Submitted by crruss t3_y2laff in ColumbiaMD
Just got our first water bill here and it’s $100 for a 2 bedroom apt with 2 people. Is that reasonable? It seems insane. I’ve never had to pay water anywhere else so I’m not sure what average is here. Thanks!
No, it’s billed monthly through conservice and added to my rent bill.
Idk what conservice is but find out if your sub metered or allocated a portion of the overall complex fee (this could be stated in your rental agreement).
If your sub metered, I think you probably have a leak because that seems very high. If your allocated a portion of the overall water bill I don't think there's anything you can do about it until/unless you can convince your landlord to support that figure (which as far as I know they're not obligated to, that'd probably be a question for a lawyer) and hope that they've got something incorrect in their calculations.
I'm in a two-bedroom apartment in Ellicott City. Our apartment complex pays for the water and trash and they add about $35/month to our rent bill.
Do they show you your usage?
If your bill isn’t from Howard County Water and Sewer department, then it’s submetered at the property. The property may have a leak somewhere or your neighbors are extremely wasteful, because that is way high. For reference, I pay $100 quarterly for a household of 4 and that includes watering my garden.
Mines in with conserv and they are a rip off. I filed a complaint with Frosh. They charge me more each month to have the account than the actual water cost. Why should I pay to have an account with your company hundreds a year? My contract is with the apartment complex not the water cons.
I have a 2 bed 2 bath and we average about $35/mo here. $100 definitely seems high.
$35/month billed quarterly is $100....
Yikes
Is that for a month or a quarter? We only pay quarterly. If it is billed directly from the county, it should only be quarterly. Still seems high, though, honestly. We have 4 people in a 6 bedroom SFH and pay about $140 quarterly.
I paid about 30ish if I remember, that seems very high
Conservice, it’s a con alright. You must be the apartment that leaked water everywhere through the ceiling. Is it the Brook at Columbia? Lol yeah sounds about right for there. Get out while you can.
You probably got a leak or something
Family of four in a house - and we don't really eat out - so a ton of dishes; we paid 135 for our last bill over 3 months. This is extraordinarily high.
If you're billed off an estimate, that algorithm might be broken or just being influenced by a previous tenant who did hydroponic farming?
If you're sub-metered - you want to contact the water company to check for a leak (you just shut off all your water and see if the reading keeps going up - really easy when we used to have meters you could see - harder now).
I would start by talking to your landlord though.
Thanks! I called the water company and they said they don’t do on-site checks and to call my landlord. I left a voicemail requesting maintenance, so hopefully they find something out. I can’t possibly imagine we’re doing enough to use that much water. The woman at the water company said it looked high.
Definitely high. I was just in the same situation -- 2 bedroom apt with 2 people, and usually only paid around 20-25 per month.
JonFaul t1_is3on7o wrote
SFHs in HoCo have water billed quarterly, so while that seems high it may not be due every month