I get by with a little help from my friends...

Get rid of the dishwasher, check your toilets to be sure they are not leaking or running, check all out side faucets for drips.

How much is that per gallon? Is it WAPA or some rate your landlord has decided? That's extreme, by most reasonably standards.

Our water bill runs a bit over $100 per month from WAPA. That's 3 people taking showers once or twice a day. We have an automatic dishwasher which we never use. However most of the water is from a washing machine which we use almost every day.

BytheBodhiTree -- I'd bet you have a leak or your meter reading is wrong.

We run dishwashers all the time, and find that it **saves** water. Each load is about 12 to 14 gallons, maybe less if you go to the shortest cycle possible. We run at most one load per day, sometimes one load every two days (depends upon how many dishes you use, of course.) Also, I often capture and recycle the water from the dishwasher for use in cleaning floors, etc.

Toilet leaks are sometimes culprits, as are showers--if there is a tub, consider using it more often; it doesn't take much water to wash off that way. Consider how well the shower head flows. Those luxuriant, rushing-stream like showers come at a cost of several gallons of water per minute. We've switched to low-flow shower heads.

Best,

Islandlola

islandlola, I'm sure your right about the automatic dishwasher using less water -- especially the way I wash dishes. I keep the faucet running and wash and rinse simultaneously.

BTW -- I've read about a device that goes on your toilet that meters the water depending if it's #1 or #2. Sounds kind of icky...

Are you flushing every time? Seriously, we only flush 2-3 times a day for urine.

Good night Bodhi,

Maybe you are already doing these things, but here are the best ideas I have:

Don't run the water the whole time while you are washing dishes. Get it hot, use a dishpan to soak/soap everything, and then turn it on again to rinse.

Experiment with "military showers" (shutting off the water while you use soap and shampoo, then turning on again to rinse) to see if the showers are the culprit. If that doesn't bring your water bill way down next month, it's something else.

Linda brought up the obvious -- don't flush except for #2. Newcomers sometimes take a while to adjust to this one.

As others have mentioned, definitely check for leaks, including toilets running when they shouldn't.

To go the extra mile, collect the water that runs while you are waiting for it to heat up (for dishes and showers). Use this to rinse dishes and water plants.

Good luck!

Don't let water run from the faucet straight to the drain. If that's happening, shut if off. It sounds obvious, but I see it happen often enough.

Don't run the water full blast from the faucet when rinsing. You can probably rinse your hands or soapy dishes at half-blast or less, and get them just as clean in the same amount of time, with less water.

Wash your dishes and pots right away, rather then letting them dry and harden. You'll use less water, and it's easier.

If you need to fill a pot with water to let it soak for cleaning, don't fill it straight from the faucet. Leave the pot under the faucet to catch second-hand water. It will fill up eventually.

I got a 215 dollar water bill from a tenant and questioned it through the condo management. Seems someone read the meter wrong. If its a condo check and ask them to re read yhe meter
Bill was really 75.00
Deidre

You might all want to use this, for a piddly $8:

http://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Superbowl-Bathroom-Water-Saver/dp/B002YESYX0

It essentially keeps some of the water in the toilet's tank from being flushed.

Or try this for a suspect toilet leak. It won't let the tank refill until next time you flush.
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/Fluidmaster-400LS-Leak-Sentry-Pro-Fill-Valve/98187/Cat/1372

Edited to add: I've seen these at Gallows Bay Hardware.

If you want to see if your toilet is leaking, put a teaspoon of food coloring in the TANK and see if it seeps into the bowl. None should.

12-14 gallons for a dishwasher? Wow.

We found that not only was our dishwasher a water hog, it was an electricity hog as well. Hand-washing dishes is the way to go. Get a $2 plastic tub that fits in your sink. You'll use less than 2 gallons. This approach also keeps you from using too many dishes, and gets you reusing glasses during the day.

I watched an Eco show on the green network where they studied Dishwashers vs. hand washing. They proved that the newer dishwashers (energy star rated) use less water than hand washing dishes.

Newer dishwashers (after the mid-1990's) generally use no more than 15-16 gallons per wash even on the higher end of water use; many are a lot less. The energy star rated ones get the job done for an even smaller amount of water, somewhere around 6 gallons maximum. Similarly, electricity use is relatively modest on many newer models, especially so if you skip the dry cycle and let dishes air dry.

Best,

Ilo

16 gallons of water is a LOT.

I set my plates on the back porch.

Usually the lizards and bugs will eat the big crumbs and it's been raining enough for a pre-soak.
There's more than one way to skin a cat
Noah

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Now THAT"S green living! 😉

Best,

Islandlola

This thread is reminding me of living on a boat. We carried 120 gallons of fresh water, and we would go for 6 weeks between fills. We did not collect rain water because we had dogs, and we didn't want to use water that had run off the deck. My hair was (still is) very short, so I could wash and rinse in about a pint of water. When we were at anchor in pristine areas, we would wash dishes in sea water and just rinse in fresh with a dab of clorox. Of course the boat head flushed with sea water, but still 120 gallon in 6 weeks is pretty darn conservative. We are now blessed with a hugh cistern that overflows everytime it sprinkles. AHHHH long, hot showers!!!

Juanita -- I bet the astronauts use more than a pint of water to bathe. 🙂

Juanita -- I bet the astronauts use more than a pint of water to bathe. 🙂

LOL, that was just for my hair. Whole body...at least a quart.!:@)

I set my plates on the back porch.

Usually the lizards and bugs will eat the big crumbs and it's been raining enough for a pre-soak.
There's more than one way to skin a cat
Noah

Haha, we do that with the hermit crabs! They're especially good with the drain in the sink... pick it clean every time, and I no longer have to touch that gross stuff! (Yes, I wash everything after they've done their "pre-wash." 🙂 )

OMG! That's it. Every night JJs hermit crabs are going into the sink.

OMG! That's it. Every night JJs hermit crabs are going into the sink.

Well, there's an idea! We've been putting the little drain thingie outside, but I suppose they could make a house call if you want! I'd pull the metal piece out of its usual position, though, so they can do a good job on the grime on the bottom, too. Yuck.

I don't know if the bills comes from WAPA or what, but my landlord said water is 10 cents a gallon. Is that average?