Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 August 29

= August 29 =

How much is tap water that's very cheap by US standards? Third world? First world?
Only counting water systems that don't need a source of income besides water fees. If price varies by amount consider the average or median amount per water meter. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 02:29, 29 August 2018 (UTC)


 * I think this will need clarification: you want to know what is the percentage, in the world, of the tap water, which is cheaper than the average price of tap water in the USA, in terms of cost per meter cube delivered to the consumer?
 * Or you want to know the cheapest price paid today for tap water in the 3rd world, and then in the 1st world?? --Lgriot (talk) 12:45, 29 August 2018 (UTC)
 * The second and also the cheapest per meter cube in the US if there's much difference. Little or no pumping or treatment besides chlorine is possible in the US so it might be systems that don't need pumping up a water tower like well water/flat areas. Or extensive water treatment. Building a water tunnel can negate both advantages at once though. Very expensive. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 17:26, 29 August 2018 (UTC)
 * The article Water tariff links to several surveys of pricing in the references.70.67.193.176 (talk) 17:36, 29 August 2018 (UTC)


 * This source has the cost of tap water for the 30 largest cities in the U.S. This has the costs for various major worldwide cities outside of the U.S.  -- Jayron 32 17:35, 29 August 2018 (UTC)


 * That 2nd source seems iffy. They mistakenly place Taipei in Thailand, not Taiwan, and the statement that "Daegu, South Korea averaged 163.5 U.S. cents per 200 cubic meters" seems suspect, too, as that's something like 50 times less than the lowest city listed on the chart, and they switched from units of dollars to cents.  Maybe it is supposed to be in dollars. I also was only able to view it once before they slapped up a paywall. SinisterLefty (talk) 11:59, 1 September 2018 (UTC)


 * U.S. cents per 200 cubic meters for Daegu in the description is clearly just a typo (wordo? editing error?), as everything else is given in U.S. dollars per 200 cubic meters, including Daegu's 163.5 entry in the chart (which falls nicely between Gwangju's 149.58 and Seoul's 172.85). -- ToE 17:48, 1 September 2018 (UTC)


 * I thought that too, but then they said that SK had some of the lowest water prices, and that price would put it in the high range. I suspect whoever made the observation that this price was low didn't understand that the units were wrong.  If so, that makes a 2nd mistake, or 3rd, counting them not knowing the difference between Taiwan and Thailand. SinisterLefty (talk) 19:02, 1 September 2018 (UTC)


 * In Britain the term "water rate" means a fixed annual charge based on the "rateable value" of the property, which is theoretically the income you could earn by renting it out.  So the more you use the cheaper it gets.   Some properties do have water meters. 86.133.58.87 (talk) 11:45, 30 August 2018 (UTC)