In response to certain questions relative to sewer metering, we asked PA American three questions, and what follows is their response:
- How will residents in condo complexes, in which the association is billed for water usage in bulk and included in the condo fee, be billed for sewer?
Upon acquisition, PA American will take Towamencin’s rates and continue to separately bill the residents as Towamencin has done. Eventually, if they remain unmetered, PA American would likely bill the condo association or apartment/condo building owner based upon metered usage for the building. It would be up to the condo association or apartment/condo building owner to arrive at a fair way to calculate the bill for each tenant. It is not uncommon for apartment owners to use the number of residents in the household in their calculation of a unit rate. This should be encouraged if it is not possible to separately meter each unit. The Township can take the lead in holding discussions with the condo building owners to determine if separate meters are possible and, if not, if a new rate can be formulated for the unit owners. PA American can participate in those meetings. The cost of meters will run around $350, plus the costs of the plumbing and electrical wiring (approximately $600).
- At current PA American Water rates, what is the typical amount or range that a customer will pay annually? For a single, couple, family of 3, 4, 5, etc. There must be industry data on usage.
Assumes 40 gallons per household member, per day (industry standard)
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- Does PA American Water offer (or can it offer) a deduct meter program for customers that have a sub-meter installed for their outdoor usage such as swimming pools or irrigation systems? Assuming usage of 25,000 gallons a season for a typical backyard pool that is an additional estimated $718.75 increase for a customer with a pool.
A customer can pay to have a second service line put in for outdoor water that does not enter the sewer system. We do not install deduct meters.
