We have received our 2025 Quarter 3 Water Invoices for our 9 water meters at Glenwood Place. The increase in water usage is alarming. We have done some analysis on the figures and want to share what we have discovered and our subsequent plans to address this. This is not about individuals using too much water on a daily basis. It is about aging fixtures and undetected leaks or other fixture malfunctions.
Here is a brief overview of what we see when comparing Quarter 3 this year with Quarter 3 2024.
This table clearly shows a dramatic increase in usage between this year’s Quarter 3 and last year’s Quarter 3 in every meter except for the meter associated with Buildings 15 thru 18. Those buildings are the ones we focused on recently when Roto Rooter came and assessed the fixtures in each unit and made recommendations to homeowners for toilet replacements. Several toilets were replaced in Quarter 1 in those buildings and in Quarter 2’s invoices we saw a dramatic decrease in usage and thereby costs, even when irrigation was active. We saw a $3,000 decrease in that one meter alone.
As we’ve previously communicated, the Portland Water Efficiency Bureau has advised us repeatedly that leaking or malfunctioning toilets are by far the highest contributor to increased water usage. One leaking toilet can cost $25/day, which is $2,500 per quarter, $9,000 per year. This latest water analysis proves that advice to be accurate. For this reason, we will begin a strategy of focusing on one meter (a set of buildings) each month to analyze, make recommendations for toilet repairs and replacements and solicit the cooperation of all homeowners in this effort.
We greatly appreciate the cooperation of all homeowners when we did this exercise in Quarter 1 of this year on Buildings 15 thru 18. We all benefited from your cooperation, as you can see. We now need the cooperation of all homeowners in this strategy to be applied to all buildings. Water is 25% of our operating budget which is paid for by your condo fees.
There’s not much we can do about increasing water rates, but this analysis tells us there is a lot we can do about water usage and thereby costs. This Quarter’s water invoices totalled $51,244.79. That is almost $17,000 more than last quarter. It is $7,500 more than the same quarter last year.
Buildings 2 and 3 will receive an email notice very soon about a scheduled analysis at the end of October.
Thank you,
Glenwood Place Board of Directors