- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 5 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
We have a very old small block of 12 in the Canterbury Bankstown district of Sydney in NSW and Sydney Water levy the the strata plan about $8,000 pa and each unit about $700 pa. The SP seems to be metered and each unit seems to pay exactly the same each quarter (unmetered).
On my occasional visits to the block (I own as an investor) there is not a flurry of car washing or gardening taking up volumious quantities of water, so how is it that the SP / CP gets charged this much. Any insights appreciated.
-
Replies
-
Has anyone checked for leaks?
Sounds like you’d be a prime candidate for water-saving meausres as outlined in this page on the Green Strata website.
Or maybe one of your neighbours has a nice little hydroponic cannabis growing venture up and running.
The best way to control water usage, especially in small blocks, is to check for leaks and then install separate water meters for each unit.
And if individual owners don’t want to pay for meters, you install them for those who do and then only charge them for the water they use, so that the others have to share the cost of all the rest of the water used. They’ll soon come on board.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
Hi Roland,
Indeed your water usage is high. It is great to see that you are looking into it.
Working backwards $8000 equals about 3,846kl per annum. The Green Strata website shows that the average water usage in apartments should be between 200 – 300 litres /per bedroom/day.
In your instance, the usage (assuming they are 12 x 2 bedrooms) appears to be about 440 litres per bedroom/per day which would put you in the high usage category.
Most water usage in apartment buildings is known to be within apartments – 86%. Things to think about – are there likely to be mainly single flush toilets, old non-water saving shower heads, leaking taps & showers in your building?
If you think this likely to be the case suggest you get an estimate for Waterfix® from Sydney Water
https://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/your-home/helping-you-save-water/waterfix-strata/index.htm
There may also be some kind of leak somewhere on common property that is not immediately apparent. Worth investigating.
And just to clarify the $700 charge you mention to each unit is the standard fixed charges which include water & wastewater service, not to be confused with actual usage. Usage charges are most commonly charged to the strata scheme as it is only recently that individual water meters have started to be installed in strata buildings.
Hope this helps explain.
Strata Answers
strataanswers.com.au
Yes we too would like to know if Waterfix Strata in NSW has been to a property in NSW. We are 20 units with about 50ppl incl 13 kids. We are about $8.5 to 9k per year water rates (not including usual charges per unit). we do have gardens but not everyone waters…. and looking at the chart above we too are way over.
thank you
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.