Flint Barreling through Rainwater helps resident beat water bill increases

By Kristin Longley The Flint Journal FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- A lot of work goes into flushing Tom Cummings' toilet, but the Flint resident says it's well worth the effort. When the city of Flint raised its water rates in January last year and then again in September, Cummings got crafty and devised a way to beat the system. Rather than continue to pay $90 a month for water -- more than it costs him for gas to drive to and from work each month -- Cummings snagged some discarded barrels from a water softening company and used them to capture the rainwater that runs off his roof. Now, after every storm, Cummings and his wife transfer buckets of water from the outside rain barrels to the storage barrels he keeps in his basement. The rain water is used for laundry, and the discarded laundry water -- what he calls "gray water" -- is used to flush toilets. "I just figured I had to do something," said Cummings, 42, who has lived in Flint most of his life. "You don't realize how much water you use, actually, until you start carrying it." It takes about a barrel-and-a-half to do one load of laundry, he said, which only becomes a problem during a dry spell. One recent day, for example, he said they had to hook the washer back up to the water system to do a load of laundry. But there's always enough water to flush the toilets. He keeps the gray water nearby in five-gallon buckets, he said. "We don't drink it or cook with it," he said. The city raised its water rates more than 40 percent last year. Flint officials said they were just catching up to years of rate increases from Detroit -- where Flint buys its water -- that weren't always passed on to residents. Cummings said he saves about $50 a month using the rain barrels, but it's not just about the money. The city of Flint should have improved its water infrastructure years ago, he said, instead of letting more water get pumped through a leaky system. "Maybe we should try fixing that instead of pumping more in from Detroit," he said. "There's a lot of problems the city's facing, but I don't condone them sticking their hands deeper into my pockets." This year, the city's director of infrastructure, Howard Croft, has said that officials are working on a plan to break away from the Detroit system and fix Flint's leaking infrastructure. Two major water line leaks have already been addressed. Still, Cummings said he's against what he considers wasteful spending. As for his thrifty methods, he doesn't just apply them to water. He got rid of his television years ago, after the government-led switch from analog to digital TV. "I've always had kind of a little hippie in me I guess," he said. For entertainment, he said he listens to the radio, which he charges in his car to avoid using more electricity than necessary in his home. All of his light fixtures use energy-efficient LED bulbs. He doesn't have a computer or Internet. "There are no house lights I regularly use that draw more than 1.1 watts," he says proudly. There's at least one service Cummings is willing to pay more for: public safety. Cummings said with the area's declining residential property values, he wouldn't oppose a tax increase to support police and fire. "I totally support those guys," he said. "I would rather pay more money in property taxes and pay our Flint police and firefighters. But I'm totally opposed to paying more in water bills." Published: Thu, Apr 5, 2012