I was trying to save money on my water bill

I moved into a new apartment recently. The rent is cheaper than my last place, which is good cause that extra cash can go towards bills. And I have still been employing other techniques to save money. You know - unplugging things to save on phantom power charges and trying to not use much water to keep the water bill low.

Then I get a water bill a few weeks ago. It was $28.25, which was about what I expected. Then I notice how the service date is 1/1/08 - 1/31/08. Well, I did not move in until 1/26/08 so I instantly got mad that I was getting charged for an entire month. Then I read the fine print.

"Residents shall pay a percentage not to exceed 99% of the total water and sewer usage. The total amount shall be divided equally among the complex. The first billing cycle shall reflect the water usage from the first day of the move in month. Resident will not be charged for the move out month's usage."

Now, I have lived in a lot of different apartment complexes over the last 10 years, but this is the first time I have ever encountered something like this.

Basically, it reads to me that it does not matter what I do to try to lower my water bill as I have to split the water cost with every other apt. in this complex. That is hardly fair for the smaller apartments that have one or two people to have to split with the larger apartments that have a big family.

What a bummer.