Fewer than one of every three Chicago homeowners has a water meter, which would ensure that they pay only for the water they use — and are able to lower their bill by reducing their consumption, even in the face of what have been steep rate hikes. Homeowners who don’t have a meter also have faced those same rate hikes, no matter how much water they use. They’re charged a flat fee for water based not on usage but on a century-old formula involving the width of their lot and the height of their house.At the link there is a listing of the 50 wards and where they sit as far as the percentage of homes that have water meters.
The result is that many people who don’t have meters pay more for water than their neighbors who do.
Most of those unmetered homes — including those of about half the city’s 50 aldermen — live on the Southwest Side or the Northwest Side, the bungalow belt.
The 6th had only 20% of residences with a meter. 2,414 residents have a meter while 9,694 are without meters.
The low number is because single family homes(1-2 units) are not required to have water meters under the current ordinance.
ReplyDelete