Submetering isn't a way for the city to raise revenue by making all the Navy submarines pay for parking. The logistics would be a nightmare--can you imagine a captain searching his pockets for change and then sending a scuba diver out to feed the meter? No, in this case, submeters refer to a water meter in a residence. This week, the San Diego City Council passed an ordinance requiring water submeters in multi-dwelling units. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Check it out after the jump.

On Monday, the City Council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring water submeters be installed in new multi-dwelling units and in multi-dwelling units where the potable water system is being upgraded. The reason? To promote conservation. 

Currently, in multi-unit dwellings without submeters, there is typically only one meter per dwelling. With only one meter, there is no way to determine how much water each individual unit uses. There is only an aggregate amount for the entire building. By installing a submeter, each unit will finally be able to (1) know how much water they are using, and (2) pay only for the water they actually use. 

The first point is the key point here: customers will know exactly how much water they are using. Following the "knowledge is power!" tenet, 

However, does the guise of conservation really mean savings for consumers or more profits for the City? With only one water meter, many multi-unit building owners used third party billing companies to bill its tenants for water use. Since there was no way to tell how much each unit used, some residents were paying much more than their actual water use. Submetering will prevent this overcharging by third party billing companies, but there may be other costs associated with a submeter.

The first, and most obvious, is the actual cost of both the meter and the installation of the meter. The cost to install the a submeter could range from $150 to $300 per unit. This is independent of the costs of the additional plumbing. Is this another cost that will be passed on to the customer?

As I've discussed in previous blogs, there are several different costs in addition to the actual cost of water. There is a baseline fee charged to each customer per month for both water and sewer. There is the sewer service charge, based upon a customer's sewer use during the elusive Winter Monitoring Period. And lastly, the wonderful name change fee, charged whenever the account holder's name changes. Will these fees cancel out any conservation benefit?

Unfortunately, since this ordinance applies only to new buildings and old buildings where the potable water system is being upgraded, it may be a while before we come across these new submeters and find out the true cost of the submeters. However, if you do have a submeter, please let us know your experiences.  

And, as always, stay tuned for more water news. Same bat time, same bat channel!