
The Village is not recommending it and if you do, you will be charged the normal water and sewer rates for use. Bellevue has a relatively new water system that have most of the water services buried deep under the current frost levels. As such we have had only 10 water services freeze over the past month. The water utility staff have worked long hours to restore water to those properties. Those frozen services are the only properties the Utility allows to run water continuously without additional use charges. The utility keeps close track of the water to account for the additional unmetered use.
Most homes use enough water throughout the day and weekend to keep the services open. We have heard that some residences program dishwashers, washers, and water softeners to run during the night to prevent long hours of nonuse. Businesses with water service under the parking lot are particularly susceptible to deep frost freezing. It is difficult to determine where those are, but if your water service does freeze up, please call the Village Offices at 468-5225 any and your concern will be addressed.
The main reasons the Village has not recommended running water like other communities is that we have not had the freezing issues and the cost associated with running the water. The Village pays for every gallon of water, whether it is billed to the resident or not. If everyone in the Village ran their water as recommended, it would cost nearly $1 Million Dollars per month, and neither the Utility, nor the residents have that kind of money to invest in water.