Is Water-Efficient Tech Bad For Utilities?
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
Water-efficient technology has been eating into water utility revenue for the last two decades, and lately many companies say they are feeling the strain.
"Utility officials say they understand that charging more for water because demand has dropped might seem to violate a basic premise of Economics 101. But utilities that generally charge by the number of gallons used are beginning to feel the financial pinch of 20 years of environmentally friendly fixtures and appliances, as older bathrooms and kitchens have been remodeled," the Washington Post reported, citing utility experts.
The trend is particularly visible around technology based in the home. Toilets use far less water than they used to.
"Federal laws aimed at conserving water limit toilets that once needed up to seven gallons per flush to 1.6 gallons. Shower heads that spewed up to eight gallons per minute are being replaced with sprays of about 2.5 gallons," the report said.
The upshot is that many utilities have watched their revenue stay flat for decades. At the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in Maryland, water consumption has been level "since 1995 even while the utility added 71,000 new accounts from development and population growth," the report said.
It doesn't help that the need for costly infrastructure upgrades is growing by the day for utilities across the country.
"Adding to the problem is the fact that consumption is falling as costs are mounting to upgrade sewer systems and repair and replace aging water pipes, some more than a century old, that are bursting after decades of decay and neglect. Meanwhile, utilities’ costs — electricity, chemicals and labor — have continued to rise," the report said.
As Alan Roberson of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) explained it in the report: “Pretty much every utility across the country is seeing it. It’s a combination of infrastructure needs going up as per capita water usage is going down.”
The infrastructure situation is dire and worsening.
"At the dawn of the 21st century, much of our drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. There are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year in the United States," according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. The cost to replace every pipe would add up to $1 trillion, the report said, citing AWWA.
Environmentalists see the trend toward conservation as positive, especially in light of record droughts and water scarcity problems around the world.
"Despite the shortfall in utilities’ revenue and the effect that has on water rates, it was great to see how much better we are managing the amount of water we use," a reader with a concern for water scarcity wrote in a response letter to the Washington Post.
Some even feel water conservation could benefit utilities.
Water efficiency is just one among many ongoing difficulties for water utilities. Regulatory compliance is another big challenge. At utilities, "you have a cesspool of financial worries," the Kansas City Star reported, citing a research paper by the consulting firm Black & Veatch.
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