Let's talk about paying for water?

I think you are right, service should be billed to the users.

Water is a commodity and it's becoming increasingly precious so it's doubtful that it will be a free commodity much longer. I'm thinking of the central plains and the Southwest, especially California where potable water is very scarce. Ocean desalinization is probably the only long-term solution and it's expensive so consumers will have to pay for it either in taxes or in water bills.

A short term solution would be conservation. Does everyone need a big expanse of green lawn in suburbia? Perhaps metered water and higher water bills would discourage waste.

 

I think it's reasonable. The water is kept to a safe standard and it takes effort to get it pumped to our homes. As climate change is happening, water is indeed getting more scarce. I think the fact that we have to pay for water is completely justified. If your neighbour thinks paying for clean, potable water is such a burden, tell her to walk to a stream 5 times a day to get water that may have pathogens in them. Maybe then she will understand.

 

That is exactly correct, Mrs.Jones ! I remember the big fuss in Detroit about people having their water turned off, and even the UN was saying that water should be for everyone. Well, it should be; but when we expect a company to bring the water right to our house, and make sure we have a sufficient supply of it, then we should expect to pay for that service.
No one is denying you the right to have water. You can always go to the nearest river and dip out all of the water you want, take it home , and bathe in it. But most of us do not do that, nor do we want to do that.
I have lived where I had to haul home my own water, and I was happy when I could hook up to public water and pay to have it brought to my house.

 

I agree I think you are just paying for the service of having clean water delivered to your house. I think if it were totally free then there wouldn't be much motivation for businesses to give you service since there will be nothing in it for them. Come to think of it, I'm unsure on whether we are paying for the water in bottled water or if were just paying for the service to have it purified and bottled.

 

I live in a small village and we pay quarterly for our water/sewer bill. Our water bill is through the roof as they say. When our youngest son moved out our water bill went down one hundred dollars. He since moved back in and it not only went up one hundred dollars but also another fifty dollars to boot! I think it is outrageous to pay for water that we can not even drink, due to the fact it has to much chlorine in it. Paying for water is unfair. Just my opinion.

 

As a single person in a one bedroom apartment I pay nearly $50 a month for water/sewer. What I find absolutely asinine is that of that $50, only about five to ten of it pays for water and sewage... The rest of the money is taken up in taxes, fees, and other ways my city dreams up to take our money. It's an absolute annoyance!

 

I don't have to pay for water and garbage, the owner of the place I live pays for that. I'm very grateful. It's good that he pays, but what would be great is if he could tell how much water each apartment uses so that he would not raise the rent when his water bill goes up. If he could pinpoint who is using the most water, he could raise the rent accordingly.

At times I've thought he raised my rent because of water usage, when in reality it's not my household that's using a lot of water, but other residents who have people staying with them (probably people who are not on the lease who the owner doesn't know about).

 

I do resent paying for water but I fully understand that it's the service and treatment that I am being charged for. Having said that, I resent paying for most things really! We are lucky to have these services though aren't we - I couldn't imagine what living without fresh clean running water would be like.

 

I appreciate that they've got to keep the pipes maintained and so on, but I also resent paying for water. It's as if I view water in an entirely different way to electricity and gas.

 

I have always understood that you are paying for the convenience of having come right out of your tap whenever you want it. If you don't want to pay for it, just grab a couple of buckets and head down to the local watering hole. Not that you would want to drink that without it being filtered. But I do think they charge way too much for the service and all the extra taxes and fees are ridiculous.

 

We don't have a choice, but we have safer systems and a supply which other countries that have not invested in. Look at the ebola outbreak, that was because of poor water and sanitation because they do not invest in such systems. It's a small price to pay, but by paying we also are entitled to water safety levels so when they fall below a standard the authorities are responsible.

 

That's a good point, Theo. With the services comes a standard of safety that other countries don't enjoy. Although I think some would argue that the price they are paying isn't a small price at all. Depending on where they are, they could be right. Some areas are just ridiculous on water charges while other cities and regions are much more reasonable. It's more than just a cost of living adjustment too, I think. Some places just charge a lot more for the water services than others. Are these more expensive systems safer? I highly doubt it.

 

I agree that we are just paying for the service to be provided to our homes, like those pipes that they installed in our house must not be free, right? And I think that what they charge is a reasonable amount anyway, well, personally speaking, since our water bill never goes beyond $20 anyway. The amount can go lower too if I was the only one living in a house.

 

I was born and raised and still live in Phoenix, AZ and even as a kid I wondered "how are we getting all the water to keep this non-native-to-AZ grass so green?" and "WHY?" If anyone should be conserving, it should be the big companies. Private individuals should not have to pay for big businesses mistakes.

 

The 'water' bill, which includes water, sanitation, and taxes and fees, has increased significantly in the 6 years I've lived here. As someone stated, the water portion of the bill is not the problem, nor is the sanitation portion, but the fees and taxes are the issue. Government has become an industry, and it doesn't decrease over time, it expands, and levies new taxes and fees on us, taking up a larger portion of our income, thereby leaving us less well off than we were previously. That is what most people are complaining about when they complain about their water bill. Most understand it is a service that our modern standard of living requires.

 

Well, I have no problem paying for my water utility, because, I know and understand that even though "water can be a free commodity", it cannot be free in the sense of a company providing you with it to your residency. The fact is, you would not have water if it were not for the company-it's a business and businesses are in it to make money, so long as the fees aren't extremely high, I will pay.

 

Where I live, water is not free. It's a precious commodity and you have to pay for it. Not everyone in this country has access to clean drinking water, so I am always aware of every drop that I use. Here the quality of water is not the best. It's full of chemicals, and you still have to filter and boil it before you can drink it.
So, never assume that water is free.