We don't pay for water,there is no meter at the gate,we pay service fee or something...to pay for the running of the water treatment plant.Our water comes from the river going through the middle of town....if we run out of water something will be seriously wrong.We have water restrictions in summer,not from lack of water,but because the filters block with algae.
We were on tank water when our kids were young,but we could never get through a summer without buying water,so had to factor that into our budget.