RE: Shiller Weighs In

[Polish_Silver]

DIY water

We average about 2300 US gallons per month and pay about $165 monthly for that. It's the fastest rate of increase utility here and the main driver is increasing government regulations regarding drinking water quality. The water treatment plant equipment redundancy, daily testing standards, written reporting requirements, risk assessment studies, and everything else that has been implemented in the past decade or so is driving costs up at a furious pace. The rules change every single year. The bureaucrats love it because there is no way to counter argue "public safety", so the department keeps hiring more and more people to oversee the masses of new data and submission materials that the annual changes to the regulations require. It's an empire builder's dream come true. Going "off grid" (rainwater catchment and individual residence filtering and treating) is looking better and better...

I'd say it is very practical, and you can calculate costs up front.

Home depot has an abundance of filter systems. You can get reverse osmosis for about $200. (kitchen tap only, not whole house).
It is clean room quality. One problem is, you want to keep the calcium and magnesium in the water, to protect your teeth. RO takes out everything. There is a "remineralization" cartridge you can get for about $30, that runs the water over some chalk to put the minerals back in.

Even a well pump and motor you can get for about $600. The well itself probably costs many times that.

[charliebrown]

Re: Shillers' knowledge of gold

1) how do you get away with using so little water? Do you live in this home all the time? Is it just you and your wife?
2) Wow that is $80 per 1000 gallons.

In my area we cannot have our own private well that would be illegal. My mother-in-law had a new well put in, when I asked how much it cost she said "picture a nice family sedan ... now
picture that sedan being burried in your front yard ..."

I don't water plants or wash cars or anything outside. Catching rain water would be nice for say toilets, but that is about it. I think getting a catchment basin and running seperate
water lines to toilets or other non-sanitary uses could not recapture the cost.

If our dishwasher or clothes washer breaks I might get one of those fancy ones that don't use much water. Do they work???? do they really get your clothes / dishes clean?

[Polish_Silver]

how to save water---easy

To add insult to injury the water rates will climb on a schedule that runs out to 2015, to $21.00 per 1000 gallons.

Use the washing machine waste to flush the toilets. It will save you 30-40%.

My father set up a system like that in the 1980's, when California had a decade long drought.

You use an old water heater as reservoir. You need a pump to get the washing machine water to the toilets. It was done on a shoe string budget.

Biggest problem: the washing machine waste has detergent in it, so it will stink after a while.

He found some chemical treatment to control that.