Utility FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Utilities
Where to start looking if you have high/unusual amount of water usage:
Toilets – test kit available at our office
Outside Valve
Water Heater
Water Softener
Sinks/Showers for drips
How to read your invoice for amount of water used:
Current reading minus previous reading (printed on your invoice)
Take the difference and multiply by 10 if you have a residential meter. This gives you total gallons used for the current cycle. This process can also be done on a daily basis to find out what you are using in a 24 hour period. Find your meter located inside your home. Some of them have lids that you have to lift up to read the digits.
Try to do this at the same time every day to give you an accurate number. The visual of your meter is a little different than what is printed on your bill. You will notice a 0(zero) at the end that doesn’t move. This is your multiplier. If you choose to use this zero in your recording of your readings, you would NOT multiply by 10.
Examples:
1/1/18 7:00 a.m. Reading 1253
1/2/18 7:00 a.m. Reading 1275
Difference 22 x 10 = 220 gallons used in 24 hours
Same Example using the zero
1/1/18 7:00 a.m. Reading 12530
1/2/18 7:00 a.m. Reading 12750
Difference 220 gallons used in 24 hours
Some of the newer meters do not have the zero and actually read to the gallon. The Village however bills to the nearest 10 gallons for all residential customers. Larger meters have different multipliers. Call the office if you need assistance
What to check if you have little/low pressure:
If you have a water softener, please check the filter. A lot of times these get clogged causing little or no pressure
What to do if you are selling/moving out of your home:
Call the office and inform us of the final date so that we can schedule a final meter reading
Supply us with a forwarding address so we can send your final bill.
Be prepared to pay your final bill in order to have the account taken out of your name and closed.
Provide the new owner’s name
What to do if you are moving into a new home:
Call the office to set up services in your name
Supply us with the date you are to take responsibility of the utility bills
Services supplied:
Village Residents – Water, Sewer, Trash and Curbside Recycling
Township Residents – Water and Sewer
All water customers are billed a monthly Water Tower Maintenance Fee
Water rates: Effective January 1 of each year. Additional rates can be found in the Ordinance Section of the website.
Trash and Recycling day in Commercial Point is Tuesday. Please put all trash out on Monday night to be ready for early pick up in some areas. All village residents will be provided a 96 gallon trash tote and a 65 gallon recycle tote (Curbside Program) from Rumpke. If you are interested in renting an additional trash tote on wheels, you will need to contact Rumpke on your own and let them know you are already set up for service through the Village of Commercial Point but you would like to contract with them for a tote. Rumpke’s number is 800-828-8171.
Rumpke will pick up one large item per residence per week. If you have furniture, (couch, chair, mattress etc.) it must be wrapped in plastic in order for the contractor to pick it up. A suggestion would be to purchase a paint drop cloth and wrap the furniture up in it and seal it with duct tape.
FATS, OILS, AND GREASE CONTROL
A leading cause of sewer blockages across the U.S. is the accumulation of FOG in the sanitary sewers. The greasy waste enters the sewers through connections from homes, food service establishments, and industrial wastewater dischargers.
FOG blockages may cause sanitary sewer overflows into local waterways and backups into basements of nearby homes and businesses. When homeowners have to hire a plumber to remove grease from their sewer service line, rates vary from $200 – $400 the first hour for response, with additional charges for extra time and after-hours service calls.
A basic grease blockage service call costs the Commercial Point Utilities Department at nearly $2,000 to respond. If the blockage causes a sewer overflow, the Village may pay fines for the discharge into the environment. The maintenance costs associated with the blockages are passed along to all sewer rate payers. These additional costs would be unnecessary if the problem did not exist. Clearly, the prevention of grease entering our sewers is the key to solving the problem.
WATER MAIN BREAKS
If water is spraying up or ponding in yards or street area during periods of no rain, it may be a main water line break. Please report suspected water breaks to 614-877-9248 immediately.
While breaks are often associated with winter weather, they can occur any time on both older and newer lines. Temperature changes may cause ground shifting which can put stress on the lines. During the spring and summer months, fire hydrant flushing can also cause shifts in pressure that can result in breaks.
Every attempt is made to keep the water service on during the repair, though some customers may experience reduced water pressure. In some cases, a water outage may be necessary.
The Utilities Department repairs only village-owned water lines and suburban-owned lines under contract. Property owners are responsible for making repairs to the owner’s service water line.
ADDING A WATER SOFTENER?
Installing a water softener is a matter of personal choice more than anything else. The water you receive from the Village of Commercial Point Water Treatment Plant meets every federal and state drinking water requirement for safety and quality. The Village’s source water is the Teays Aquifer, a vast underground water source in a limestone and gravel filled environment that results in noticeable quantities of iron, calcium, and magnesium.
Iron filters remove the iron and softeners at the treatment plant soften the water. By federal regulation, “finished” water cannot be zero grains of hardness because of a risk to persons who may have heart health issues. The water at your tap will generally have a hardness of 7-8 grains hardness, or 130 mg per liter.
If you are thinking of adding a softener, please choose wisely based on your own needs. Don’t buy more than you need. Keep in mind that the salesmen who come to your house are there to sell you something, and their “tests” will always show that you absolutely will benefit from something they have to sell. Our Village water treatment employees are LICENSED by the State of Ohio to operate the system and perform daily tests to guarantee your water quality. Are the salesmen State licensed to test your water?
TO FLUSH OR NOT TO FLUSH
Some years ago I saw an ad for a toilet that claimed, “This model is so powerful that it will flush 100 golf balls.” Kind of weird, I thought, and anyway would someone really try to flush golf balls down the pot? More recently I became familiar with water treatment and treatment facilities and I found that people really do flush all kinds of things; cell phones, rags, jewelry, and way more. Some accidently, of course, but none the less all this ends up in the waste water treatment stream.
A matter of concern though, is the kind of stuff that is advertised as “FLUSHABLE.” Like the golf balls, sure it will go down the hole, but then what? The only man-made product designed to go down the pot is toilet paper. Anything heavier than that should not be flushed. Baby wipes, diapers, make-up wipes, feminine hygiene products, and cleaning wipes should not be put in the toilet. They should be put in the trash.
Other things NOT to flush: pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, prescriptions, medical wastes, pills, paint, solvents, inorganic compounds, and food scraps, to name some of the major “non-flushable” items.
