Posted by Chris Reuman (Maine) on March 23, 2006 at 17:59:44:
In my area, I talked with the local water district. They quotes me $325 for the individual lot meter, installation, and a wireless reader. Just point and click. What I will do is pay the town off of the master meter and charge each unit on their use of water.
Best investing, Chris
Water Metering - Posted by DavidM
Posted by DavidM on March 23, 2006 at 16:56:14:
As you might have seen in a previous post I am in the early stages of developing a small MH park. Water meters
in my area are 2k. I am considering using a master meter which will save me a ton on the start up. My question is if I go with a master meter what is the best way to bill the water back? Divide it monthly by units and collect or pick a worse case $ amount and roll that number into the monthly lot rent?
Thanks,
David
Texas
Re: Water Metering and a lawn maintenace question. - Posted by Karl (TN)
Posted by Karl (TN) on March 25, 2006 at 08:36:58:
I recently installed submeters on all units in my park. In a matter of days I located which unit had a leak (probably a running toilet) and notified him to fix immediately as he was being charged for the excessive usage. My bill is down by over $100/mos. I have advised all current tennants that they are allocated 2000 gallons per month and they are being charged 1 cent per gallon thereafter. Very few will go over the 2k mark. I also advised that all new tennants will pay for the first 2k gallons. (that way they don’t complain).
I called the local utility and they gave me working meters they had replaced by the new electronic meters. Each was installed in a large grade level box with a hose bib installed after the meter (no more freezing). In addition, I removed all common hose bibs located around the park. My total cost was $1200.00 for 11 units and that was contracting out the whole thing. Even the long time tenants agree with my actions.
One last word of caution. Meters measure either gallons or cubic feet. Eitherway, make sure they all match.
My next move to consider is installing a slower growing warm season grass to replace the weed. This will be a big expense on the front end, but the lawn maintenace bill is outrageous and I am looking for ways to cut this cost. My residents are mostly retired folks so I intend to keep taking care of the grounds. Any thoughts and suggestions from the forum are welcome and appreciated!!!
Re: Water Metering - Posted by Joe C. (AR)
Posted by Joe C. (AR) on March 23, 2006 at 23:17:50:
I installed water meters in my park about 5 years ago.
I installed them myself, materials $100-$125 per unit.
I could install 4-5/day.
My meters are NOT electronically read. I physically read the meters monthly. It takes me about 45 minutes to read 40 meters. I put together an excel spreadsheet to handle the calculations and invoices. My only entries are date, gallons used, cost, and the individual readings. Excel does the calcs, enters info on invoices and then I print them. I stuff, stamp and mail the envelopes. The whole process takes about 2 hous per month.
Other parks in my area divide the cost equally among the # of units. All of those tenants, I have spoken to, claim it’s unfair to them. They all point to a neighbor who has a bigger home, larger family, frequent car washes, leaks etc. They claim to be subsidising the neighbors. The truth is they really don’t know, but they suspect they are being cheated. Several of them have inquired about moving to my park, to get away from this situation but, I reserve my spots for LD’s.
Just adjusting the lot rent to compensate doesn’t work either. That cheats you. Tenant has no incentive to conserve. A burst pipe or running toilet could cost you $100.
I am master metered at a commercial rate. I add %5 per gallon for admin. cost, and it’s still cheaper than the residential rate for the tenant.
My way has worked well for me and I’m about to do the same to another, recently acquired, park.
I originally purchased meters from “plumbingsupply dot com”, but I’ve recently found “jerman dot com/dljmeter dot html”. They are less expensive and I believe quality is as good.
Just my .02
Joe C. (AR)