Honolulu sewer rates to increase 150% over next 10 years

[Miulang]

This is what happens when the combination of rampant growth and neglect of the infrastructure collide: the City and County of Honolulu are projecting that sewer rates will have to increase 150% over the next 10 years instead of the next six, as a bill currently making its rounds through the Legislature estimated. Of course, if there had been increases in the previous 12 years, the jump in rates wouldn't have had to be so pronounced.

If sewer rates were tied to actual water usage, then people who live in the city and who don't have yards should pay less for their sewer service than those who live in outlying areas who use water for their yards. That might force some people to rethink their goal of moving into a house with a yard in the country.

Miulang

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Honolulu sewer rates to increase 150% over next 10 years

When I lived in Manoa I used to marvel at the amount of water wasted everyday it rained there. When I moved to Keaau on the Big Island, I marveled at how much water I'm saving by using a catchment tank and how much sweeter the water is to boot.

I told myself that if I ever move back to Honolulu, I'd build me a catchment system to water the lawn or wash my car, even filter it for potable use.

Now with our summer drought coming on and with increased sewer fees, it seems like a no brainer for Honolulu to start mandating catchment systems in new developments.

For homeowners it lowers their sewer fees because sewer fees are based on water consumption. So if you are using less county water by using catchment systems, your sewer fee will drop accordingly.

I always felt homeowners were unfairly tied to the sewer fee infrastructure because of lawn watering (some areas require lawns in their covenents). This water usage never enters the sewer sytem yet because of water consumption being higher than condominium users, homeowners pay a much higher fee.

For me being on a septic system and catchment system, when I take a bath I put a bucket to catch the warming water as I purge the cold from the hot water pipes before engaging the shower head. This water is used to flush the toilets later on, otherwise this runoff would simply tax the septic tank needlessly.

For county water users, running the water to purge cold water out of the hot water pipes and additionally flushing the toilets mean double water usage amounting to higher sewer fees.

If you have house plants, it's amazing how much water you can catch from your kitchen faucet to water those plants by simply placing a small bucket under the faucet. Everytime you wash your hands, fruits or vegetables, that water runoff is captured and can be used to keep your houseplants hydrated.

But the biggest savings is the investment of a catchment tank. There is this company that sells small rain barrels that sit under your downspout. It has a water bib (spigot) to attach a garden hose to so you can use it to water your lawn or plants when it's not raining.


This company sells these barrels and doesn't require a building permit to install because of it's size. You could put a barrel at each of your downspouts. These barrels also have the ability to be cascaded so when one fills up it will overflow into an adjacent barrel and to another.
http://www.rainbarrelsandmore.com/?r...goograinbarrel

It seems that the time has come to apply a bit of rural technology to urban use and for all new housing developments to require some sort of catchment system to help alleviate our shortage of water on Oahu.