Money Falling From the Sky

Here in King County we are having one of the best summers ever! There is no more beautiful place to live thanSeattle/King County when the weather is cooperating. With the sun comes the need to water our lawns more often to keep the emerald green in our lawn that King County residents have come to expect.

Looking at my water bill from the Covington Water District I noticed that the irrigation meter is billed at $9.69 per cubic foot for water. A cubic foot is 7.48 gallons which calculates out to $1.26 per gallon. I checked several web sites for recommendations for watering a fescue lawn and the general consensus was 1" per week. My lawn area measures about 4,000 square feet which works out to 4,000 cubic inches or 27.77 cubic feet.

It looks like it is going to cost me $276.66 per week to water my lawn according to the experts recommended amount. I'm concerned! With economic hard time upon most of the population the water coming out of our taps is equivalent to what a gallon of gas or milk cost not that long ago. This has been a concern of mine since a neighbor who likes his green lawn got a $1,200+ water bill a while back.

Next time it rains I will look up with gratitude, not because of the relief from the heat but relief from the water company. I find it amazing that in one of the rainiest areas in the United States we are paying rates equivalent to what a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk cost not all that long ago.