reading water and sewer bill

[taranwan.livejournal.com]

Hi, I've got some questions about the Somerville water and sewer bill, that I'm hoping someone can help me out.  Not the meter, but the bill. 

Specifically, I'm trying to find out:

What's the difference, if any, between what's labeled as "consumption" and "usage?"  Also, how do I read and use the usage tier chart?

Comments

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Maybe usage is how much water enters your household, and consumption is that minus how much exits your household? in other words, water that flows into your bathtub (for example) and then back into the sewers is used but not consumed, whereas water that goes into your teapot and turns into tea which you drink is both used and consumed.

But that is 100% guesswork with no factual basis whatsoever. Honestly, I would recommend calling the city and asking. If there isn't a phone number on the bill itself, you could call 311 and get transferred.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

See my response to tober below. Water that goes into your tub then down the drain is equally used and consumed in the eyes of the Water Department, since I doubt they check to see if the water is still potable (i.e. unused) after it goes into your drain. I think the inequalities are things where you draw water from your home and NOT use the drain: drinking water yet peeing in someone else's toilet, giving water to pets who pee outside, filling a pool yet emptying it uncontrolled into the city sewer system, watering plants, etc. On the other hand, your sewer system might have more outgoing than incoming if you have a dinner party and they pee in your toilet, or more significantly if it rains and somehow (a leak? a wet basement's sump pump?) the water from the rainstorm ends up leaving via your sewer system.