RUBS in Pittsburgh?

Question

Are any of you using RUBS programs in or near Pittsburgh, PA?

How is it working out for you?
What did it cost to install/setup?
What RUBS company are you using?

Thanks.

Ken Latchers · Answer

I doubt anyone on here will know the Pittsburgh regulations, and I would not bank on a response anyway.

I did a search - there are a number of RUBS and submetering companies.  This was in response to Pittsburgh submetering water search:

http://www.multifamilyutility.com/pennsylvania/allegheny/submetering.html

Frankly, I would start with your water authority, and ask them if it is legal and if they are not sure. who would be knowledgeable on that?

Sometimes in addition, you need to address it in your contract also, and I would contact your attorney.

For your other questions, I would search on RUBS or submetering, and contact a few of the companies that pop up and ask them directly.

Michael D. · Answer

Awesome, thanks for the link.

I'll do some more research on my own, calling the water company, my manager and my plumber to see what they all think about it.

I'll report back what I find.

Michael D. · Answer

Ken Latchers, All good points. In fact, I did some learnamication since your post and discovered that I don't really want RUBS at all.

As you point out, RUBS (ratio utility billing system) is just a way of dividing up a bill *without* actually measuring individual usage.

What I really want is sub-metering.

I want to install some water meters and have somebody - maybe me - check on the usage each month and use that to divide up the bill.

Potential issues:
- Can I divide up the whole bill based on water usage, when the bill in fact includes water, garbage and sewer?
- Can the meters be read remotely so that I can do it myself?
- Would it be better to enlist the help of a company that handles the servicing - or does that just add complexity.

Anyone have experience doing this with their buildings?

Thanks!

Ken Latchers · Answer

from industry literature, I get the feeling that it saves perhaps 6-25% of water, that you will get perhaps 75-90% compliance, and you should di it in concert with installing all possible water savings methods (1-1.6 gpf toilets, low flow aeratorws and perhaps as low as 1.5 gpm showerheads (Home Depot has a nice $13 one from Delta that I like)

not sure how you "install" RUBS, since you are not doing anything except picking a company to calculate and bill your tenants using a pro-rata algorithm. With submetering there is installation.

Also you might want to explain more, as not everyone has a clue what RUBS is...

You can point out that to tenants what the showerhead will also cut their hot water bill, which lessens the impact of paying for water.