The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-26

pear O direct relation co the cost Of delivering that water Go the par- ticular consumer. This very evi- dent fact is ignored in our present rate system. All consumers, regard less cf tho cost of serving them, are charged i6 Ia cents per 100 cubic feet for all water used, There Ia, In addition, c minimum charge which varies from 4i200 to ea0.00 depending on the sire os tho meter used. This is applied if the con- suEi1er does not use sufficient water ae the prevailing rates Co amount to the minimum charge. When one considers the cost of bringing water, in an uninterrupted supply, to each consumer from such . distance as Litchfleld County, ct Q sufficient pressure to give service in the hilly districts of Waterbury, the mini. mum charge of 9i2.00 seems small by comparison with that charged by other communities. This haS been made particularly evident, dur. ing the past year, when the sur. rounding communities were forced to curtail consumption because the reserve supply was not ample enough during year of light rainfall.
 Tho present rate falls to reoog- nixe one of the cardinal prinelpleL of merchandising that by decreas- ing the unit cost 1t is possible to increase, the volume sold, and there. by increase the total revenue. This Is particularly true of Q water sys. teEl where tho unit cost of selling shows very little, # any, increase, as volume is expanded, Tt would be possible to sell the Soovlll Manu. facturing com ", for example, twice as much wa.er as it now uses with very little increase in operat ing expense. The fact that this company receives no quantity price, and therefore no induoement to in- crease consumption, has had the efs feet of causing it to decrease It's use of city water. Tn this particular case the result is glaging -- the 6covill Manufacturing company, although large taxpayer of the city of Wa- terbury, has increased its private water ssytem and has preferred 10 pay for It's water protection in the tax rate instead of through inc creased purchases of city water.
 Without the consumption oS large industrial users, which the water system was designed to take care of, the Water Department has oper. ated ct Q deficit, which was of. set by increased departmental charges, and, whether or not the public realised it, in an increase in tho tax rate to the extent of these increased departmental charges. At the present time, the water fund deficits of yesterday are represented by funding bonds, now outstanding, which the taxpayer Of today and tomorrow will Do called upon to re- deem.
 Sound Rate Daso ,,
 If Q sound rate base were In efs feet 1t would be possible for ths water consumers to receive the benefit of lower water bills, but una fortunately the longer the present rate continues, the longer the va. ter consumer, particularly the small consumer, will be called upon to make up the revenue which should be received from the industrial user, A scientifically sound rate base should solve these problems. Such Q rate system should accomplish four purposes:
 1. It should encourage instead of discourage the use of city water, and particularly discourage the drilling of wells and the expansion of private water systems.
 2. It should provide sufficient revenue to make the Water Depart ment self supporting, and should provide such additional revenue. as may be necessary, for depreciation In the form of replacements and renewals to the present water sys- tenn.
 3. It should provide for gradually reduced water costs as the nabilt- ties of the water fund are liquidated.
 {. It should eventually become Q very important source of revenue to the people of Waterbury which would be reflected in lcyer tax rate.
 There are three main types of water rates now used in the cities Of this country.
 1. The single rate for all consurn- CTS. the same as now used In Wa. terbury and generally discarded by both private and municipal systems.
 2. A so-called Step Rate which Is not highly regarded and is c form of graduated rate. Under this Q con- sumer is charged a rate based on the amount Of water used. This rate decreases with the amount O. water consumed. A large consumer under this plan would pay the low est rate on his entire consumption.
 3. A Block Rate which is gradu ated for different consumptions but under which each consumer pays the same for the same consumption. Each consumer can receive a lower rate if his consumption increases.
 Block Rate
 The Block Rate is recommended by the American water Works As- sociation and appears. by far, tl be the fairest. It Is used generally throughout the country and is the one which this committee recon mends that the City of Waterbury adopt. This rate recognizes ti.s fact that the unit cost of servi.ly different consumers varies with the amount of water used. Further, 1t encourages the large consumers to use more water because as their consumption increases the unit cost tends to decrease materially. This is clearly demonstrated in the at- tached schedule.
 It is further recommended that the City of Waterbury adopt . "Ready- -sserve" charge more gene erally called Q Service Charge. The city must keep It's plant ready at all times to serve a consumer when service is demanded. To do this the pumping stations. reservoirs, filter plants. transmission and dis trlbution mains with their access sories must ho maintained. The ia-