Is Water expensive??

[discusluvr818]

Maybe an off the wall question but after years of apartment living in Los Angeles my wife and kids and I are moving into a house August 1st. I am just curious as I have never had to pay for water before. Are my daily water changes going to kill us??

Currently I have a 100 gallon with 7 sub adults - 5-6", one 40 Gallon with 6 Juvies 4", and a 10 gallon QT. My wife is worried that water changes will be incredibly costly?? Thanks for listening!!

[rich815]

Not typically.

[DiscusOnly]

It could be if you never had to pay for the water bill. You can check the rate from your local water supplier. I said it could be expensive since some area (such as mine), the sewage charge is tied into the amount of water use (for the first x thousands gallons).

I use the drain water from my tanks instead of the sprinkler systems so it's not too bad in the summer.

[discusluvr818]

It could be if you never had to pay for the water bill. You can check the rate from your local water supplier. I said it could be expensive since some area (such as mine), the sewage charge is tied into the amount of water use (for the first x thousands gallons).

I use the drain water from my tanks instead of the sprinkler systems so it's not too bad in the summer.

Good idea, I have a huge yard and I will be watering with used discus water :D

[Peachtree Discus]

water in atlanta was not expensive...until we got hit with a drought. they set up a pricing structure where low-to-mid usage is not expensive...but with high usage there is a significant cost. guess which block i fall into? :mad:

[calihawker]

I started changing around 550 gallons a week with the contest fish 2 months ago. That with 150 gallons a week for my display tank and the additional watering of the garden/lawn during summer and our gaggle of around 30 animals, our water bill doubled to $35/month. I have no idea how that compares to city folk, but there it is.:)

[Chad Hughes]

Well, in San Diego, water is as about as expensive as electricity. LOL! My monthly bill is about $120 and you all know I don't change water unless I absolutely have to! LOL!

I'd say if I changed water daily, that would add an aditional 300 gallons daily to my consumption. Right now my average is 300 gallons daily anyway. I'd guess my bill would double to $240 a month. That's actually more than my electricity bill. LOL!

Best wishes!

[rickztahone]

id be more worried about your electricity bill than the water. i pay about $500 every 2 months for electricity and water. the water itself is probably only 1/4 of the bill

[DiscusOnly]

$35 for a water bill? That's cheap. Mine is right around $100 and it's doubled what it normally is without the tanks.

rickztahone is right on. Electric bill is the main concern, especially if you live in the colder climate. Mine is as much in the winter time as it is in the summer when the central air is running.

[Eddie]

Here in Okinawa water isn't too bad, about $40-50 generally but since I added all my tanks and daily water changes it's doubled to about $90 a month. It would be $100 but I stopped taking showers. Just kidding LOL :D

Take care,

Eddie

[Jhhnn]

Find out who's your supplier, check for a website- they can be very informative. Call, and they'll probably be able to tell you the historical usage rate for your new address, if it's not a new house, average usage for customers, lots of info.

Denver Water has a tiered rate system, for example. I pay $1.91/1000gal up to 22,000 gal, then $3.82/1000 up to 60,000 gal. Current usage for my family of 4 has never approached 22,000 gal, even w/ the fish, and I believe in changing the water...

You can often set up a grey water system, use fish water for the yard... it's illegal in many places, but the worst thing that's likely to happen is that they'll make you stop...

Insulating ageing barrels and putting insulation board on all but the top and front of aquaria helps with electricity, if not hugely...

[machine77]

hi,
i live in LA county as well, i have a 125 gallon tank which i do 75% wc 3 times a week. my water bill is only 45 bucks and thats with my trash included.. it wont be much at all. hope this was helpfull.
nolan

[tcyiu]

Good idea, I have a huge yard and I will be watering with used discus water :D

Great use of the waste water! I just wish everyone did that instead of pouring it down the drain.

The dollar cost of the water typically never incorporates the environmental costs.

Considering that the draining of the Northern California watershed to the farmlands in the Central Valley and to Southern California has pretty much screwed up the freshwater fishery in the Sacramento Delta, all attempts to re-use the water is a good thing.

Tim

[trebor69]

the water itself isnt all that expensive

it is the associated sewer bill that jacks it up

I have heard of some people installing a second water meter for water that does not go down the drain(sewer) if you have a place to drain it like a yard or garden.

I am not sure thought how that works and how you get your local utilities to cooperate.

[Eddie]

Thats funny, I never thought of what was going down the drain because all my tanks are directly drained out the window or door. Its like a JUNGLE around my house! LOL

Eddie

[DiscusKeeper403]

As others have probably said (only skimmed posts) it really depends where you live. Water where I live right now isn't too expensive, but where I used to live I knew a family who had to pay 1000 USD one month for water!

[diamond_discus]

We all have to pay a price when we decide to live in Los Angeles .. Everything is expensive here. State tax, sales tax, electricity, water .. everything ..

LA is always dry and therefore water is never cheap .. If you live in certain area, you have to pay a penalty if you exceed the household usage quota .. and the city might even order you to shut down the sprinkler and reduce water usage, or you will be heavily fine ..

I have a fish room in my garage and a few tanks in the living room .. my monthly average water bill is about $65. But my electricity bill is $300 a month .. Horrible ! (I don't even turn on any AC yet ...) I guess all the tank heater and tank light might have cost a lot ...

I used to drain my tank water to the street .. but I recently use 5 gallon buckets to drain out water .. and then use it on my lawn .. I don't get to do much exercise and I figure transferring 5 gallons water buckets to my front and backyard lawn would at least give me some exercise. I did get a few sweat after each water change. haha ...

[Don Trinko]

My water and sewer is abought $110 for 2 months. Electric is $120 a month. ( air conditioning and hot tub in the summer and blower for natural gas heat and 14 fish tank heaters in the winter) I live in Ohio. Don T.

[Eddie]

Electricity on Okinawa, INSANE. I pay $300 a month! With or without tanks! :(

Eddie

[diamond_discus]

Electricity on Okinawa, INSANE. I pay $300 a month! With or without tanks! :(

Eddie

Hey Eddie, I thought everything in Japan is expensive ? ;)

[discusluvr818]

Thank for the input. Living in the San Fernando Valley, my new house is in Northridge I pay approximately 300 every two months for electricity, OUCH. I don't anticipate the water being too much but I am going to do some research. I located a pre-owned 110 gallon acrylic tank that a friend is selling because they are moving back to Japan that I am eying for the garage (New fish room, to the dismay of my wife...at least a portion of the garage :D) to go with my three existing tanks. I am going to keep one hundred gallon display in the house though.

So I am just getting ready for the bills now. With this new house I can have so many more fish, this is amazing. My house (Zoo) is growing. I have 1 Hermans Tortoise, an english bulldog, a pug, three fish tanks soon to be more and my wife now wants me to buy a french bulldog because we will have a yard now. That with two small children, whewww.....zoo life in the city :D

[DiscusOnly]

Well here is the website for your Water deparment. I suggested looking at the water report and the rate should be on there as well.

http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp001965.jsp

[Jhhnn]

Heh. This page is supposed to explain the rates...

http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp001155.jsp

Yet doesn't, in a typical bureaucratic fashion... I think you'll probably have to call, once you have the first bill in your hand...

[ifixoldhouses]

my water bill is $20 a month, I use about 6,000 gallons a month, I have a septic tank though.

[DiscusOnly]

Heh. This page is supposed to explain the rates...

I meant to say that the rate should be on the website. This is the link for Residential Rate.

http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp001068.jsp

[discusluvr818]

I meant to say that the rate should be on the website. This is the link for Residential Rate.

http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp001068.jsp

THanks so much man. I should have known that would be available through their website. In general I have no idea how many gallons I will be using.


Heh. This page is supposed to explain the rates...

http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp001155.jsp

Yet doesn't, in a typical bureaucratic fashion... I think you'll probably have to call, once you have the first bill in your hand...

Totally, I have to get an idea of regular usage in on my block for a similar size house. I do plan to recycle water somewhat if I utilize the drainw ater to water the lawn. I found a website/thread and some folks have even claimed that plants thrived.

With two 270 gallons of discus I might just be able to to save quite a bit of freshwater for the yards.

[Jhhnn]

I'm sure that normal aquarium drain water would be fine for plants. Liquid fertilizer, right?

OTOH, there might be times when that wouldn't be a good idea, if you've treated a tank w/ copper sulfate or formalin, for example... probably some other aquarium medicaments, as well.

[discusluvr818]

I'm sure that normal aquarium drain water would be fine for plants. Liquid fertilizer, right?

OTOH, there might be times when that wouldn't be a good idea, if you've treated a tank w/ copper sulfate or formalin, for example... probably some other aquarium medicaments, as well.

Absolutely, fortunately in my year and a half of discus keeping I have never had to medicate a single tank (I guess I picked the right fish somehow...Luckily). I totally imagine having those kind of chemicals might not be so hot for the lawn. Thanks for the advice!!

[Eddie]

Absolutely, fortunately in my year and a half of discus keeping I have never had to medicate a single tank (I guess I picked the right fish somehow...Luckily). I totally imagine having those kind of chemicals might not be so hot for the lawn. Thanks for the advice!!

You should see my little lawn patch, those chemicals have the grass growing at a freakish rate! LOL

Eddie