Rural water rates (Arlington, Burleson, Benbrook: co-op, house, transfer)

[bman15470]

Just got a quote from Westbound Water in Eastland county as to their rates. $9.75 per thousand gallons up to 10K plus $30 months fixed cost fee. $1,600 bucks just to set a meter plus another $200 membership fee. Dang that all seems high to me. Coleman County water quoted me about $6 a K and thats their drought 2 rate, and about $700 to set the meter but they dont come down our road. What are you all paying for rural water service? Thnx bman

[jbiggs]

Originally Posted by bman15470

Just got a quote from Westbound Water in Eastland county as to their rates. $9.75 per thousand gallons up to 10K plus $30 months fixed cost fee. $1,600 bucks just to set a meter plus another $200 membership fee. Dang that all seems high to me. Coleman County water quoted me about $6 a K and thats their drought 2 rate, and about $700 to set the meter but they dont come down our road. What are you all paying for rural water service? Thnx bman

Welcome to the business mantra of "Screw others before they can $crew you!". They are trying to take advantage of the current drought situation to make more money. It is a normal business process.

[bman15470]

Come on, does no one out there get their water from a Rural water district? I think CD may be losing participation and interest. Anyone know of another Texas forum that people still visit?

[lonestar2007]

I'm on rural water outside of Burleson, Johnson County. Rates as of last month are:

Minimum - $15.75
0 - 10,000 gal. - $3.25 per thousand
10,001 - 20,000 - $3.50 " "
20,001 - 30,000 - $3.75 " "
30,001 - 55,000 - $4.25 " "
Over 55,000 - $5.50 " "

I can't help out with the price of the meters or membership fees. My meter was in place when I bought the property and I just paid a small unlock fee and I think the membership just transferred to me or was a small fee. It's been well over 20 years ago.

[bman15470]

Thanks lonestar, that lends some perspective. I am guessing that your water is part of a larger metro water district supply? Those rates are way lower than westbound out here in Eastland. I just dont see how they charge such high rates especially when they get the water from a couple of large wells. The purification is so much simpler than drawing water from a surface storage supply. Wish someone could explain this to me. Also how are these water districts set up and regulated?

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by bman15470

Also how are these water districts set up and regulated?

That's a good question, I'd like to know myself. Years ago in Arlington we were on a deep well that our neighbors owned. They sold the water to about 8 - 10 families. Then the state came in and told them they had to put chemicals in the water if they sold it to anyone. The state had tested the water as well as the owners of the well and never found anything wrong with the water, but it didn't matter, the law was the law. They didn't want to add chemicals to the water, so we had to go on city water. Yuck! Never could get use to that foul tasting stuff! To make mattters worse, Lake Arlington would turn over about once a year and it was impossible to drink it then. My friends use to bring containers out to my house to get water when this happened and then I found myself in the same situation as they were. So we were all reduced to buying bottled water.

When I moved here this co-op was all well water. As the population kept growing, the wells couldn't keep up, so they started buying water and blending it. I believe it comes from Lake Benbrook. It took the price up too.

This has always been a funny deal in Texas. I know it's always wise to check out the utilites and their prices before buying land/homes in Texas because you can sure run into some unpleasant surprises.

[texasdreamin]

Originally Posted by bman15470

Just got a quote from Westbound Water in Eastland county as to their rates. $9.75 per thousand gallons up to 10K plus $30 months fixed cost fee. $1,600 bucks just to set a meter plus another $200 membership fee. Dang that all seems high to me. Coleman County water quoted me about $6 a K and thats their drought 2 rate, and about $700 to set the meter but they dont come down our road. What are you all paying for rural water service? Thnx bman

Probably would be worth it to invest in a well. Cost would be recouped in no time.