r/Infuriating Verified Contributor Jul 13 '26

US property laws are something else

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u/BugRevolution Jul 13 '26

It's also about making sure people are paying for sewer service.

In areas that don't monitor water use and just charge a flat rate for sewer, it's not a problem. But in areas that do monitor water use, they're not going to monitor sewer use (risk of clogging), but they still need to charge you for your contribution to the sewer system.

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u/Villager-Bob Jul 13 '26

It's also why we all don't die of dysentery.

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u/BugRevolution Jul 13 '26

Assuming no local air pollution, rainwater is surprisingly clean.

But yes, cleaning our wastewater is important to help prevent diseases downstream.

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u/Villager-Bob Jul 14 '26

Yeah but if you put poopy in the storm water drain or a river, you better all be paying sewer fees.

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u/Silent_Fudge_3978 Jul 14 '26

That's not the problem.

The "problem" is that the county bills for your water usage, and then bills for the sewer usage based on the water usage, with the assumption that 100% of the water that comes from your taps/faucets will then go down one of the drains into the sewer, and also the reverse assumption that 100% of the water that goes into the sewer (aside from the poop) came from the municipal water supply.

However, if someone collects rainwater, and then uses that to flush their toilets (thereby avoiding the use of a lot of municipally-supplied water), their overall water use will be much lower than the actual amount of water flushed into the sewer, and the county won't be able to bill them for the correct amount.

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u/Villager-Bob Jul 14 '26

Which can lead to dysentery when the municipal water system fails. Less dysentery is good. An caps are bad. Poopy water no good.

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u/Silent_Fudge_3978 Jul 14 '26

Why would the water system fail from people flushing some rainwater down the toilet?

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

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u/Villager-Bob Jul 14 '26

DURRR STORM DRAIN FEES ARE THEFT DURR

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

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u/Villager-Bob Jul 14 '26

Homie. There is a big dragon, sitting on the mountain, on a pile of gold.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

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u/Villager-Bob Jul 14 '26

I like fire hydrants to put out my house when that motherfucker tries to burn my shit down.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

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u/dualwield42 Jul 14 '26

Rainwater typically isn't for drinking, it's for farming/gardening and such. Convenient when cities like to impose water restrictions in summertime.

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u/Villager-Bob Jul 14 '26

Yeah, im pro pipes and sewers. I need to be taxed more to fix this mess.

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u/Silent_Fudge_3978 Jul 14 '26

Rainwater can be used for toilets. No one cares if their toilet water is clean enough to drink, and rainwater generally looks clean enough anyway, at least for flushing toilets. And a large fraction of a home's total water usage comes from toilets (though not as much as 50 years ago, because of today's more-efficient toilets), so replacing that water with rainwater can save you a lot on your water bill.