Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Common House Water Usage

[Chuck Harrison (cfharr]

At Duwamish Cohousing in Seattle we are on a single water meter as well, so
we don't have Common House usage data to share.

Sunward Cohousing should be able to chime in, as they installed aftermarket
unit metering and have shared a nice document about it. We may consider
this at our community; water/sewer is a very substantial part of our budget.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14kO0ncu6-G0W_qJKJqsjxXT9xYAotIWSXGhqTK1aF0c/edit?usp=drive_link


Chuck


On Mon, Dec 2, 2024 at 7:43 AM Joel Bartlett <altairecovillage [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

> Perfect!  Thank you so much for the information.
>
> Joel
>
> On Mon, Dec 2, 2024 at 5:52 AM Mac Thomson via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>
> > Our common house water usage averages 167 gal/day or about 5000 gal/mo.
> >
> > Our common house water usage includes:
> > laundry facilities used by maybe 10 households (many households do
> laundry
> > in their own homes)
> > two guest rooms
> > three community meals per week
> >
> >
> > --
> > Mac Thomson
> >
> > Heartwood Cohousing
> > Southwest Colorado
> > http://www.heartwoodcohousing.com
> >
> >
> > "This world may all be a dream, but we must still work to make it a happy
> > dream."
> >         - Yamada Kõun Roshi
> > **********************************************************
> >
> > > On Nov 29, 2024, at 6:51 PM, Joel Bartlett <altairecovillage [at] 
> > > gmail.com
> >
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Katie,
> > > Thanks for your response.  You are answering a decidedly different
> > question
> > > from what I asked, but very interesting.  Our water company is probably
> > not
> > > going to allow a single meter.  We would love a single meter so we can
> > have
> > > a single water filter. Ann Arbor's Sunward Cohousing had to start
> > > metering each house when there was an unknown water leak driving up
> > > everyone's shared water bill they needed to identify.
> > >
> > > No, I am asking for the actual water usage in the Common House - how
> many
> > > gallons/month?
> > >
> > > Yours, Joel
> > >
> > > On Fri, Nov 29, 2024 at 3:41 PM Katie Henry <katie-henry [at] att.net>
> wrote:
> > >
> > >> In the two cohousing communities I'm familiar with, there's a single
> > water
> > >> meter for the whole project that covers all residences and common
> > spaces.
> > >> The water bill is divided among households based on the number of
> units,
> > >> the size of the units, and/or the number of occupants. The exact
> > formula is
> > >> something to discuss prior to moving in.
> > >>
> > >> Total usage for the year is estimated for the annual budget. Each
> > >> household's share is included in their monthly HOA dues.
> > >>
> > >> This is pretty standard practice in regular condos and apartment
> > complexes
> > >> as well. They may not have cohousing amenities, but they often have a
> > pool
> > >> with dressing rooms and showers, and extensive sprinkler systems, so
> > lots
> > >> of water usage. The cost is divided among the occupants. It is rarely
> > >> cost-effective or worth the trouble to submeter water and track
> specific
> > >> uses (unlike electricity).
> > >>
> > >> Katie Henry
> > >> Heartwood Commons - Tulsa
> > >> _________________________________________________________________
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> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
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