darn water bill...I HATE SAWS!

[CosmicCowboy]

Ok...I'm signing checks for my business and I just read the details on my water bill and I get pissed off every time I do this. I only have 2 bathrooms and we use less than 10,000 gallons a month...

sooo...what do you think my damn water bill is?

Lets take it item by item...

service charge, $20.43

OK, this is the charge for being hooked up. I'm basically paying $250 a year for a fucking water meter that's been there since 1929. I could buy a brand new fucking car for what they have charged me for that damn meter over the years.

Water Fee $14.87

OK...I can live with that. That's fair enough to wash my hands and take the occasional dump...

Edwards Aquifer Auithority Fee $1.19

OK...What the fuck is this for and what the hell do they do? Do they do ANYTHING? Oh well...still, it's only an 18 pack a year...

Federal Stormwater Fee $68.44

WTF!!!!!! Cocksuckers are charging me over $800 a year...for WHAT?????
Where does this money go? What the hell do they spend it on? It's just another hidden Federal tax. Bastards!!!!

Sewer Fee $24.69

It would be cheaper If I just paid them 50 cents a turd. Fuck!

Total $129.62

This shit really pisses me off.

[Blake]

I hate Bexar Met more.

[fraga]

So this is for your business and not your residence correct...

[CosmicCowboy]

yep...business...it uses less water than a normal house.

[RandomGuy]

Federal Stormwater Fee $68.44

WTF!!!!!! Cocksuckers are charging me over $800 a year...for WHAT?????
Where does this money go? What the hell do they spend it on? It's just another hidden Federal tax. Bastards!!!!

Federal Stormwater Fee

---Required by the Clean Water Act

http://www.bexar.org/bcinf/default_Stormwater.asp


The federal government as part of the Clean Water Act has mandated that local governments, such as Bexar County, establish a storm water quality program to protect our rivers and streams from pollutants found in storm water run off. This program is very important to Bexar County since pollutants in our storm water can enter the Edwards Aquifer which is our primary source of drinking water.

In October 2008, Bexar County will begin implementing its federally mandated Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program. This program will include inspections to reduce pollutants around construction sites and new developments, maintenance projects to improve storm water quality and services to detect illegal discharges in storm water runoff. The program will also include public education on the impact of storm water pollution.

In order to fund the program, the County will begin collecting a Federal Storm Water Quality Fee. This fee is dedicated for the sole purpose of preventing pollution and improving our storm water quality. The fee will be identified on your property tax bill and only apply to property owners with improved land located in the unincorporated area of Bexar County. The rate will vary by lot size and property use but the average homeowner will only pay $10-$13 annually. If you are within the city limits of San Antonio or any other suburban city, you will not be charged this fee.

You do NOT want to be drinking most storm water run-off from large metropolitan areas. Motor oil, anything else that leaks from cars, drainage from industrial sites, etc.

Often stormwater surges will cause overflows from sewage treatment plants into local rivers/waters. Really icky.

I would imagine that the fee is designed to manage the costs incurred in preventing such nastiness from entering the aquafer. If you draw water from that aquafer, you benefit rather directly from such efforts.

They can either be upfront about it, or just lump it in with the per gallon charges, so being upfront abotu it is probably better.

[JudynTX]

Port-O-Potty's? :D

[CosmicCowboy]

You actually believe that? Hell...read their own words...not a penny for remediation...big deal...more inspections around construction sites...inspections have already been part of the deal...

We are talking MILLIONS of Dollars just in Bexar County alone...again...where the hell is this money going?

[Bigzax]

a $130 water bill for a business for a richer...should be a drop in the bucket.

[peewee's lovechild]

You're rich, what do you care?

[RandomGuy]

...read their own words...not a penny for remediation


maintenance projects to improve storm water quality

Plus some education.

A penny of prevention saves a pound of cure, I guess.

It doesn't take a lot of petrochemical runoff to make a LOT of water undrinkable without expensive treatment.

A lot of stuff used to keep our cars running is incredibly toxic/carcinigenic, and a million cars all leaking a drop here and a drop there on the roads...

If you ever notice a bump in the road, look for the oil spot immediately after it. As vehicles hit those bumps, that little drop of oil hanging down from the engine/differential often gets shaken loose. The first rain you get after a while causes a LOT of slickness on the roads because the oil on the road floats to the top of the water before running off the road.

Not all aquafer pollution is from roadways, mind you. You get a lot of fertilizer run-off from parks and especially golf-courses, some stuff from industrial sites, and so forth, as well as the occasional idiot who just dumps the oil he drained out of his car on the ground. People like that deserve to be forced to drink the ground water without any treatment for 10 years.

[RandomGuy]

service charge, $20.43

OK, this is the charge for being hooked up. I'm basically paying $250 a year for a fucking water meter that's been there since 1929. I could buy a brand new fucking car for what they have charged me for that damn meter over the years.

Actually, I think that is the cost for the guy to come by and read the meter.

They make some newer meters with some chips that automatically transmit readings once per month, so I would expect that over time this will get a tad cheaper, as old meters wear out and are replaced with the newer, more efficient ones.

[RandomGuy]

Not tryin' to bust yer balls, simply playing devil's advocate on my lunch hour.

[CosmicCowboy]

Plus some education.

A penny of prevention saves a pound of cure, I guess.

It doesn't take a lot of petrochemical runoff to make a LOT of water undrinkable without expensive treatment.

A lot of stuff used to keep our cars running is incredibly toxic/carcinigenic, and a million cars all leaking a drop here and a drop there on the roads...

If you ever notice a bump in the road, look for the oil spot immediately after it. As vehicles hit those bumps, that little drop of oil hanging down from the engine/differential often gets shaken loose. The first rain you get after a while causes a LOT of slickness on the roads because the oil on the road floats to the top of the water before running off the road.

Not all aquafer pollution is from roadways, mind you. You get a lot of fertilizer run-off from parks and especially golf-courses, some stuff from industrial sites, and so forth, as well as the occasional idiot who just dumps the oil he drained out of his car on the ground. People like that deserve to be forced to drink the ground water without any treatment for 10 years.

Oh pleeeeze....so they rent some billboards from Clear Channel and "educate" us...where do they spend the other hundred million? Taxing me doesn't do a damn thing about cleaning up those oil spots on the road you are talking about and there are already laws in place about pollution...

[RandomGuy]

Oh pleeeeze....so they rent some billboards from Clear Channel and "educate" us...where do they spend the other hundred million? Taxing me doesn't do a damn thing about cleaning up those oil spots on the road you are talking about and there are already laws in place about pollution...

The inspections and sewage systems upgrades are probably the majority of the budget, I would imagine. I didn't look it up.

Economically, it is better for us to collectively spend $1 on prevention than $5 on clean up.

The alternative is to allow industrial waste or people who own cars to essentially steal from the rest of us.

If some industrial site is discharging, without cost to themselves, runoff into my ground water, I have been the victim of what essentially amounts to a theft. My clean water has been stolen, and some of the costs of that industrial site have been shifted to me, so that the industrial site could be slightly more profitable than they would have been, had they actually borne 100% of the costs of their own pollution.

[RandomGuy]

BTW, there are several high-priority Superfund clean-up sites in the San Antonio area.

Those are just the nasty industrial pollution hotspots that we know about.

I wonder how many unofficial vehicle parts yards today are sitting over aquafer recharge zones...?

Such pollution is essentially stealing something rather vital from our children, and everybody who comes after us. I am not saying we need to spend billions keeping from killing some obscure butterfly, but there is some direct benefit to all of us from the regulation and mitigation of pollution.

[MiamiHeat]

my water bill is only 150 every 3 months

[CosmicCowboy]

Those clean water regulations are already in place and the inspectors to enforce the provisions are already in place. Businesses are already subject to regular inspections. This fee has NOTHING to do with pollution prevention or remediation and everything to do with a blatant revenue grab.

[Frenzy]

That's why i always go to the restroom at a restaurant or store. Plus you can rate how clean the bathroom is. I would say target wins hands down.

[RandomGuy]

Those clean water regulations are already in place and the inspectors to enforce the provisions are already in place. Businesses are already subject to regular inspections. This fee has NOTHING to do with pollution prevention or remediation and everything to do with a blatant revenue grab.

To some extent.

The current actions of the EPA, from the report that I skimmed, are intended to replace a rather patchy hodge-podge of county, state, and municipal statutes that may or may not be comprehensive or even evenly enforced.

People like to complain about the big, bad ol' federal government, but there is a great value in having ONE minimum set of standards for pollution. Such a set of standards provide a uniform framework for businesses to operate, and for resolving disputes between entities.

If one county has lax enforcement/laws, and allows a greater amount of pollution, because say, the county commissioner was literally bribed by the area's largest employer, then that county's actions directly affect its neighbors.

We are all a bit more interconnected than a lot of people seem to think we are.