Water Submetering As A Great Way To Promote Water Conservation

By Catalina Nielsen


Water submetering is the installation of meters into individual units within multifamily properties like apartments, mobile home communities and condominiums just to mention a few. In general, multifamily developments either have a master meter, which the whole development uses or one meter for every unit. Those who reside in the property are expected to pay the sewer and water bill, which is normally shared evenly by tenants.

In a situation where a property is sub metered, the cost is divided according to the consumption in every unit. This is a very fair method of sharing the cost because residents only pay for what they have consumed. Property submetering comes with several benefits. To start with conservation is encouraged because residents try their best to consume less in order to reduce their bills.

Property owners also benefit when they install submeters in their properties because their expenses reduce. They do not have to incur high bills that are impossible to control since it is the tenants who control how much water is consumed. When a property is sub metered, tenants have to pay their bills individually. This allows property owners to reduce their expenses significantly especially if they include utility bills in rent calculations.

The fact that tenants will be willing to reduce consumption after submeters are installed in a property means that wastage will be reduced, which will be of benefit to the environment. According to studies supported by the federal government, the installation of submeters in a development that can reduce consumption by twenty to thirty percent as residents will be ready to inform the property managers about leaks and avoid letting water run freely when no one is using it. A large number of tenants love submetering since they pay less after lowering consumption.

After installing submeters, the rates your tenants pay will change when the utility company changes its rates. This is beneficial in that it allows you to maintain your margins. You do not have to include the cost of utilities in your rental rate calculations. You can therefore even choose to lower the amount of money you charge as rent so that you can get more tenants.

In order to install submeters in your property, you need to find a company that specializes in submetering. The company will make arrangements with you to install equipment required for the system to work such as transmitters, meters and reading equipment. Typically, the company will have to get access to every unit in order to install the equipment. In some cases, the equipment can be installed on the exterior part of a building.

After the equipment installation process is complete, the company will test it to make sure that it is functioning well. It will be responsible for meter reading, bill disbursement and payment collection. Submetering companies perform their duties in a similar manner to telephone and electrical companies. This means that they also provide the usual customer service like answering questions.

The submeters are usually placed in areas that can be easily accessed like electrical closets in public areas. For this reason, the employees tasked with reading meters do not have to get into each individual unit to read them. Your will get your monthly utility bill as usual but the water submetering company will provide every tenant with his or her individual bill.




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