Price of water is about to go up, again
Water authority approves 4.5 percent rate increase
The Bristol County Water Authority board of directors recently approved another rate increase.
Effective March 1, water authority customers across Barrington, Warren and Bristol will face a 4.5 …
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Price of water is about to go up, again
Water authority approves 4.5 percent rate increase
The Bristol County Water Authority board of directors recently approved another rate increase.
Effective March 1, water authority customers across Barrington, Warren and Bristol will face a 4.5 percent rate hike. For the average customer, the rate change will result in an increase of about $2.30 per month or $7 each quarter.
Bristol County Water Authority Executive Director Pam Marchand said the rate increase will help pay for infrastructure improvements, including the construction of a pipeline connecting the Bristol County Water Authority to water systems in East Providence and Pawtucket.
"This year, the board was really concerned about the infrastructure work," said Ms. Marchand.
The 4.5 percent rate hike, which follows three straight years of 3.25 percent increases, will help pay for a variety of projects, including the connector with East Providence, some water main replacements, and a new pump station in Bristol.
Ms. Marchand said the pipeline project connecting BCWA with East Providence and then later to Pawtucket will be done in phases — the first will cost about $6 million, and the second phase will cost about $25 million.
The rate increase could have been higher, said Ms. Marchand, but the water authority recently paid off the debt on the cross-bay pipeline project.
The BCWA director said local water authority customers pay some of the higher rates in Rhode Island. She said that was due, in part, to the infrastructure work and the amount of water East Bay residents use.
"If our ratepayers used more water, the rates would come down," she said.
Ms. Marchand said the water authority's infrastructure improvements are also quite costly. For example, it costs between $250 and $300 per foot for water main work, depending on conditions underground. And replacing a water tank, such as the one on Fountain Avenue in Barrington, will likely cost about $1 million. Ms. Marchand added that the Fountain Avenue water tank will need to be replaced within the next five years.
"All these things are very expensive," she said.
