As an FYI, our buildings are MF and not separately metered. We struggled for a long time about how to handle the outrageous water bills. Just 1 constantly running toilet can easily cost an additional $1,000 per month. Tenants rarely report these. (Why? They dont care! It doesnt cost them, after all) We looked at installing sub-meters but it simply was too complicated.
After we learned about the simplicity of the R.U.B.S water billing system, we fell in love! Its so easy & straight forward! No up front costs, no hassle.
To any Tenant who might complain that they didn't use much water that month (or that they were away a lot) we say: You pay for your Cable TV each month whether you use it or not. Water is no different, except that its way more important than TV.
RE: Common areas / Billing. After calculating each unit's % (we use a fillable spreadsheet - It takes 5 mins) we always deduct 10% for posterity. This way they can never complain that we are overbooking them. We have no lawn or grass to water and there really is no common water usage but if there were, we might take up to 12 or 14% of the bill and pass on the rest.
I guess I wanted to write this post to let other Landlords know that even if there are not separate water meters or sub-meters in your MF, you can still offload water to Tenants via R.U.B.S.
Guaranteed, they will use way less water so its a win-win for all: Tenants(lower water bills), Landlords(higher NOI) and the Environment.
