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diabraxasAug 7, 2011
Here in Australia it's not the water use but the service charges that really hurt.
My last bill:
Water Usage $41.20
Water Service Charge $66.26
Sewer Service Charge $184.30
stealthspcAug 8, 2011
Is that in Australian Dollars? If so, that is insanely expensive.
(Google says:
41.20 Australian dollars = 42.9345 US dollars
I pay $30 USD for water and sewage.)
publiclurkerAug 8, 2011
Some places bill every other month. they do so around here, which always results in a mini heart attack when I open the bill.
martoqAug 8, 2011
That sounds like our Gas/Electric in NY. Last bill was 30$ gas, 40$ electric, 125$ service charge.
0crabby0Aug 8, 2011
Hmmm... A marketing idea - Free food, but it costs $$$ to poop...
metalcastrAug 8, 2011
well then I have an idea for black market poop teleporters...
antdudeAug 8, 2011
Elecrticity bills are crazy in So. CA. :(
rglarson13Aug 8, 2011
Here in Minnesota (Land of 10,000 Lakes), water is incredibly cheap; our water and sewer bill for last month was right around $4 USD. Conversely, my electric bill is sky high during the summer, since it's been above 90 degrees (Fahrenheit) for the past month, and in the winter, my gas bill will be sky high, because it'll be below 30 between November and March
untzboyAug 8, 2011
I steal water, because I'm from the 14th century and you don't keep an eye on your well.
runtpacketAug 7, 2011
Natural gas meters are just as easy to manipulate. Thanks ITRON
mannipplesAug 7, 2011
FTA: "“Are we being paranoid?” McNabb asked. “It’s already established that law enforcement is using electricity use and thermal imaging,” where the heat generated by indoor marijuana-growing farms has been measured."
Thermal imaging also detects a hot bathroom and a space heater for a room, resulting in the police busting down your front door, and later saying ooop's, as the home owners lawsuit is started to recoup repair costs and filing police incompetence charges for what should be an illegal thermal imaging search of the inside of your home(stupid Judges allow it).
Smart meters report by the hour(default), or can be set to report by the minute, to see what you are using that electricity for. Hackers can turn the electricity meter off wirelessly if the encryption is not good enough(just like the electricity department can).
wisekickAug 7, 2011
Really. If anything should be a human right... should it not be, water?
chrisnhAug 7, 2011
it is, go ahead and gather it yourself and transport it to your home then treat it so it's safe to drink. you have a right to as much as you want totally free. however if you want someone else to gather it, make it clean and pure and test it on a regular basis and deliver it to your door, make that each faucet in your home....well then that's what you pay for
wisekickAug 8, 2011
Hmmm. Not sure you got the gist of my comment?
Of course, truly independent & response-able folk, will collect rain water & purify it...
Truly independent & response-able folk will find their own ways to add value & not demand that others find them a job...
Truly independent & response-able folk will educate their own children & not ask the state to provide them with knowledge & values...
The list goes, on!Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
stealthspcAug 8, 2011
Truth be told, you're going to have to pay for it anyways. Even if it were free, you would pay for it with taxes. Water treatment is pretty expensive.
thechauvinistAug 8, 2011
1st, Ayn Rand?
2nd, "response-able?" What's wrong w "responsible?"
mbostonsAug 8, 2011
How does responsibility have anything to do with collecting your own rain water, finding your own job and home schooling your children?
People utilize contacts to have an easier time finding a job, that actually seems more responsible to me to have less downtime in finding a job.
People can be responsible by utilizing their tap water instead of buying bottles for their daily consumption. That's the whole marketing approach behind buying Nalgene bottles. They can be reused, unlike bottled water containers. Also, as stealth says, you're paying for it in taxes anyways, might as well use it.
And as for home schooling your children. Yeah sometimes it might be more responsible to home school your child if your public school mechanism is awful but most of the time they're adequate enough to provide just as good of an education as you would provide at home. Not to mention you're already paying for public schooling with your taxes and you'd have to have a dedicated parent at home teaching your kids which deprives a family of additional income. Pretty much seems to me that if you have a decent public schooling system the more responsible thing would be to have both parents work instead of home schooling their children.
So "independent", yes..."response-able", no.
wisekickAug 8, 2011
Response-able: The ability to respond
"How does responsibility have anything to do with collecting your own rain water, finding your own job and home schooling your children?"
Seriously?
mbostonsAug 8, 2011
Oh I'm sorry I mixed up Responsibility with your piece-mail terminology. I've never heard of anyone use the term "Response-Able" before in my life. It all stems from the same term "Responsibility".
http://www.trulyhumancoaching.com/neurolinguistic_programming_articles/np_response_able.pdf
And using it in the way you use it, "The ability to respond", I'll reiterate my point once again because you couldn't focus on the actual point. You're able to respond to things such as education, water and finding a job by...
A) Not utilizing contacts and making it harder for yourself to find a job.
B) Building an intricate system to collect rainwater instead of using tap water you pay for with your taxes.
C) Taking a parent away from an income so they can home school your kids when once again, you pay for this with your taxes.
So you respond to issues you have by making things more complicated. And you're going to "Seriously?" me? Hilarious.
mbostonsAug 8, 2011
And before I get nitpicked for saying "You pay for water with your taxes", I mean for the treatment of the water not the actual water bill you pay for when you use the water.
deepskydiverAug 8, 2011
Water is used for profiteering.
It shouldn't be - it's a necessity and should be supplied to individuals at cost.
Use by companies is another matter.
wisekickAug 8, 2011
Agreed... although, couldn't the same be said for, food?
JLF2035Aug 8, 2011
only if you kill or farm it yourself. if someone else does it, then it costs money.
hasahugedigAug 8, 2011
Los Angeles has rules against that too. You can't raise chickens, ducks, or other stock animals for food in LA.
publiclurkerAug 8, 2011
Look back at historical records regarding the "pollution" problems due to horses 100 or so years ago. That's one of the reasons livestock does not get along well in an areas as dense as LA.
ghb70005Aug 8, 2011
I'm halfway through - Atlas Shrugged...
"profiteering, necessity, at cost"
You're a looter!! lol j/k
HotGirl22bsAug 8, 2011
90% of water in the U.S. is provided by local government municipalities on a not for profit basis. Where exactly is this "profiteering" going on?
nerysAug 8, 2011
you do realize its actually ILLEGAL in many areas for you to intercept the RAIN WATER FALLING ON YOU ROOF.
you realize this right?
water to your sink in a pipe? that is a convenience not a right.
water falling on your land should 100% be YOUR right of use.
wisekickAug 8, 2011
Yes, but is it unlawful?
spire3660Aug 8, 2011
You obviously have no concept of society. When you grow up you will realize that from the moment you were born YOU ARE OWNED BY SOCIETY. If it was really 'your' land you wouldnt have to pay taxes on it.
wisekickAug 8, 2011
Okay. What is the name of your society?
nerysAug 8, 2011
Spire3660 is correct. we have long ago LOST the right to own land. we are simply tenants today. ie Fee Simple Title. it is rare (maybe still possible in texas) to get Allodial Title (true ownership)
rhett803Aug 8, 2011
I have a well. A 4" well, about 80' or so down in the ground. It will cost you between $1200 and $2000 to have it put in, but after that you can do all the maintenance yourself. It will run for years and years without any trouble. And when it does mess up, you go to lowes and spend $300 or so on a new pump. My water taste amazing. So clean and pure to the point that I can't drink water in restaurants or at friends house where they have city water. All that "processing" just adds a taste of.....needlessness? or ass? to the water.
JLF2035Aug 8, 2011
chrisnh hit the nail on the head. There's a reason we have to pay for stuff like this. It's the price of convenience.
CVarneyAug 8, 2011
I operate a water treatment plant for a living.
State agencies normally control the prices of water and all other utilities. However to treat water for human consumption costs money. Not only from man power to treat, distribute, and repair lines: but the chemicals to treat it, the electricity to move it from the plant to the tanks in the system and on to the residence, and then lab fees and testing equipment to follow the state and federal regulations of testing water quality.
High costs for usuage generally come from older systems that are having problems with the lines or pumps that just wear out. This all has a retardedly high priced to replace.
If you really want free water the best I can offer is to drill a well, pay to have a pump installed, and then have it tested how you see fit on your dime. The weigh the cost of materials, time, and electricty to get it in your house.
tamckissickAug 8, 2011
I used to automate water treatment plants for a living. As one of the top contractors, I know exactly what's in the budget for a plant construction and continued operation. The people are getting screwed royally! They usually pay taxes for the construction, which is so over-built and includes so much waste in EVERY stage (the nature of any multi-discipline job), and then they pay these high rates for the water as if that monthly payment has to pay off the plant cost itself. On a per 1000 gal basis (most common billing) water is less than dirt cheap.
But you're right that the older plants are more costly. Probably so for replacement/repair costs too, but mostly because they usually have a crew of 40 covering 4 rotating shifts of 4-5 each plus management, admin, lab and others. When I got done with most of my plants, they had 2 banker-hours operators, 2 maintenance guys and a manager & secretary.
young701Aug 8, 2011
this is common in malaysia
rglarson13Aug 8, 2011
Here in MN, water is incredibly cheap; our water and sewer bill for last month was right around $4. Conversely, my electric bill is sky high during the summer, since it's been above 90 degrees for the past month, and in the winter, my gas bill will be sky high, because it'll be below 30 between November and March
rglarson13Aug 8, 2011
Dammit. Digg down this double post.
mystic2awesomeAug 8, 2011
In Oregon we are also charged for "disposing" of our water, rain water included!
publiclurkerAug 8, 2011
Part of the is because places like Portland decided to save money years ago by combining rainwater runoff with their sewer system. In a place where it rains all of the time, that is not a very good thing to do.
montauk1Aug 8, 2011
funny to see this. just had a problem with mine.
bussurferAug 8, 2011
should be )))
manmtrlAug 8, 2011
But why we are now talking about hacking in areas outside classic IT fields? Because of these guys who break inside an atomic Iranian plant. Now these stupid guys have opened hell gates to all of us. We need an ethic charter for hacking positioning it far from anything related directly to human life!Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
manmtrlAug 16, 2011
did I say something wrong or these spys from our agencies did not like me?
Closed AccountAug 7, 2011
Ooops!
shurmaAug 8, 2011
Hacking water meters is easier than it should be