You get What You Pay for: why Kent's Water is Worth It

Recently, the city of Kent announced they will be . Now, before you start to rant about the rising cost of water I just want to point out that the beautiful city of Kent has been on the list for best tasting municipal water not once, but twice.

Also, the Environmental Working Group thinks it’s not too shabby as well – rating it average or above in most water quality tests. Moreover, we are also getting many updates to our water and sewer system out of the deal. Rejoice! We have a great resource and our city is being proactive to sustain that resource. When you take into consideration that other nearby municipalities charge more for lower-quality water from outdated facilities I hope you start to feel that you are getting good value for your money. I know I do. 

So, I gladly pay my water bill and will even pay the increase with a smile because I know that I am getting high quality, safe water in return. For those of you about to go off on a fluoride tirade — go get an activated alumina deflouridation filter (about $100) or, even better, a reverse osmosis system (about $150 to $300). There. Now it’s perfect. Or, you can spend about 1,000 times more buying bottled water. Yes, bottled water is 1,000 times or more expensive than tap water per gallon. Oh, and by the way, 25 percent-plus of bottled water available at the chain gas stations and grocery stores are from tap water. T.A.P. Tap water.

Most bottled water companies have fewer regulations than most municipal water plants. And, then there is the Pacific Garbage Patch where the current ratio is 6 parts plastic for every one zooplankton — mostly plastic water bottle fragments. And then there are all the chemicals found in cheap, disposable plastics — like those found in plastic bottles. Let’s not forget the ecological costs of packaging and transporting those bottles, too. So, maybe the bottle water thing isn’t such a good idea after all.

OK, so enough love to Kent water and city planning. I just want you to understand why I don’t mind paying for good water for drinking, cooking and bathing. But, I don’t like paying for good water on things that don’t matter — like my car. I wash my car with water from a rain barrel. I also water my garden, refill my birdbath, water my lawn (as I continually fail at getting grass to grow), spray down dirty children and dogs, refill my pond (9-year-old's toy ship graveyard) all from my rain barrels. I have three rain barrels strategically placed around my home, and they provide ample water for our needs. I hide them in corners and behind bushes even though I have the “nice looking kind” I sell in my downtown store, .

There are a few reasons why rain barrels are a huge part of my water needs nine months of the year.

1. Kent’s water has been treated. This means there is a financial and environmental cost making tap water “more valuable."  I value frugality. “Waste not, want not” can be a way of life, and saving money on unnecessary expenses really makes me happy.
2. I’m an environmentalist at heart and by training, and I understand the ecological benefits of using less treated water and conserving all freshwater as much as possible.

So, three “nice-looking” rain barrels cost about $350.  However, did you know that the city of Kent (and others) offer workshops to help you make a rain barrel from a 55-gallon container for about $50? Or, if you have your own container, you can buy a very easy to use diverter kit and have a do-it-yourself rain barrel out of your favorite barrel. Any way you do it, three rain barrels could have cost me between $150 and $350. It’s a sizable investment for my budget and young family.

Let’s take a minute to do a little Green Math.

• My yard is about 2,500 sq feet. I am trying to maintain the bit of grass I have so I do water during particularly dry times, but that’s it. I only regularly water a small portion, about 500 sq ft., at a cost of $40.
• I water my garden regularly. It’s my dinner. I want it to be healthy. Cost: about $100.
• My 9-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter see the rain barrels as a source of entertainment. They get used daily for some “maniacal plan” or another. Cost: $150.

In one summer, I use a volume of rain barrel water equivalent to $290 in treated municipal water. So, I have already paid for my rain barrels. I will have these rain barrels for as long as the locally recycled plastic they are made of lasts. I give them 20 years, or until my son whacks a hole in one during an “alien invasion."

Over the lifetime of my rain barrels, if the cost of water goes up by 3 percent each year on average (as Kent’s long term goal dictates), I will save $7,500 dollars. That's seven thousand dollars for hiding a rain barrel behind a bush in my yard. When was the last time you got more than $7,000 for hiding something behind a bush? By the way, the rate hike will end up costing me about $1,200 over the next 20 years. You know what could take a chunk out of that? Outdoor solar shower! Maybe in the future.