Keeping your lawn green with your sprinkler system has gotten more expensive this year. Some residents were surprised when they looked closely at their water bill.
One of the selling points for installing a lawn irrigation system was a lower cost to watering your lawn. A separate meter could be installed that would measure the water used for outdoor purposes and a sewer charge would not be applied. Huntley charges for water is $3.67 per 1000 gallons while sewer charges are $4.85 per 1000 gallons, $8.52 total. Water metered for lawn irrigation rose on January 1, 2021 to rate of $7.34 per 1000 gallons.
Bernadette Cychner said, “We all received a notice from the village in our water bill two or three years ago stating that the irrigation pricing was going up.”
Huntley’s wells provide about 1.5 million gallons of water from five deep wells during the winter months. This indicates how much water is used by Huntley residents for showers, laundry, and other household needs. In the summer the usage rises up to 4-5 million gallons.
Cathy Haley, Director of Finance said, “The Village of Huntley draws water from deep groundwater aquifers that also provide water to many communities in the region. The groundwater supply in the region is finite and the Village is committed to Best Management Practices towards a sustainable water supply for our community and surrounding area. The outdoor water use in the Village is approximately 22% of the total water use. Annually, this equates to about 175 million gallons of drinking water used for irrigation. In the dry summer months, heavy lawn irrigation causes the daily water demand to more than double. The increased water demand creates a strain on the water works system, to the point that an additional well and water treatment plant may be required in the future. The rate structure for the irrigation water usage increased in May of 2018 to encourage water conservation with the potential to delay the capital investment necessary to keep pace with resource intensive lawn irrigation trends and to demonstrate environmental stewardship. Consumers have greater control over how much watering is done and can minimize the increased rate by reducing watering.”
The current watering restriction is Condition Yellow which allows the outside use of the Village’s potable water supply for lawn watering only on alternate days (odd/even based on your address) between the hours of 6-9 a.m. and 6-9 p.m.
If the drought continues for a prolonged period, this condition could change to further limit outdoor watering. Signs are posted throughout the Village displaying the color and water restriction conditions. Current conditions are also posted on the Village’s website: www.huntley.il.us/…/public_works_and…/water.php
Haley said, “The area is currently experiencing a Severe Drought condition per NOAA, and additional water conservation measures, including limiting outdoor water use to handheld devices such as a hose or watering can, may be necessary.”
The U.S. Drought Monitor started in 2000. Since 2000, the longest duration of drought in Illinois lasted 54 weeks beginning on May 24, 2005, and ending on May 30, 2006.
The Village’s water and wastewater operations are a self-supporting enterprise that does not receive any property tax or other tax-related income.
Next year on January 1, 2022, the rates will go up again to $3.85 per 1,000 gallons of consumption for water and $5.09 per 1,000 gallons of consumption for sewer ($8.94 total) and the irrigation water will be raised to $7.70 per gallon.
