Question: If the Board of Water Supply increases the water rate, will that automatically raise the sewer rate? At this rate many people can’t afford to use any water.
Answer: No, an increase in water rates charged by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply would not automatically raise the sewer rates charged by the city’s Department of Environmental Services. These are separate agencies with different jobs. The BWS is responsible for the potable water that comes into a household, while ENV is responsible for the wastewater that goes out, said Markus Owens, an ENV spokesman.
Many customers assume otherwise because their mailed bill lists both water and sewer service; the dual bill distinguishes the cost of each. That’s because ENV contracts with the BWS to do its billing, Owens said.
Charges for city sewer service most recently rose on July 1, 2016, by 8 percent. At this time ENV is not proposing another increase, Markus said.
Sewer charges consist of two components, a base charge and a volume charge, neither of which would be affected by an increase in BWS’ water rates, he said.
The base charge is a flat fee to cover ENV’s fixed costs to operate and maintain the municipal sewer system; the base charge is now $77.55 a month for a single-family home. The volume charge is based on a household’s water consumption, and covers ENV’s variable costs of transporting and treating the wastewater. The volume rate for a single-family home is $4.63 per 1,000 gallons used.
To calculate the volume charge, ENV assumes that 20 percent of the water coming into a household doesn’t end up going down the drain or toilet. This reduction, known as the “irrigation factor,” means that a household is charged for wastewater treatment of 80 percent of the water it takes in from the municipal water supply.
So, if you use more water, your sewer bill will rise, but not because of a water rate hike.
Q: Auwe! Didn’t they just raise the water rates? Now they want to increase them again? Don’t they realize people are barely getting by? I say no way!
A: “BWS’s last rate increase took effect July 1, 2015, when the systemwide rate was increased by approximately 9.65 percent,” according to the Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s website.
The agency wants to raise the price of municipal water over the next four years, starting in mid-2019, and seeks feedback on its proposals. Public hearings are scheduled for Honolulu (April 26), Kapolei (May 14), Kaneohe (May 15) and Mililani (May 24). You can get the details by checking online at 808ne.ws/waterhike, calling 748-5041, emailing contactus@hbws.org or following the BWS on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
The proposed increases would vary by customer type, as the agency tries to eliminate what it described as inequities in the current billing structure.
Residential customers in single-family homes would see the largest rate increases because these stand-alone households and duplexes currently pay 88 percent of the costs to serve them, leaving 12 percent to be subsidized by other classes of ratepayers, according to the BWS.
People living in multiunit buildings, from triplexes up to high-rise residences, also would pay higher rates, but the percentage increases would be smaller than for single-family residences, to eliminate the subsidy over time.
Among other changes, the agency wants to replace the flat $9.26 fee it charges each customer every time a bill is rendered with a monthly charge that would vary according to the size of the customer’s meter. Customers with larger water meters would pay more.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
