Revenue from utility bills funds operation of a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure system, including projects to preserve and sustain the quality of life in Boulder.City Council recently discussed an increase in utility rates for 2022, but what is that money used for?Utilities are key to the safety and health of the Boulder community. City Council reviews utility rates annually to ensure the city can support the increasing costs to maintain and improve Boulder’s aging infrastructure, provide clean drinking water, keep our wastewater facility running and maintain water mains, sewers, the stormwater system and flood mitigation projects. Rate increases go into effect in January. For 2023, the average residential utility bill will rise by $7.60 per month. By paying your utility bill, you are supporting the Boulder community and funding a vast array of critical needs.
What do the different type of water utilities mean? The three utilities you pay into are the Water Utility, Wastewater Utility and the Stormwater and Flood Management Utility.
Here’s what each of those utilities do:
Water UtilityDrinking Water: A key component to the Water Utility is safe, clean low-cost drinking water. Water is essential to public health and community vitality. Part of your Water Utility fee funds Boulder’s two drinking water treatment facilities, which produce approximately 5300 million gallons of clean drinking water for the Boulder community every year.Despite this extensive infrastructure, the city provides water at the low cost of 44 glasses of water for a penny. Reinvestment in the system promotes generational equity so that our children and future community members have access to the same or a better system than we have today.Drinking Water Quality: Your utility fees support weekly, quarterly and annual water quality monitoring and reporting to ensure the city’s potable water is safe to drink. Going above and beyond regulatory requirements, the city proactively monitors over 450 water quality parameters. The vast majority of these compounds are not detected in the city’s drinking water. Staff also plan and implement projects to protect source water supplies and the drinking water distribution system.Water Infrastructure: A recent study estimated that over the next 25 years the United States must invest more than $1 trillion in underground water infrastructure. Locally, work continues on the Barker Gravity Pipeline, which delivers about one third of the city’s source water. This infrastructure is over 100 years old, and complete replacement is planned over a 12-year period. A recent city study identified +50 capital projects valued over $450M to address aging water infrastructure. Other projects help to maintain water system service goals, resolve operational challenges and increase water supply resiliency during planned and unplanned outages. The city continues to invest in critical needs to deliver safe drinking water and fire protection to the Boulder community.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up