Submeter Water Utilities in Milwaukee
I am investigating the best way to submeter the water utility at a duplex. Assume minor modifications to the plumbing as the plumbing is essentially separate. From what I understand Wisconsin allows landlords to submeter the water utility and bill the water/sewer to the renters. Obviously I would need to make sure that the water/sewer expenses are detailed in the lease. I plan to use something like truesubmeter.com to help bill the tenants or bill the tenants directly. I still need to look into the details, but this company looks to be a good solution. Are there any regulatory requirements that I need to be aware of?
If anyone can provide any similar companies to truesubmeter, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advanced.
if the plumbing to the units are separate, why wouldnt you just have the water utility install a separate meter, I have done this, the downside is each meter has a base charge, but the tenant pays the utility anyway, or my property manager does and bills it back to the tenant. all the lumber needs to do is locate the piping to each unit, install a Tee where the water comes in and install 2 sets of meter horns, and then needed lines to each units supply, I installed a set up like this a couple months ago on a duplex, took me about an hour and $100 in parts.
@Scott Schultz the city of Milwaukee does not allow more than one water meter from the city per unit, this is for all unit including commercial multifamily. I even spoke to the city planner because i thought this was odd but he assured me that each property only has one water meter. The purpose of this is the city does not want to pursue renters if the do not pay their debts. The city will add the water bill to the taxes if not paid. The mechanics behind the install are not a problem, I can perform the install or if I do not have the time I can hire a plumber. The main point to this post is to see if there are any special regulations when billing the tenants via a submeter.
Hi, can you send me info who can install for 4 family or two family water sub meter
Thank you Annie
There is actually a really great option called RUBS.
https://www.paylease.com/corp/blog/how-to-rub-your-residents/
Good Luck
Hi @Donald D Michna, what did you end up doing about this? I’m contemplating this exact thing on a duplex and 4-unit I own.
Following.
I installed the Truesubmeter system in the property. The system worked well while we owned the property and allowed us to bill the tenants the water which helped to decrease the overhead on the property. I would say the biggest drawback is the upfront cost. If I were to do it again, I would look into a rubs system. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but hear many people recommend it. We sold the property early this year and made a nice profit!