WSA Increases Sewer-Use Rate By 15 Percent

By Andrew Gorosko

The Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) has increased the sanitary sewer-use rate by more than 15 percent, in order to meet rising operating costs at the Commerce Road sewage treatment plant, especially for electric and natural gas utilities.

 Also, the WSA has raised by exactly 15 percent the separate sewer-use rate charged to Nunnawauk Meadows, a 134-unit rent-subsidized housing complex for the low- and moderate-income elderly at 3 Nunnawauk Road.

 The sewer-use rate hikes came on September 20, following a WSA public hearing at which no one spoke, according to Public Works Director Fred Hurley.

Following the public hearing, WSA members unanimously approved the sewer-use rate increases.

The new sewer-use rates will go into effect on January 1, 2008, and will be reflected in the quarterly sewer-usage bills issued on April 1, 2008, according to Mr Hurley.

The rate increase affects users of both the central sewer system and the Hawleyville sewer system.

The general sewer-use rate has increased from $5.99 per thousand gallons to $6.89 per thousand gallons, representing a rate increase of 15.28 percent.

The Nunnawauk Meadows rate has increased from $2 per thousand gallons to $2.30 per thousand gallons, reflecting a 15 percent rate hike.

In its action, the WSA refers to the Nunnawauk Meadows sewer-use rate as the rate charged to “federal/state subsidized housing for low- and moderate-income seniors.”

Rising energy costs, in the form of electric rates and natural gas rates, are the primary cause for the proposed sewer-use rate increase, according to Mr Hurley. The WSA uses electricity and natural gas to operate machinery at the sewage treatment plant on Commerce Road.

The volume of residential wastewater discharged by users into the two municipal sewer systems varies. Some users may discharge as little as 4,000 gallons of wastewater per quarterly billing period, while others may discharge more than 20,000 gallons.

Assuming that a residential sewer user is billed for discharging 20,000 gallons of wastewater into the sewer system per quarter, under the new rates, his or her quarterly bill would be $137.80, compared to a previous bill of $119.80.

The WSA employs a flat ten-percent discount in its billing system to account for water that may be drawn from taps, but not discharged into drains, such as water that is used to fill swimming pools, to water lawns and gardens, and to wash automobiles. The gallonage figures used in calculating sewer bills are based on water meter readings.

The last time that the WSA increased the sewer-use rate was in late 2005.

At that time, the general sewer-use rate increased from $5.70 to $5.99 per thousand gallons.

When the central sewer system began operation in September 1997, the sewer-use rate was $4.40 per thousand gallons.

The central sewer system serves the Borough, Taunton Lake North, Sandy Hook Center, Nunnawauk Meadows, Fairfield Hills, Garner Correctional Institution, and several public schools. The town built the $34 million central sewer system in the mid-1990s to correct groundwater pollution problems caused by numerous failing septic systems.

The town operates a second, much smaller sewer system in Hawleyville, which sends wastewater to the Danbury sewage plant for treatment. That sewer system was built in 2000-01 to stimulate the economic development of Hawleyville. That system now serves Liberty at Newtown, which is an age-restricted condominium complex, and The Homesteads at Newtown, an assisted living complex.