March 21st, 2012, 11:15 am
QuoteOriginally posted by: hayesQuoteHe said that every home would get a generous allowance of water and would then pay for any use above that limit, so it would be a 'pay-as-you-use' system.Interesting idea that we don't have here in the UK (that I know of). In theory it should still encourage sensible water usage. But one of the main advantages of a flat rate is the simplicity of calculating and chasing payment. Which if you still have to have a meter defies the point. I wonder how this "generous allowance" may change over the next few years.A lot of people pay a service charge of some description for other utilities and this is the same thing really. Water companies have a lot of fixed costs, regardless of how much water you use.Our town uses a sliding scale based on a monthly water budget. Use less than the budget and the rate is 25% less. Use more than the budget and the rate grows quite quickly to double (using 101% to 150% of budget), triple(using 151% to 200% of budget), and 5X the base rate (over 200% of budget). The base budget seem to be set by structure type with all single family houses have a fixed allotment (which assumes an average family of 4) plus a variable allotment computed from the property's irrigable area.
Last edited by
Traden4Alpha on March 20th, 2012, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.