Recently, I commented about the amazing water conservation in our community.  The number of customers OWASA serves has grown 65 percent since 1991 and yet we are using less total water years later.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Why do rate increases go hand in hand with drought restrictions and conservation?  Think of those miles of pipe in the ground that you rely on and must stay in good condition.  Water utilities have very high fixed costs.  Inevitably, lower consumption leads to revenue gaps, which leads to higher rates per gallon.

Some customers complain that they are asked to conserve and then penalized for doing so.  In my opinion, however, the headlines and stories about rates often mislead us.

You see when the community conserves, OWASA’s and other utilities’ costs don’t go up.  They actually go down slightly.  For example, we use less energy to run our pumps and less chemicals to treat our water and wastewater.  That means we don’t need to collect more revenue in total.  Our average bills don’t need to go up because of conservation.

Somewhere in history, the world decided that water should be priced as an ordinary commodity by the gallon.  Imagine if the world instead had decided to look at water as a service rather than a widget.  I encourage you to look at water as a service and consider what your final monthly bill looks like for access to high quality water in the amounts you need.

But, yes with fewer gallons consumed, the rate for gallon often goes up.  Unfortunately, if your household doesn’t or can’t keep pace with the conservation of the community, your monthly bill might be the one that goes up while others see steady or lower bills.

If you’re looking for ideas about conservation and reducing your monthly bill, turn to the team at OWASA for conservation ideas and best practices.  Fortunately for OWASA customers, we’ve been able to able to avoid rate increases because of your conservation, we’re also able to push out the time horizon for new investments in water treatment facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, and reservoirs.  That will keep your bills lower for the long term.

Thanks for your conservation efforts.

— John Young
Chair of Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors

 

Have a comment or opinion you would like to share? Submit your commentary or column for the Commentators, on WCHL 97.9FM and Chapelboro.com.

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