The Water Bill

Since it was so very hot several weeks ago, we had to water the garden. Since we have a lot of new compost and rapidly growing plants, the soil was thirsty. In our last place we were on a well with septic, so it is a new thing to pay water bills. It is also new to pay sewer bills.

In Petaluma, your sewer bill is based on the winter average. Since it rains in the winter and is dry in the summer, this is a sensible way to figure out how much water is going to the sewer without metering the sewer. Since we have not been here for a full year, we do not have a winter average to base our sewer bill upon. This means they look at our current water use or the average winter water usage of households in our area and bill us based on whichever number is lower. It has cooled down recently, and our soil has reached some sort of baseline water saturation, so we have been able to ratchet down the watering schedule. Hopefully our next bill will be more humane. I am hoping to get some rainwater catchment happening before the rain comes so we can reduce our pressure on local water supplies next summer.

Fortunately, even at peak watering season we are using less water than the winter average for our area. Unfortunately, the sewer rate is about twice as expensive as the water rate and I know our winter usage will be much lower. It was pretty pricey to water the garden this summer because we are subsidizing the new waste water treatment facility, which I am pretty OK with because...

The other day, we went to Shollenberger Park, which is still not saved, by the way, and we were surprised to see a fence gone and a new sign. Our park had grown to several times its original size thanks to the Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility. I just found some pictures of it here. Who knew that waste water could be so beautiful? I hope we can take a tour inside the building as well soon.