My water bill came in recently, which is kind of appropriate considering all the pond talk.
Since building it, the front yard #pandemicPond very very rarely is topped up on its own from tap water. Generally we keep it full from rain water, the rain barrel, or as part of the general low-flow spray/water system for the yard in the summer. So our water consumption really is dependant on how much garden watering we are doing. I'm not surprised we were high last year as we watered the new green-driveway and young trees.
The #PoolPond might, or might not, be different given the sheer volume *and* surface area (ie. evaporation). We have a 1000L rainwater barrel in the back yard, but that would only be useful for replacing evaporation losses at best in the poolpond.
I'll have to fill it once or twice in the coming weeks and possibly once a year if I do an annual cleaning at the end of the summer. We'll see. This year will also feature a return of vegetation to the back yard, so we'll likely be watering it more than when it is established in a year or two.
The city splits our bill into 3 periods per year, which is a little weird but ok...
Our household consumption has varied quite a bit since the pandemic due to changes in household composition (kids moving to uni etc) or us being more or less active in the garden.
I am happy that we used very little water this winter/spring, the least since 2022. I expect it to spike in the current April-August period as both kids have returned and I'll be doing all this pond stuff. But if I can keep it under 150,000L ($150) on the August bill, I'll be happy.
In the coming years, if I can use less in the Fall, Winter and Spring to "save up" for Summer, that would be nice but minimizing all seasons will always be the goal. That's why more trees are going to happen in the backyard at some point. Shade=Less watering!
In all, I'm happy with the only modest rise in our water consumption over the past few years.
#Home #PortAlberni #Water #Bills
@netzschleuder@social.skewed.de
