Thanksgiving Brings Much Needed Rain to Alpharetta Property Owners
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Miscellaneous
It has been so long since it really rained in Alpharetta that many of us have forgotten what thunder sounds like. However, in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning we were very thankfully reminded. A whole INCH of rain was gifted upon the North Fulton area, according to the bucket sitting on my back deck. With Lake Lanier, our primary source of drinking water, reaching a new record low this week, even an inch is something to be thankful for.
The drought is, of course, big news around here. More news than action it sometimes seems. I wonder just how much - or how little - our water consumption has actually changed since we recognized that we were in a severe drought. 
My guess is very little. After all, gasoline has increased 2-3 fold in price and we all pretty much drive as much as we always have. The price of water hasn’t increased at all. Why would anyone use less of it other than to do their civic duty, which we all know is a tough sell?
In late October, as it looked like it would never rain again, Governor Purdue issued a state mandate for each county to reduce its water consumption by 10% from its average use between December 2006 and March 2007.
This edict means that Fulton County Water and Sewer, which serves all four municipalities in North Fulton, must reduce its daily water consumption by 2.25 Million Gallons per Day. That amount of reduction is equivalent to 810 gallons per month per household. Do you think you could do that? Do you even know how much water your household uses a month?
How Much Water Do You Use and How Much Does it Cost in Alpharetta?
I was curious about these questions myself, so I dug into the family filing cabinet and thumbed through the past five years of water bills. I’m often asked by clients looking to purchase a house in Alpharetta how much the utilities cost. Generally, utilities are a lot less expensive here than in other parts of the county. For water, I tell them that it is about $50-$60 per month. That is for water only.
I only pay the water portion of the bill because I live in an unsewered part of the county. If I lived in a sewered portion of the county, which is essentially all of Roswell, Alpharetta and Johns Creek, my bill would be approximately $75 a month more. [Note: I do have to pay to have my septic tank emptied once every five years or so for about $300.]
It is not an exact science comparing your month to month and year to year Fulton County water bill because the meter is not read on exactly the same date each month. Some water bills are for almost three months of service other for less than two. None the less, you can look at the yearly consumption for a family of five and the related cost, which is in the table to the right.
Some of those years, I watered the yard in the fall to get the fescue seed started. That can cost a few hundred dollars in water. In more recently years, I haven’t irrigated much at all; I think my sprinkler system has only been on a dozen times in the past couple years. I just don’t fight Mother Nature any more. It seems like such a waste because she always wins in the end.
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Usage | 192,400 | 180,600 | 161,300 | 193,600 | 192,000 |
| Cost | $517 | $482 | $545 | $709 | $679 |
Fulton County water costs $2.50 per 1,000 gallons of water and $4.50 per 1,000 gallons of sewer. That is phenomenal to me considering that a 12 ounce bottle of water costs you a $1 in the store.
My family uses about 15,000 gallons of water a month, which is 500 per day, which is 100 gallons per day per person. This costs us $1.25 per day. Amazing. If you cut your shower time down by five minutes you might save a nickel.
Fulton County has implemented a three part plan to come into compliance with the Governor’s mandated 10% reduction: (1) More Consumer Education; (2) Apartment Retrofitting to low flow fixtures; (3) Potential Price Increases. The County has not said how much of an increase they might impose, but the City of Marietta in Cobb County, where water is already at least twice as expensive as in Fulton County, is considering a 9% increase. A 9% increase in my water bill would mean 11 cents per day. Is that going to change behavior? I don’t think so.
But what I think is that to actually get people to conserve, you DO have to increase the price of water. However, not just a measly 9%. How about 300%? Would that get your attention? Atlanta is only going to continue to grow and demand more water. Today’s problems are minor compared to what we could face in 5-15 years. Why not start true conservation now?
Impact of Drought on Alpharetta Real Estate
With the ban on outside watering, some buyers have become more interested in properties with wells already on them - or in drilling a new well. That’s great from the perspective of increasing the value of your property by reducing its dependence on the county water supply. A number of years ago I investigated drilling a well with my neighbor on our property line and sharing it for irrigation. I was tired of paying hundreds of dollars in the Fall to water my fescue seed and envisioned a plush green lawn throughout the heat of the summer. The well would have been over 1000 feet deep, though, and we never pursued it. I let my fescue die back in the summer…one less thing to mow while the bermuda is growing! My question to you, though, is even if you had a well, is it environmentally ethical to use it during drought times without imposing some restrictions on yourself?
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Lake Lanier Water Level |
Other homeowners I know have access to one of many lakes or ponds in this area and pump from the late to water the lawn. Many subdivisions in the area like Triple Crown, for instance, water from their lake. They are one of the few subdivisions to have green grass and Fall annuals planted.
There are currently 43 properties in all price ranges for sale in North Fulton (Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell, Johns Creek) that have well water, that is, no public water. All but five of those properties are west of GA-400 in Milton and almost all are not in a subdivision, but are estate properties that likely inherited the well from when the property was more agricultural.
Other than that, I haven’t seen much of an impact on real estate from the drought, not that it is really possible to isolate that factor from so many that affect the market. People still decide to live in California even though there are fires and earthquakes; people live on the coast even though the ocean levels are going to rise; people live in Minnesota even though it snows, right? I suspect that people will heavily discount the drought when considering real estate in Georgia. When the Governor said there was only three months of drinking water left, everyone didn’t put there house on the market.
I have had a few clients inquire about it and ask what is going to happen regarding our water. Frankly, I don’t know what is going to happen. I, like I think everyone else, believe that it is eventually going to rain. It has to rain, right? With normal rainfall, it will take Lake Lanier, Atlanta’s main drinking supply, three years to refill to normal.
Now that I know how much water my family actually uses, I’m off to figure out how we are going to reduce consumption by the 810 gallons per household. That is only 5% of our current usage, a little more than one day’s worth of water.
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Good info Kevin. I happen to deal with many clients moving to Atlanta from the Northern States. I never thought it would happen but, I’ve had 10 or 12 families actually put their move on hold until the drought lifts. I believe that a lot of local people don’t understand the severity of the water shortage therefore refuse to conserve. Not only does it affect our daily lives but it is affecting our daily livelyhoods.
Everytime I wash my car it rains for a few days. Now if we could just get Purdue to grant me a car wash then all of our problems could be over.
Have a Great Holiday Season.
kevin- you’ve done an incredibly thorough job of sharing the drought conditions and useful information for the Alpharetta and Fulton County areas.
Kevin - Many do not realize the extent a drought affects local market conditions. You have provided an excellent resource for Alpharetta homeowners to consider. Hope you get more rain! - Paula
Hi, Kevin! This is great information and I’m glad you posted it. Fulton County has posted some great resources on their government website - if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll forward you the links!
~Maura Gebhardt
Hi Kevin. The information you provided is very helpful for people to realize how much water we use. Thank you for the detailed research. I do have one idea though how you could cut down on your water use: By installing a Dual Flush High Efficiency Toilet, you can save 25 - 40% of your annual water use. If you are interested in finding out more details, please check out my website or contact me at ecotransitions@earthlink.net. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli, ecoTransitions Inc.