For most of Gainesville Regional Utilities' residential customers, 'tis the season to be stingy. Their wastewater rates for 2014 will be determined by their usage beginning with the billing cycle that starts this month.
Called the "winter max," the rates most residential customers pay are determined by how much water is used for the January and February bills. And depending on when their meters are read, whether at the beginning of the month or the end, the dial my already be in motion.
Basically, the wastewater rate — since most residents don't have wastewater meters — is determined by taking the average daily water consumption for those two months, multiplying that by 30.4 and rounding to the nearest 1,000 gallons.
GRU charges $5.29 for every thousand gallons used, in addition to a $6.50 customer charge.
The average consumer uses 5,000 gallons of water a month, down from 6,000 two or three years ago, said Kim Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the city-owned utility.
"Winter months are used to set this winter max ... because the amount of irrigation is typically lower," Jamerson said.
That way, the rates are more comparable to actual usage inside the home and not counting water that isn't being run through the wastewater system. However, if your Gainesville Irrigation system is not set to run less than it did in summer and fall, you won't see any savings.
It appears that most Gainesville residents have received the message that reducing consumption benefits their pocketbooks — not to mention the environment, although there has been some albeit minimal blowback.
Regardless, he said, the district has received a lot of support from residents since officially limiting Gainesville irrigation systems to running two times a week in the warmer, wetter months and once a week in the dry season.
"We're getting a lot of compliance with it," Still said. "A lot of people understand the issues."
If you need help resetting your irrigation timer to use less water during the winter, feel free to call us for all of your Gainesville Sprinkler System needs.