More People See Higher Water Bills in Golden Valley

In recent weeks, local residents took to Facebook to share their concerns of higher water bills. 

Golden Valley Utilities Supervisor Joe Hansen said the high water usage may be stemming from more people staying at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that’s not the only reason residents are seeing higher water bills. Hansen explained that irrigation and plumbing issues can cause a spike in water bills. 

“2020 has been warmer and drier than 2019. 2019 was a record breaking precipitation year,” said Hansen. 

He said leakage can also cause significant increase of water usage. For instance, a dripping irrigation system wastes 43,200 gallons per month. To detect leaks, residents can turn off all the water in the house and look at the water meter. Hansen said the meter is usually located in the basement or lower part of the home.

Some local residents on Facebook say their bill doubled despite saying they used the same amount of water. 

“Included in your water bills are many other fees like storm water fees, Minnesota state fee, emergency water fee, street lights, storm sewer, recycling,” said Hansen. “All these other things are also on water bills, which costs increase.”

To avoid surprises, Hansen encourages residents to keep tabs on their water meter. 

“This will allow residents to be assured that the water they’re getting billed for actually got used in house,” he said. 

Golden Valley buys its water from Minneapolis. Residents are charged 6 cents per gallon.

Hansen said nationwide, the average person uses between 80-100 gallons per day. 

Golden Valley