Thread: Save on Your Water Bill by Installing a Dual Meter

If you've ever analyzed your water bill, you'll notice that it is broken down into 2 main parts, water and sewer. Oftentimes, the sewer portion is higher than water portion. That's right, your water company charges you more to take away dirty water than they do to provide you with clean water.



But what about all the water you use that never makes it to the sewer? Sprinklers, cleaning the driveway, filling up the pool... This can add up to thousands of gallons per week. And yet, unless you have a dual meter, your water company doesn't know the difference. That's why when you look at your bill, they charge you for the same number of gallons for water as they do for sewer.

Now, many water companies are allowing you to install a dual meter to distinguish between water you use inside, that drains into the sewer and water that you use outside, that doesn't make it into the sewer. To switch to a dual meter, there are 2 major hurdles:

1. Check if your water company supports dual meters. If not, you're out of luck (although writing a letter may help for the future). If your water company does allow dual meters, there are often permits that you have to get that allow you to have a dual meter (and costs associated with the switch). Some areas are easier than others.
2. This is where it again gets tricky. Most homes weren't built with dual meters in mind. Water comes in at the street, goes through the water meter and goes straight into the house. There it splits off into 100 (ok, maybe not 100) different directions, a few of them being outside spigots, irrigation, etc. If you want to install a dual meter, you need to find a way to segregate all of the "outside" water so that it can be measured separately. This is much easier done while you are building vs. after the fact. However, if you have access to the pipes (in a basement or crawlspace), it may not be that big of a job for a plumber.

You'll probably see the biggest benefit if you have a pool or an irrigation system. You probably won't recoup your time and money if you're the type that just uses your spigot to wash your car every 3rd week. But it is definitely something to consider. And something to seriously keep in mind when building a new house!

Links to areas that allow dual meters and their respective procedures:
Northville, MI Dual Water Meter
Farmington Hills, MI Dual Water Meter