Posted by: Eric Glazer
August 09, 2006

We keep reading that water is becoming more and more scarce.  Today, our attorneys met with a company that installs individual water meters with new monitoring technology to detect leaks, and that monitors the actual water usage per unit.  The thinking is that the association would charge each unit owner the specific amount of money for their water consumption, rather than simply alloting the unit a pro rata share of the entire water bill.  The company takes the position that 20% of the water "offenders" contribute to 80% of the total water usage and that if each unit knew that their water consumption was being monitored, there would be an overall decline in the amount of water used, thus promoting conservation.

Interestingly enough, there is an arbitration case from 1994 which states that the installation of water meters for each unit constitutes a material alteration to the common elements and therefore a sufficient number of affirmative votes (typically 75%) of the unit owners is required.

We're curious to know what you think.  Would you rather have the association pay the water bill and each unit owner simply pay their pro rata share, or would you prefer each unit owner being responsible for the exact water consumption they use.

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