Maybe too private to talk about - SA Water

[Dog_ger]

Annual water bill...?

How do I compare..?

$355.35

I don't drink it. I only wash in it. But my dog drinks it...

[Psyber]

"Water, service charge, and drainage fee" about $67 per qtr - $268 pa - over here in VIC.. [$198 for the water alone.]
Mind you we are on a Septic Tank - no sewerage available.

[Dog_ger]

We have a Save the River Murray Levy here.

$8.20

We failed in saving the Murray. But the Levy still applies...?

[JAS]

Dog_ger does it vary depending on the value of the property over there and the council district you live in ?

Here I'm in the lowest property tax band and my water/waste combined is the equivilent of 522$AU p.a. and for someone in the highest band it would be 1,567$AU.

Regards
JAS

[Dog_ger]

I believe so JAS.

But someone will have to confirm....

[Dog_ger]

We get 1/4ly bills here also.

Supply charges etc...

[JAS]

I believe so JAS.

But someone will have to confirm....

Thanks for that.

Should probably have added that the price is regardless of how much I use.

Regards
JAS

[Dog_ger]

I never thought of it that way. You have opened my eyes a little.

It adds a lot to the annual bill...

[Dog_ger]

There must be many people like me that only take into account the current bill and don't stop to

work out the current annual fee towards water....

[Psyber]

Our water services are here are use related, like gas and electricity. All these are privatised in Victoria.
Council/Shire rates are property value related regardless of services used, because they are a local tax not a private service.

I remember that in Adelaide years ago the old state run E&WS [Engineering & Water Supply] system was property value linked and you had a water use allocation based on what you paid, whether you used it or not - another form of tax. It did not encourage saving water as if you had paid for it you used it.

[smac]

Still the same Psyber. There is an excess water charge if you go over your allocation, but in 15 years of owning property I have not once tipped over that limit so it must be fairly generous.

[Ian]

Still the same Psyber. There is an excess water charge if you go over your allocation, but in 15 years of owning property I have not once tipped over that limit so it must be fairly generous.

Not quite correct smac, "excess" was gotten rid of a few years ago in SA in favour of a user pays system. The old "excess" system used to give you a free allocation with your supply charge, anything over that was called "excess" and charged for.

Now 4 times a year you pay:

Water: Quarterly supply charge
Sewer: Quarterly charge (calculated on property value, 35.6 cents per $1000)
Levy: Save the River Murray Levy

(my total quarterlly bill with no usage $163.25, so that is $653 a year without turning a tap on or flushing the toilet, it would be the same if the block was empty, as long as the service passes your property, you pay.)

Twice a year (every 2nd bill) you pay for the actual water that you use.

More info at:
http://www.sawater.com.au/SAWater/YourAccount/UnderstandingYourAccount/Your+Account+in+Detail.htm

[heater31]

Hey Dogger you need to become my neighbor. I live in a strata titled block of townhouses and we pay exactly the same water bill every quarter........the sewerage conection for some strange reason which the manager can't work out is when they were set up the corporation pays the usage bill I still skimp on water as I want to keep my fees to a minimum

[smac]

Still the same Psyber. There is an excess water charge if you go over your allocation, but in 15 years of owning property I have not once tipped over that limit so it must be fairly generous.

Not quite correct smac, "excess" was gotten rid of a few years ago in SA in favour of a user pays system. The old "excess" system used to give you a free allocation with your supply charge, anything over that was called "excess" and charged for.

Now 4 times a year you pay:

Water: Quarterly supply charge
Sewer: Quarterly charge (calculated on property value, 35.6 cents per $1000)
Levy: Save the River Murray Levy

(my total quarterlly bill with no usage $163.25, so that is $653 a year without turning a tap on or flushing the toilet, it would be the same if the block was empty, as long as the service passes your property, you pay.)

Twice a year (every 2nd bill) you pay for the actual water that you use.

More info at:
http://www.sawater.com.au/SAWater/YourAccount/UnderstandingYourAccount/Your+Account+in+Detail.htm

I might start reading the bill then.

It seems to be within a dollar or two each quarter so I have never noticed a change (and who really reads those change of terms notes they stick in the bill - other than you? ).

[Ian]

when they changed from excess to pay for what you use there was a lot of publicity, come to think of ot I reckon it was more than a few years ago.

[smac]

Obviously I was drunk that year then.

[MW]

Thats pretty high...I have a pool and mine is not much more than that from over summer

[Ian]

Thats pretty high...

Which one?

[Strawb]

F8ck water its too expensive to drink beer is cheaper

[Ian]

F8ck water its too expensive to drink beer is cheaper

The actual price of water is not expensive, I just looked back at my last bill with the the water charge on it, $1.16 per Kilolitre.
If I could by 1000 litres of beer for for $1.16 I'd be very pickled by now