LeakBird

(May 14, 2009, The Dallas Observer)
As mentioned Monday, KERA-FM (90.1) is running throughout this week a series of stories about where Dallas gets its water and how we use it. Which brings us to today’s contribution from B.J. Austin concerning water consumption. Says the story, the average Dallas homeowner is billed for 100,000 gallons used [...]

(April 19, 2009, Kelly Zito, The San Francisco Chronicle)
“We’re out there telling people to use less water, and yet a lot of the revenue we have is based on what people use,” said Gary Breaux, finance director for the East Bay Municipal Utility District, which serves 1.3 million people in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. [...]

(April 14, 2009, The Los Angeles Times)
It would be nice if only the overusers picked up that higher tab, but without a further, and very time-consuming, overhaul of the city’s rates, those higher prices would be borne by everyone. The council should take up that challenge too, but for now, the drought-year rates and the [...]

(April 2, 2009, The New York Times)
New York City residents should brace for another double-digit increase in their water rates, even though they are conserving more water than ever before.
That is the mixed message that residents are likely to hear on Friday, when the New York City Water Board is expected to raise water and [...]

The Boston Globe recently ran an op-ed about water conservation in rental properties entitled, “Do Environmentalists Rent Property?“, which also has some fantastic comments from landlords and tenants in the greater Boston area.  The author wonders if she’s the only one who is a good tenant when it comes to not using more water than [...]

(March 19, 2009, Aguanomics)
ID asks:
One of the structural issues I see with regard to pricing water is metering.

I’m sure the technology exists or could easily exit to monitor my water usage tied to a dollar amount.
I would like an easy to read display: Gallons used, unit cost, total cost. Generally metering is on [...]

The average household US water bill varies widely from state to state and municipality to municipality.  Small town household water rates fall somewhere between $1.00 and $2.00 per 748 gallons of water or HCF (hundred cubic feet).  Large city household water rates are from $2.00 to $3.00 per 748 gallons of water.  (Nationally, water rates [...]

(March 10, 2009, The Orange County Register)
When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called on Californians to reduce water use in the face of severe drought conditions, 78 households in The Reserve neighborhood of San Clemente were resting easy.
Those residents had signed on to participate in The Reserve Outdoor Sustainability Project, a study measuring the effects of efficient [...]

(March 8, 2009, The Fresno Bee)
It is China’s latest grand attempt to tame nature. Three canals will bring water hundreds of miles to Beijing and other thirsty cities in the north. More than 350,000 people in the way will be forced to move.
For many in Zhangyigang, a village of 942 people in brick and mud [...]

(March 4, 2009, Huliq)

The water levels in the Dead Sea – the deepest point on Earth – are dropping at an alarming rate with serious environmental consequences, according to Shahrazad Abu Ghazleh and colleagues from the University of Technology in Darmstadt, Germany.
(Original Article Here)

The projected Dead Sea-Red Sea or Mediterranean-Dead Sea Channels therefore need a [...]

Okay, so this number may shock you, but trust me, I didn’t make it up.  I actually did a year’s worth of research, and I haven’t heard anyone say this yet — in fact, I’d like someone to disprove it.
Here’s what I extrapolated.  I’ll preface by stating that 25% to 40% of all in-building, residential [...]

(March 4, 2009, David Zetland, Aguanomics)
RT writes:
I am an economist from Australia who works on among other issues urban water policy.
I read with interest your nicely-written Forbes article.
We seem to have pretty much a similar situation here in Australia and a few of us make similar suggestions.
I’d love to understand more about the your situation [...]

(March 4, 2009, Aquadoc, WaterWired)
The current issue (2 March 2009) of the High Country News has a revealing article by Matt Jenkins, “How Low Will It Go?”. Jenkins describes the mission of Eric Kuhn, an engineer and former submariner who now runs the Colorado River Water Conservation District in western Colorado.
So what is his mission? Simple. [...]

(Feb. 25, 2009, CleanTech)
Leaders at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco today said the days of cheap water are over.
The developing world is still struggling to provide usable water to its residents, while water shortages in the developed world have put a new focus on expensive technologies.
“Water has never been priced properly, but [...]

(Feb. 24, 2009, Coloradoan)
Plans to ramp up water conservation efforts in Fort Collins include a couple of tried-and-true methods – education and financial incentives.
Putting those plans to work would likely mean higher rates for water customers even as average per capita demand for water decreases, officials say.
Using less water has broad impacts, including prolonging the [...]

(Feb. 10, 2009, MSNBC)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It is because Mecklenburg County residents conserved water during the area’s most decent drought that they may pay more for it if they find themselves in the same situation in the future.Charlotte’s city council heard a recommendation Monday night from Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities for a drought surcharge—a fee assessed [...]

(Dec. 22, 2008, Huffington Post)
I’m reminded of the farmer who was asked whether he believed in baptism. He replied, “Of course. I’ve seen it done.”
Well, as the ethanol boom has continued, I’ve seen new corn fields in Arizona and California where farmers water the fields with groundwater. Foolishness, oft repeated, does not become wisdom. Repeated [...]

(Dec. 22, 2008, Blue Planet / Green Living)
Toilets account for almost 30 percent of residential indoor water use in the United States. They’re also a major source of wasted water due to leaks and inefficiency. Unless a replacement has been installed, in a home built prior to 1993, each toilet likely uses 3 1/2 gallons [...]

(Nov. 22, 2008, The Daily Times)
Onancock bills for 131,000 gallons of water and I assume sewer. It says 165,000 are lost due to leaks from old and outdated pipes.
Leaks could be fixed with liners at minimal cost. If fixed the town would have 296,00 gallons of water available.
The council says it must have a new, [...]