Cistern! Don't want one, but being forced - experiences

But as far as I know, in many supply areas there is the possibility to deduct the amount used for irrigation with a second meter (only for garden water). It just costs an extra meter fee, but it can be worth it.

No matter where the water for the toilet flushing comes from

But how do they measure that if it came from the cistern? Do you have a wastewater meter?

If you use rainwater in the house, you need 2 meters. One for fresh water and one for wastewater. Otherwise, the public would be subsidizing your wastewater.

Oh, right, that makes sense. I just didn’t know that there are also wastewater meters. I would be interested to know how they work (purely technically), aren’t they at risk of clogging? So basically, you would need 3 meters. 1 for drinking water, 1 for wastewater, 1 for cistern water. You simply read the drinking water meter for drinking water. Wastewater only at the wastewater meter, but what is recorded at the cistern meter should be subtracted from the wastewater. And then wastewater would have to become so much more expensive that it all would be worth it.

What does the description of the cistern in the development plan look like?

That is probably different in each municipality. Until about 2 years ago, we only paid for the wastewater corresponding to the drinking water consumption. After that, we had to specify the roof area due to the use of rainwater (with us for toilets, washing machine) and now pay additional wastewater charges for this area. We do not have a separate meter for this. We built in 2002.

So I paid just over 2,500 euros for a 5sqm plastic cistern with a pump for the garden. Installation can then be done by yourself or, during the earthworks, you can have a larger hole dug for a small amount of money. Then it even pays off economically in 15-20 years …