lower your water bill.

• Use a dishwasher. Dishwashers are more efficient and use far less water than hand washing.

• Fill up the washing machine. When you do your washing, fill up the washing machine with a full load before turning it on.

The Bottom Line

Hopefully, you now have some idea of how much you can expect to pay for your water bill, what it consists of, and what you can do to reduce your bill. If you have any more questions relating to your water usage, please feel free to contact us. Plumbmaster Plumbing is your trusted and reliable plumbing partner in the Hills District.