- March 25, 2026
Dear Editor:
Every once in a while, someone on my Ring camera group complains about the water in Palm Coast being “yellowish.” This inevitably launches a wave of complaints about putting up with water that looks too gross to drink.
But then, that little wave is followed by a tsunami of complaints about the price we must pay, in Palm Coast, for the water we’re not happy with. And this is inevitably followed by dreadfully sad stories of how residents must weigh the pros and cons of even staying in our beautiful city due to the ever-mounting costs.
Most in our local Ring are fed up with the city throwing pallets of money at any problem or improvement that comes down the pike. Now don’t get me wrong, we all love living in Palm Coast, but we’re fed up with the city government shaking us down for every last penny.
After seeing this, I checked to see the cost of water in the last places our family has lived. In Panama City, Panama, there is a population of around 2 million city inhabitants. We recently paid the city water company $15.42 a month, which included $7.92 for water, and $7.50 for trash pickup. How is it that our technologically advanced city needs to charge much, much more for water that no one is happy with?
Our small family of three generates a water bill of around $248 a month. That is $2,976 a year for yellow water. I figured we could cut back by reducing time in the shower, the use of the dishwasher or not leaving the water running when we brush our teeth. But I discovered that those steps don't conserve much water. The city’s water bill is rigged so that your base cost will remain extraordinarily high regardless of any attempts to conserve.
I feel that it’s time for our city to rein in the alarming costs associated with living here. Rounding the cost of water to $3,000, and then adding our property tax of approximately $4,500 and electricity payments of $2,500 a year, comes to about $10,000, after senior homestead exemption.
But I’m not here to battle FPL. I’ve lived in Florida off and on for probably 40 years. My interest is the enormous costs that residents must pay simply to have running water that we’re happy with as it comes out of the faucet (one family on Ring lamented that they must use coloring agents in their toilet tank so it doesn’t look like there’s always light-colored urine in the bowl).
I’d be curious to ask AI, “How can the city of Palm Coast use the current state-of-the-art technology to provide better water quality at a reduced cost to the residents?” I would imagine that there must be a way to cut costs, and to provide clear water.
Or maybe I’m the only one upset about this; well, me and my Ring neighbors. So, I'll ask the members of our community, “What say you?”
Marc Stevenson
Palm Coast
