New Water Treatment Facility Will Bump Up Water Rates

The cost of operating the town's new water treatment facility, as well as the need to clean and replace old water mains, will lead to increased water rates

Stephen D. Rafferty, the town's water superintendent, announced the increase during an informational meeting for residents about the new facility at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth on Sunday. The existing rates have been in place since 2010.

The town is in the process of conducting a study to determine the new rates. The study, which is being done with the help of the town's engineering consultant, Tighe & Bond, is being funded through $30,000 approved as part of the town's capital improvement plan at Town Meeting in November.

"It's a 'this year' effort," said Mr. Rafferty regarding a timetable for determining the new rates.

Average water use in Falmouth is about four million gallons of water a day, Mr. Rafferty said, adding that usage increases in the summer and reduces during the winter months. In Fiscal Year 2015, the water department generated $5.4 million in revenue. That includes $2 million in water bills assessed to residents and another $3 million in "institutional, commercial, and excess water useage fees."

Construction of the $46.5 million water treatment facility near Long Pond is on budget and one-third of the way complete, Mr. Rafferty said. The facility is expected to be finished in the spring of 2017. Mr. Rafferty said that operation of the new facility is expected to cost "a couple hundred thousand dollars more a year." An additional operator will be needed for the new facility, he said, while electricity and other utility costs will also increase.

The cost of cleaning and replacing old water pipes in town will also impact the new water rates. Last spring, pipes were flushed and cleaned from Seacoast Shores to Mashpee, while additional cleaning was done to water pipes from Long Pond to Eel Pond this past fall. The town is aiming to clean 20 percent of the town's water pipes each year, Mr. Rafferty said.

"There's a pattern for how this all gets done," he said.

Another 28 miles of old water main piping also needs to be replaced. Some of the existing cast iron pipes in service are 95 years old, while Mr. Rafferty said others are original pipes that were first installed 115 years ago. The estimated cost of replacing the pipes is about $1 million per mile. He said the town plans to replace three miles of pipe annually over the course of eight to 10 years.

Source: CapeNews

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