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The following is an adapted version of an article published by the News of Delaware County. The original was entitled "This sewer talk may be the way to go for local towns" and was published on 12/06/06.
This sewer talk may be the way to go for local towns. We’d like to talk to you about storm water and sewage. Still with us? Good, because this is also about money out of your wallet, flood control and pollution.
So let’s talk sewage.
Clean water comes into your house. Dirty water leaves, via tubs, toilets and sinks. That water goes to a treatment plant operated by Philadelphia, a regional sewer authority that treats much of the sewage from East Lansdowne and Upper Darby. The water is cleaned up and sent back out, eventually ending up in a river. Philadelphia bills the Upper Darby Township which bills East Lansdowne for the cost of the treatment. The municipalities bill you based on how much water came into your home last year.
Now take a deep breath, because here’s where it gets complicated.
In theory, the amount of water coming into your house should be the same amount that leaves.
But it’s not.
Thanks to aging local sewer lines, some dating back more than 100 years, storm water is getting into the sewage. At Philadelphia’s end, all water looks the same – dirty – so it’s been treating the storm water along with the sewer water. That means a higher cost to the regional authority.
Upper Darby, looking for a win-win situation, is now requiring East Lansdowne to meter their sewer lines so a more accurate record of how much water is actually leaving a town can be made.
Twenty percent of your sewer bill will be based on the readings from the new meters the first year they are used in 2008. By 2012, your total sewer bill will be based on the meter reading.
Experts expect sewer fees to go up as Upper Darby gets a more accurate reading of how much water is actually leaving East Lansdowne. Driving that higher cost is all that extra storm water.
So where’s the “win-win” part of this deal?
As townships and homeowners face higher sewer costs, it will compel municipalities to plug up the leaks in their aging sewers, to make their sewer lines more efficient, ultimately lowering the amount of water that needs to be treated and potentially lowering the costs to us. Good for Philadelphia, Upper Darby, and hopefully good for East Lansdowne.
Some communities, like Aldan Borough, already see the possibilities and are taking steps to upgrade their sewers. Others will have to follow suit if they want to keep sewer costs in line – no pun intended.
There may be some grumbling ahead, but Upper Darby thinks the metering and the upgrades are a good idea. An efficient system is good for cost controls and it prevents an unnecessary waste of water.
It’s also good for the environment by reducing storm water pollution and flooding problems. In fact, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has conducted its own study of the storm water infiltration problem and has created a 20-year plan for municipalities to fix the problem.
According to the Pennsylvania DEP Web site, “proper management of storm water becomes more important than ever in protecting downstream property, and the quality of our streams and rivers.”
It would be nice if “lower costs” and “good for the environment” could be uttered in the same sentence. Hopefully, local municipalities will be up to the task. |
