Quiz time: without looking, can you tell me how much you pay for a gallon of water? Or how much a typical shower costs you? Or how much you spend to water your lawn?
I couldn’t – and that’s a testament to (1) just how abundant water is; (2) how human beings have figured out a way to make this resource abundantly available. During the summer months of June and July here in Rochester, I spent a grand total of $27.08 on water – or about 0.25 cents per gallon. If there was a water shortage here in Rochester, I wouldn’t know it … if there was, what do you think a better way to deal with it is:
- Asking for “voluntary cutbacks“?
- Allowing prices to rise to reflect the true scarcity of water?
The answer is obvious and in a future post we’ll delve into the humanity of the … second option.
Wintercow, I get my electric bill, which includes the power to run my submersible pump in my well to pump my own water. This year, an El Nino year, has not required me to water my raspberries and tomatoes, growing on years of rhe fruits of many wintercows and winterheifers, all of who consumed huge amounts of water.
You are correct, as usual, and, as usual, raise many questions.
My water is for sale. The bureaucrat in Dallas does not own a well, and has no business telling anyone not to water his lawn. Anyone who wants to water his lawn should pay for the water. Don’t fool with my water, unless you want to prepay for my next pump and pay my electric bill, and that does not mean I might dig another well.
How many people really observe the price of water? I know that here my price is about 3 or 4 bucks per 100 gallons. (There is some fixed cost that I’ve never figured out; one bill I had showed I did not use even 100 gallons in one month, but was still charged a couple of bucks.) I kinda chuckle at pictures that show a very small drip of water being compared to dollars and bills going down the drain.
But I guess what would be really interesting is if there was a better way to observe the electric consumption, and the price being paid for the electricity. Electricity is supposed to be cheaper at night (for the electric company since demand is low), but people never see the reduced price; the meter is read at the end of month and it is impossible to tell if the KW was used at peak time or at 3 am. It would be interesting to see a better pricing mechanism, but then there may be significant transaction costs.