Water sharing and metering with tenant

[vpbs_bak]

Hello

I'm wondering if someone can help me with the best arrangement to meter water usage for my house which will have a tenant portion.
I've tried to make a picture of what I thought and attached it. I don't have cauvery water now and so went for borewell. But if I can
make an arrangement that works for today (borewell) as well as tomorrow (cauvery) that'd be best. I want to meter the usage for
water seperately and charge the tenant accordingly.

Would also like to hear from people who have tenants on how they meter their usage.


Thanks

[msn1270]

It all depends on the Owner and the tenant to have common understanding in sharing the common amenities. Else all these expensive work around necessary.

1) Monthly consumption rate is always not fixed. It keep varies for various reasons, like if have some guests at home for few days, When the Ball valve fails to close the Water line Automatically at the sump(suspecting each other for excess water reading for the technical fault), holding functions at home & people gathers, when people go out on vacation for few days/Onsite work, No of times vehicle washed....etc.

2) Generally water consumption per house depends on the lifestyle of the individuals.. Person can have minimal water usage for bath with shower. Whereas a person can finish his bath in one bucket or may need 5 buckets of water or Tub needs much more water. similarly Automatic washing machines consumes more water than manual or semi-automatic. If we have servants, water consumption will be more. Those who have Solar Water Heaters waste the initial Cold water accumulated in the pipeline before they get the actual hot water.

3) Majority owners doesn't put metering system for each house. Generally its will be a common Sump and Over Head Tank(OHT). In certain Cases Sump will be common, but Motor & Over Head Tank will be separate.

4) The monthly Water charges from the BWSSB Meter will be equally shared by the two occupants when the no of headcounts are somewhat equal. Else based on the Headcount, monthly charges will be shared in Ratio. In case of only Bore well water, there will be a fixed charges agreed by the owner and the tenant, which will get revised whenever the Power Tariff Increases significantly and In case of Common Pump, repair cost will be shared equally.

5) In many cases, Owner note down the average consumption units for 1-2 months, when the rental house is vacant(this will be a base ref). For transparency, owner shares it to the Tenant(bills of those months as proof) at the time of tenant occupying the House. Later the monitoring the Differential units, gives an estimate about tenant consumption and in the same ratio, it will be charged.

6) As per your idea, Connecting from Bore well water line to both the Overhead tanks is bit complex and its not worth. To simplify, pump the bore well water to Sump, from their individually user can pump to their OHT.

7) BWSSB gives only one meter per house. Hence you need to go for Commercial water meters (even second hand meters, what I heard from Plumbers) outside and use it for both lines and regularly record the Water consumption of each line, if you want precise monitoring.

[sudheerpalyam]

In the similar situation, what i did is as follows :
- Single Separate electricity meter for all motors (from Bore to OHT & Sump to OHT).
- One single OHT for all the portions, but separate pipe line from OHT to individual flats.
- Installed Water meter for each of these individual pipe lines.
- For the whole month, summed expenses incurred for a. Water supply in tractors b. bwssb c. electricity
- For the whole month, summed up all water meter reading
- Total expenses divided by total water meter reading, multiplied by individual water meter unit = water cost per flat

This sound cumbersome initially, but over time we felt it easier. Importantly no cold wars (or oral arguments) thinking other family is using more water. In simple, Pay Per Usage. Families were also cautious as they know they have to pay for what they use.

[viksat82]

I also felt same way. It is unfair to share water bill equally. Each one have a feeling counter part consumes more. Like MSN said it is not easy to calculate actual consumption because of so many deciding factors.
Currently my owner has separate meter and OHT for individual unit. No separate electric meter for pump and individual pump is connected to their own main meter. Hence the power cost is not an issue. However sharing of same sump and water.
My cents...
Since every individual unit have separate electric meter and it bills them based on their lifestyle, guests, parties at house etc., water is consumed more or less in the similar pattern, we can divide water bill based on the average wait of the electricity consumption.
This is the easiest and better way. People also will be cautious about their own consumption of electricity anyway.

[ardesarchitects]

Hi ,
1. In case of opting for water metering it is suggested to route all the toilets in one unit from one pipe only , this will avoid spending more on water meters .
2. Adding water meters at the terrace will have convenience of easy reading but individual pipe lengths will be more.
3. Adding water meters at the branching will make the reading very difficult because they happen at each floor and on the outer walls.

Regards,
Ar.Praveen.N
Ardes Architects and Interior designers
ardesarchitects@gmail.com
www.ardesarchitects.com
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