Water Metering Conversion

[Grant Wieczorek]

Is it even possible to switch a building from 1 water bill to having each individual unit being metered?  Anyone with experience doing so?  I would imagine it being quite $$$

[Michael Gansberg]

It's possible, but seldom worth it(in my experience.) Some people suggest RUBS(ratio utility billing system,) I'm not a fan. Think about it- if the tenants have to pay another $800/year in water bills, they're going to demand to pay less rent- maybe not $800 less, but less. Let's say...$700 less. So you spend a ton of dough and time, and save $100.

The alternative I've gone with(sorry everybody, I post this all the time, I know. It's because I'm an environmentalist, OK?) is to replace the faucets with anything that has a Watersense label- those generally save about 30% over a conventional faucet- or use aerators, which for about 3$ each at the hardware store can accomplish the same thing. For toilets, I'd been using the 1.28 gpf type, but a fantastic .8 gallon per flush toilet is now on the market, it's called the Niagara Stealth, and it should be purchased at Home Depot(otherwise you're gonna pay like $50 or more to ship it somewhere.) For $150, you can cut the water use by 50% from a conventional toilet. Lastly, I'd recommend a 1.75 gallon/min showerhead which cuts usage by about 17% over the conventional showerhead(I don't suggest going lower than 1.75 gpm, that'll just piss your residents off.) Here's one that cost $11, but any of the ones with plenty of good reviews should be fine.

If you make all those simple changes, your water bill should drop by somewhere around 30%, possibly more. So if the bill is $800, you're saving $240 or more annually, and the materials listed above are somewhere around $200 or so. Beat that, RUBS! As an added benefit, your residents will save on their hot water bills which means you can command slightly more rent- or your tenants will be slightly less likely to leave due to the lower utility bills. If anyone wants advice on LED lighting for your common areas, reply to this post- that is an even bigger $$ winner than low-flow water fixtures.