|
Centre Daily Times January 9 2005
Installation of Bellefonte water meters to begin this week
By Anne Danahy; adanahy@centredaily.com
"Installation of water meters in and around Bellefonte will start this week as part of a project that could cost as much as $2 million.
Currently, the amount of water used by homes in the area served by the Bellefonte water system is not measured. Instead customers pay a flat fee of $40 a quarter.
Installing meters will change that, allowing the water authority to charge customers based on the amount of water they use. That may help conserve water, said Borough Manager Ralph Stewart. And measuring water use will help the authority -- now struggling to comply with state requirements that it not draw more than 5 million gallons daily from its water source, Big Spring -- pinpoint the location of any leaks.
"We certainly, as a system, have been routinely fixing leaks, but there's no way to tell whether a 40,000-gallon leak is coming from somebody's faucet in their home versus a main line coming down the street," Stewart said.
Todd Duffey, of PA Duffey in Sinking Spring, subcontractor on the project, said Parkview Heights and Brockerhoff Heights will be the first areas where meters will be installed.
Duffey also will install backflow preventers that will stop water inside a home from getting into the water system, eliminating the risk that household contaminants would also enter the water system.
Stewart said the project has an estimated cost of $1.5 million to $2 million, including labor and materials. The water authority has borrowed up to $2 million to pay for it.
That cost will be passed on to customers through increased rates. All customers now are seeing their rates go up $6 a month, to $58 a quarter. Eventually, after meters are installed in four to six months, flat fees will be replaced with fees based on the amount of water used by a household.
The goal is to establish the rates so that the average water user will still pay about $58 per quarter.
Bellefonte provides water to about 4,000 residential connections, serving about 10,000 people, in the borough and in parts of Spring and Benner townships.
While customers aren't paying directly for the meter and backflow protector installation, they may have to bear other costs.
If the service line that brings water from the property line into a house needs to be repaired, or if there isn't a place for the water meter to be installed, it is the homeowner's responsibility to pay to have the problem fixed, Stewart said.
According to a spokesperson at Ishler's Plumbing Heating & Electrical in Bellefonte, replacing a service line costs roughly $30 to $40 a foot. The cost varies based on the depth of piping, rock and excavation required. A firm estimate would require a site inspection.
Duffey said after meters are installed in the first two areas, he'll work his way into the central borough area, where houses are older and could have more problems.
"The center of town, which is the oldest, usually isn't the best of shape," Duffey said.
Stewart said customers are also being urged to purchase expansion tanks. Such a tank gives hot water or steam a place to go when it expands, instead of going into the main line. An expansion tank costs about $55, not including the cost of installation."
|
|
