LeakBird

Yesterday I was talking to a San Francisco plumber named Jim.

“You know the real reason water rates are going up?” he asked me.

“Because the water utilities’ revenues are down in these troubled times,” I replied.

“Yes, but it’s actually deeper than that,” he said.  “We’ve gotten more water efficient.  We’re not using as much water.”

“I find that hard to believe,” I said.

And I do find that hard to believe, as a general sweeping reason for rising water rates.  Does Jim mean to tell me that aging, tenuous water and plumbing systems and infrastructure, both beneath and above ground, have gotten more efficient?  Well, simply put, that’s not the case.  However, I do think there’s a half-truth in what Jim is saying.  I do think that water conservation has had a strong impact on national water consumption.

End-User Water Consumption

However, my interest is in-building water consumption.  To coin a new phrase, let’s call it “end-user water consumption”.  This means water that’s used once it travels through the system to the tenant or homeowner, and shows up in their kitchen sink, dishwasher, washing machine or leaking toilet. ;-)

And to point out how wrong Jim is, yet again, we can say that toilets may have gotten more technically efficient, but there are way more people using them now then even 15 years ago, and the majority of them are old toilets that use 3 gallons per flush.

I’d be willing to bet that the HET’s (high efficiency toilets) which use 1.6 gallons per flush make up only a tiny fraction, say, 4% of all toilet installations across the United States.

So, now I want to answer Jim’s question, “Why do water rates continue to go up?”

Here’s what I think: People are using less water.

Why are they using less water?

It’s a combination of several variables that are causing this phenomenon:

• Rising water rates due to greater cost of doing business for water utilities, such as the 300% increase in “caustic soda”, used to treat water
• Rising water rates due to greater pressure on water utilities to meet demand
• Rising water rates due to water shortages, which stem from drought, overpopulation
• Customers switching to more water efficient fixtures and machines, often due to public works and government subsidies, such as LEED certification
• Economic hard times which are putting millions out of house and home

That’s a complex answer, I know, but it’s a complex question.

Several Things We Do Know About Water Markets:

• Water is an undervalued commodity that’s kept low by the monopolies of the public utilities
  
• Water rates across the nation are rising in virtually every state, city and municipality
• Water rates have to rise to meet the growing demand, and in order that water utilities don’t go broke

If you are interested in How You Can Increase Your Cash Flows by $2,500.00 Every Year and Never Pay for High Water Bills Due to Your Tenants’ Running Toilets, sign up for our Free Report here.

Abendigo Reebs is the VP of Business Development for LeakBird Industries LLC in San Francisco, CA. He may be reached by email at ben@leakbird

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