City Meter, Inc.

The assumption that water into a customer's property is equal to waste water returned from a customer's sewer service has been found to be a poor estimate at best. Customers can water the lawn and garden, wash cars or fill swimming pools with water that will not be returned to the sewer system. Commercial customers often use public drinking water in the preparation of goods and services. The water purchased is often not returned to the sewer system. Conversely, customers can make illegal connections to the sewer service such as area drains, foundation drains, roof gutters and downspouts which will allow ground or rain water to enter the sewer system. Customers may also neglect to maintain private sewer infrastructure allowing groundwater to enter the system. From the foregoing, it is easy to see that sewer service usage varies depending upon the customer. To assume that water sold to a customer is equal to waste water returned by the customer is a false assumption. In reality, sewer service meters prove it could be much more or much less than the water sold depending on a number of combined customer specific factors.

The sewer service meters offered by City Meter, Inc. provide an accurate, low maintenance and low cost method of billing based on the actual volume of flow through the meter into the sewer collection system. Metered sewer billing is a fair practice where those who use the service pay for the amount of service they use. Those who conserve sewer use and do water lawns, gardens and fill pools with water will benefit from metered sewer billing. Those who have made illegal connections such as foundation drains, basement sump pumps, gutters and down spouts will pay for the sewer service they use. "Pay for what you use" promotes conservation and maintenance of private sewer system assets by the customer. It gives every customer a direct economic reason and motivation to care about sewer system resource use.

Sewer service is the last essential utility to remain un metered. The prior lack of direct economic motivation to conserve sewer use is believed to be responsible for the large quantities of storm water drained into the sewer collection systems. Metered sewers are efficient sewer systems. Your utility can dramatically decrease your sewer system flows and costs by metering all sewer service connections in your utility, Town or City.

Utilities should consider adopting local policies which require sewer meters be installed in each newly constructed structure. Implementing this policy would have little cost to the utility, but would help to reduce future peak flow growth.

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