HOW TO DECIPHER YOUR WATER BILL
Whats a CF?



If you live in Hidden Hills, you probably want to do your part to monitor and conserve water in order to bring the system back into balance and end the water moratorium. The best starting place for this process is to find out just how much water you are using. Making sense out of your water bill, however, can be daunting.

In Hidden Hills there is a 0.482 acre foot per year allotment per household. Interestingly enough, your water bill does not mention the word "acre feet" anywhere. Cal Am measures their usage by Cubic Feet (actually per 100 cubic feet). 1 acre foot = 43,560 cubic feet. I could go into more detail but this is what you need to know. Look for the 100 CF used figure on your bill, it needs to average 17 per month all year in order for you to be using only your share, and not part of someone else's. Your total 100 CF allotment is 209.95 for the year

Now that you are recovering from shock, like myself, lets start looking for ways to bring that number down.

1. Grass is the number one water waster in a household, if you don't need it, re-landscape. There are realistic synthetic replacements available now that always stay green and are pet proof (they are soft too).

2. Most drought tolerant plants don't require any water except during the summer. Consider removing those drippers on your irrigation and water by hand when its really hot or putting them on separate zones.

3. Buy a more sophisticated irrigation controller that senses the moisture in the ground and shuts the system down when it raining.

4. And as your mother always told you, turn off the water faucet while you brush your teeth. Don't laugh, that is an average of 8 gallons a day, 240 gallons a month and 2880 gallons a year... PER PERSON! WOW!

A little conservation can go a long way. Thanks for doing your part!