I have received the Fayette County Water System notice about the Excessive Leak Protection Program and am writing to insist on a public unveiling of supporting data for this new fee.
It seems to me that $3 per month per household is an excessive amount to cover their losses for leaks in residential plumbing.
Depending on the source, I found that there are between 31,000 and 38,000 private residences in Fayette County. If you use 35,000 homes for an average, that works out to $105,900 per month that Fayette Water gains from this program. Using an average of $3 per thousand gallons, $105,000 equates to 35 million gallons.
Unless I’ve got my math all wrong, I find it hard to believe that they are losing that much water per month to inadvertent leaks on private property.
I don’t believe $3 per month is a budget breaker for most of Fayette County residents, and I think Fayette Water should be able to recoup its costs for lost water, but I don’t think this idea should be used to generate profit.
This plan should be substantiated to us customers with the appropriate data and used only to offset this problem.
Speaking of profit, I would also like to offer the idea of charging for using LESS water since we have been in a water restriction mode for some years now. Instead, I am charged a “minimum amount” of $18.48 for 2,000 gallons no matter how little water I use, and my sewage charge is also based on the 2,000 gallon minimum usage.
Being a single retiree and conscientious about conservation, I often use less than 2,000 gallons per month because I am frugal with water, but no matter, I still get charged as though I used the full 2,000 gallons.
What if they encouraged water conservation by rewarding us frugal customers by charging less for using less? This isn’t exactly a novel idea and might cause more people to try to use less water which in drought periods would be to everyone’s advantage.
Hugh B. Fulton Jr.
Peachtree City, Ga.
