Saving Water

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Saving Our Water
The summer monsoons are not supposed to start until early July. Or whenever that mystical dew point manages to stay at 55 degrees for a few days in a row. Even when the monsoons get started, there's no guarantee your garden will get as much rain as a garden on the east side or north side of Tucson. Sometimes it helps the water bill if you live close to one of the valley's mountain ranges where the clouds form in the late afternoons during the monsoon season.

The long days of May and June are scorchers and your garden plants will feel it. So will your pocketbook as you use more and more water trying to keep the non native plants from wilting into oblivion.

Did you know you pay a penalty for using more water than the average water user? Both Tucson Water and the Metro Water District charge a premium for high water usage. And you can bet that average water user doesn't have a swimming pool, evaporative cooler or a quarter acre of lush green lawn.

Editor's note: rates have increased for both Metro and Tucson Water since this story was written.

Effective January 1, 1998 Metro Water had a base rate of $10.22 which included the first 2000 gallons of water. Customers pay a commodity rate of $1.85 per 1000 gallons.

Then there is Metro Water's summer conservation rate that runs from May through October. During that time the Metro customer pays $2.46 for every 1000 gallons of water used over 15,000 gallons. A high user is charged $3.10 per 1000 gallons for any amount over 25,000 gallons. So a customer using 30,000 gallons of water in one billing cycle paid the following:

Metro Water billing example for 30000 gallons.
2,000 gallons at base rate			10.22
13,000 gallons at commodity rate	13 * 1.85	=	24.05
10,000 gallons at summer conservation rate	10 * 2.46	=	24.60
5,000 gallons at high user rate	5 * 3.10	=	15.50
Total water bill for the billing cycle:			$74.37

The Metro Water bill will include 5 percent sales tax and .0065 cents per 1000 gallons of water for the state's fund that uses monies to clean up contaminated water.

According to Metro Water only 16% of the the district's residential customers use over 25,000 gallons which accounts for 42% of the residential water volume. Tucson Water which serves most of the city had the following residential rate schedule in 1998:

The rate depends on the meter size which can range from 0.75 an inch up to 12 - inches with the base rate going from $5.20 to $153. We'll use the .75 inch meter which is close to the 5/8" meter of Metro. The first 2244 gallons are included in the base rate. Tucson Water bases their rate on Ccf which is equal to 100 cubic feet of water. 748 gallons equals 1 Ccf.

Tucson Water billing example for 30000 gallons.
3 Ccf (2244 gallons) base rate		=	5.20
4 - 15 Ccf (8228 gallons)	12 * 1.60	=	19.20
16 - 30 Ccf (10472 gallons)	15 * 2.56	=	38.40
Over 30 Ccf ( 7,560 gallons)	10 * 3.20	=	10.32
Central Ariz. Project charge	40 * .02	=	.80
Total water bill for the billing cycle:			$73.92

You'll have to add a seven percent sales tax to the Tucson water bill. Five percent goes to the state and two percent to the city.

It's easy to forget how quickly a home owner and especially a gardener can waste water. On a pleasant June morning before the sun beats down and raises the temperature into the 100's it's easy to turn on the hose while you stand in the garden and water your plants. You direct the hose here, squirt a little water under a plant then direct the hose to another plant without really watering any of the plants deeply. What you end up doing is moistening the surface of the soil where there are few roots and the water can quickly evaporate.

Then you might notice the front walk is a little dirty and you slide a thumb over the hose nozzle to increase the force of the water to clean the walk. A broom or electric blower would have done the job just as well and saved gallons of water. No doubt everyone is guilty of water waste at one time or another.

Maybe you don't mind paying a high water bill. It's only money, right? But try to remember it's everyone's water and Tucson and the surrounding communities aren't getting any smaller and we do live in a desert. (1998)