The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-26

balls for rates ranging from i6 i-o
 10 six cents per 100 cubic feet, also
 Tor service charges based on tho size se the meter, for quarterly instead Of
 eml.annual bills, and has as its goal . self-sappo portlng water depart.
 nert. Average household conBuln- sr9 will continue to pay sl2 Q year tor water. including the service charge. but lower rates for large consumers arc expected to stimulate lso Of city water by large concerns,
 thereby increasing revenue.
 Controller Thomas M, Conion is ,haifInan of the committee, which has been functloninR since last
 pring. Other members are City
 Cagine0r Charles A. Root, Siperins
 endent Herbert ScNtt-smith, Frank oassin, assistant superintendent of water, and Aldermen John 8. Mona. gan, Daniel Drlscoll and William 1erardi.
 Tho text q the committees ss- port follows; :
 During the last World war. Wa. erbury was faced with the posslbil. v ot . serious water shortage res
 ulting from Q large expansion in industrial demand and to prevent
 reoceurrence, plans were drawn ID after thls war, for an enlarged water system which Is now ln the process of completion. From an
 engineering standpoint, tho plans irawn up took care of the proh- ems that citizens of Waterbury aced during that period. It was no intention of the Engineering Department to provide sufficient water reserves for the city of Wa. erbury under any clrcumstAnces which might arise during the sue. eedtng years. Sufficient supplies of vater were planned for in case of increased population or ln case the
 ity Of Waterbury found lt neces. ary to again meet any extraordin.
 " demands placed on the system
 y cur industrial consumers. Dur. ng the intervening years the de. elopment of the water system was pnly partly completed. Tn the 20's
 md early S0's tho Shepaug devel. ppnlent was finishod, but with the Impact Of the depression, complN- ion of the project was postponed While the Engineering Department vas concerned mainly with the problem of constructing and coln- pletsng Q very vital part og our vat0r syste:n, it was only natural hat the problem of making an tn. completed water system self sup- porting, did not receive sufficient houRht. To beSin witN, it was lrn- 'ossshlA to determine what the rate >ase should be without knowing bow much the system would even. uaiiy cost
 self.supportlne
 Last spring this administration determined how much it would cost o eoFnnlete the water system, and ,n tine basis ef fh's estimate plannaA he necessary flnanclng. Tn addi. ion, the leeisiature was assured hat if this plan of financing was unroved, the adm'p'stration would Draw up c Tete system which would nake the Water Department self INrnorting,
 Esrly last summer. with this in hind. and after the leoislpture had luproved the plan of financing. Mayor Scullv spnointed a commit ee composed of the undersi0ned tn nvestieate the Water Department A tor the purpose of developing Q rate vstem which would provide suffi- ient revenue to make this deuart. nent stand on it's own feet finan. iallv,
 Th's committee has made an ex- 1austive stucv of the Water De- bar'mert. and on the basis of this study is Of the opinion that the present. system of charFing for citv water is unsound and recommends hat it be cllanged. DurIng the past 70 years the large industrial con- eerns In Waterbury. even thoush he citv had planned a water svs- lem which would give them ample 'eserves for any eventualitv. have ound it profitable to increase their private water systems because the |;Ingie rate system made it eco- Ironically impossible for this type |Df consumer to use city water in arge amounts. All water. regard- ess of the amount used. was charged ht the same rate. Although the init cost of supplying e consumer lsing millions Of cubic feet of water yearly was obviously lower than the cost of supplying q small consum- sr, this large consumer was forced Do pay the same rate for all the water he used, or could use. as a consumer using a few thousand cubic feet yearly. The result has been hat the large industrial consumer used the minimum amount of. city water and depended mainly on pri- yate systems for his requirements. This has resulted in less than the maximum possible use of water by industrial consumers and has placed the expense of the water system nore and more on the shoulders of the taxpayer and the ether water consumers through increases in wa- ter rates made necessary because of eIais decreased consumption.
 It is obvious that the city faces two alternatives. If the present rate oasis is continued. the rate charged for water must be further increased thereby decreasing consumption pee cause of the increased cost. or a sound rate system must Do adopt ed which would encourage the in- dustrial consumer to use q larger volume of city water, make it prof. table for him to abandon his pri- vate system, and because of the in- creased consumption t should then become possible to eventually oe- crease water rates for all consumers Tn the meantime, it would tend 70 lessen the burden of the general taxpayer by making the Water De- uartment self supporting. The o0- jective chosen by this committee uas the latter. That is. to develop Q rate basis which would encourage, Instead Of discourage, the use Of city water and which would eventually nrovida M1ffieienk r@vAn4an tO make