Del Norte System Improvements Applic

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will return to many of their wasteful water use practices within a few years after installation of meters. Average annual water usage within the town service area has varied from 374 to 536 gallons per capita per day (gpcpd). Average water usage per person in the Rocky Mountain area has been found to be :1:200 gpcpd. I , f' i! l" i' h f: A decrease in wasteful water use is very important, but an equally compelling reason to install meters and charge according to water usage js to provide a more equitable charging system. It is evident that the period during which an abundant inexpensive supply of water was available is approaching an end. As water becomes a more expensive commodity, charges for its use must become more responsive to varying usage rates in order to accomplish an equitable billing system. As water rates increase, use ,of the flat rate charging system is likely to cause dissatisfaction among water users. The small volume, thrifty water user will become increasingly dissatisfied when he is required to pay high water rates while the large volume, wasteful water user pays the same rates. This dissatisfaction is occasionally expressed by previously thrifty water users becoming very wasteful. The most equitable method of billing for water under the above described circumstances is to install water meters on each water service and charge according to water used. To encourage water conservation, an inverted block rate schedule should be adopted. The inverted block rate method of charging for water usage assigns a minimum charge up to a specified usage and then assigns higher incremental rates for larger volumes of water used. ~ I ,. v, ~ ! t .. r r I' ., ,i Table 5 Cost Estimate for Installation of Water Meters Item Unit Quantity Unit Price Total Price Water Meter wlRemote Readout ea. 800 210.00 168,000 Meter Pit w/cover ea. 800 280.00 224,000 Meter Yoke and fittings ea. 800 95.00 76,000 Estimated Total Construction Cost $468,000 Estimated Engineering Fees @ 10% 46,800 . Contingency @ 20% 93,600 Estimated Project Cost $608,400 C. Increasing water supply volume Improvement of Existing Facilities Increasing the pumping capacity of the Town's existing two well pumping facilities to their full decreed capacities would result in as much as 300 g.p.m. of additional water. As reported in Section II., A. herein, the existing wells each have a present pumping capacity of :1:750 g.p.m. A review of the Town's water rights as included in Section II., C. herein, indicate that both wells 14 .-