In an effort to encourage water conservation, the Stafford Board of Supervisors has raised the water rates for customers that use the very highest volumes of water. The rate increase will not affect over 90% of water customers in the County.  

A study of water usage conducted by the Department of Utilities showed that last summer a small percentage of Stafford’s residential customers accounted for a disproportionate percentage of residential water usage.  The average consumption for these high volume users was over 30 thousand gallons compared to a typical household of three which uses 6,000 gallons a month.

“The higher fees are necessary to emphasize the critical importance of water conservation during the summer months, particularly among high volume residential users,” said Dale Allen, Acting Director of Utilities. “The increase is in response to ‘excessive discretionary’ water demands, especially for customers who use a high volume of water outside of their residences to irrigate landscaping and yards, and to fill pools.”

The Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance at their meeting on June 17 to increase the water fees paid by residential customers who use more than 20,000 thousand gallons of water per month. The ordinance goes into effect July 1, 2008, and will be reflected on bills beginning August 1. Residential customers who use more than 20,000 gallons in one month will be charged a rate of $23.55 per thousand gallons. Rates for use under 20,000 gallons per month are unchanged.

Beginning July 1, a residential customer who uses 25,000 gallons of water in one month will be charged $224.82, compared to $146.32 under the previous rates. Below is a comparison of selected monthly water and sewer bills under the old and new rates:

Consumption       New Bill        Old Bill       Change

20,000                $107.07       $107.07       0.00

25,000                $224.82       $146.32     $78.50

35,000                $460.32       $224.82     $235.50

Customers with irrigation meters will be charged the bulk rate of $13.00 per thousand gallons, up from $9.90. This increase will affect some businesses, public facilities and homeowners’ associations. The $13.00 rate is comparable to charges in neighboring jurisdictions, and will eliminate a perceived discount for bulk water purchased in Stafford.

Even though the Board of Supervisors has lifted the water supply emergency that was declared in August 2007 because of the severe drought, customers are urged to continue to use water wisely. The end result will be that peak water demand periods will not exceed the capacity of our water treatment facilities to produce the water, water tank levels will stay up, and lower water usage will be reflected in lower water bills.    

More information about the new rates is available on the Department of Utilities Web site at www.co.stafford.va.us/utilities, or by calling the department at (540) 658-8630.

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