This useful info just arrived in Councilor Andreae Downs’ email newsletter.

A number of residents have been asking why their water bills are higher during COVID than they were last year.

In a nutshell, most of us are using more water at home right now. For instance: last April, you may have been working outside of home, or at least traveling to meetings, traveling for fun, going out for dinner and entertainment…

But this April, you spent all of that time at home. Including probably 100% of bathroom visits. Perhaps, like me, you had an adult child who normally lives somewhere else (like college) staying with you also.

Bluntly, all those flushes add up.

In addition, Massachusetts (and Newton) are in a severe drought. You may have been using more water outside just to keep your surroundings green.

NOT seeing a higher water bill?

Make sure your bill is based on an ACTUAL reading.

Some in Newton, in fact 4,800 of us, are getting estimated water bills, because some of the “transponders” that send the meter reading to the City, are not working (the city is in the process of testing and replacing these devices)

Flagged by a bright orange stripe on your print bill, these estimates are based on three years of average usage—that is, pre-COVID usage.

If your household patterns have changed, your ACTUAL usage could be much higher.

To prevent a large, surprise bill later, you may want to call the Newton Water Department (617-796-1040) to give them your ACTUAL reading. It may be that your next bill is higher than normal, but at least you can start paying it down now.

SECOND (Irrigation) METERS—If you had one of these installed, check that it has been connected to the City’s server. You can see that on your water bill, because you will have a separate line for water you are paying for at the “irrigation rate.”

If you don’t, that means your meter isn’t yet connected to the City’s billing system. Your meter is still recording, which means eventually the bill will come due—and in at least one case a homeowner found they owed more than $17,000 for nearly 3 years of water use that was not being reported to the city—because the plumber failed to get the required final inspection—so the transponder was not turned on.

Avoid this nasty surprise by getting your meter “inspected” after installation. Your plumber should have done this after the meter was installed, but not all outdoor meters have their inspections.

Want more detail? Councilor Deb Crossley, who serves on the Water, Sewer and Stormwater Working Group,  reported on her extensive research on the recent increases in water bills—the link is here.

Want to save money on future home water bills? The MWRA has you covered, and will even give you a FREE water-saving device or two if needed.