By Alberto Gilman

The Water and Sewer Information Session on Thursday, June 11, brought the public and the Water and Sewer Department together to discuss the fiscal 2021 water rate increases for the city of Somerville.

Director of Water and Sewer John DeLuca presented and proposed a 7.5% water rate increase and 2.5% sewer rate increase with no change to base charges or fees for the 2021 fiscal year, a combined rate adjustment of 4%.

Average billing by the department is conducted tri-annually, every four months. For the average water bill, including base charge in 2020, condominiums pay $742, a single family home pays $950, double deckers pays $1,556 and triple deckers pay $2,162.

With this rate increase, condominiums will see a $24 bill increase, single family homes a $33 increase, double deckers a $59 increase and triple deckers will an $85 increase.

For water, the residential discount tier is still available and water rates continue to be less than a penny per gallon. The tier is also in place for sewer and those rates support both the sanitary and stormwater infrastructure overall.

Already a not-for-profit service, without sufficient revenue, according to DeLuca, service, repairs, and replacement and improvements cannot be done.

“Your city’s infrastructure and assets include 125 miles of water mains. We have over 128 miles of sewer, 29,000 water and sewer connections, over 4,000 manholes and over 1,600 fire hydrants throughout the city,” DeLuca said at the meeting.

The average lifespan of a water main is 50 to 100 years, but those numbers have been exceeded. According to DeLuca, 90% of pipes are over 50 years old and 70% are older than 100 years. Other reasons to replace these pipes include tuberculation, where minerals build up and reduce the diameter inside the pipe itself.

The services provided are clean water to homes and businesses, sanitary sewer service to over 80,000 plus residents, and sufficient water pressure and volume for firefighting, according to DeLuca.

A majority of water and sewer expenses go to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. 55% from water and 65% from sewer, both annually.

Alex Lessin, Director of Finance and Administration, concluded the meeting by discussing the AquaHawk Alerting system that is available for residents to be notified about any abnormal water usages.