Seattle residents don’t care about water, they care about money

The reason Seattlites have cut their water usage in half since the 1980s doesn’t have anything to do with environmental concerns, KIRO Radio’s John Curley said.

“You know why,” Curley asked. “We pay the most. “That’s why we use the least, folks.”

A study by Circle Blue shows Seattle has the highest water bills, The Seattle Times reports. A family of four pays $171.48 per month for water. It’s about $20 more than Atlanta, which pays the second most in water bills at $150.72 for a family of four.

Behind the top two, San Francisco ($126.51); Austin ($100.70); San Diego ($99.37).

“We jacked up the price for the infrastructure,” KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney said.

So Seattle has high-quality water with expensive bills to go with it, Tom and Curley pointed out. That leads back to Curley’s statement about why consumption has decreased. When a commodity, such as water, costs so much, people begin to take faster showers, stop watering the lawn and wash their car less frequently, Curley said.

“People don’t give a rip about the water,” Curley said. They care about the money.”