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FakeNoose

(35,657 posts)
Mon Feb 19, 2024, 04:00 PM Feb 2024

Your water bill could increase $265 a year under proposed EPA rule, Philly water department says

Philadelphia Water Department says new river water standards could cost it $3 billion.



Philly Inquirer link: https://www.inquirer.com/business/philadelphia-water-rates-bills-epa-delaware-river-20240219.html

The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) says that a proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule to increase a clean water standard in the Delaware River would cost it $3 billion to comply — a cost customers would bear.

“Without significant financial support from the state or federal government, that cost will be passed on to customers in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods through higher water bills for years to come,” PWD said in a statement issued Sunday, just days before public comments close on the federal proposal.

It estimates that the proposed regulations would cost customers an additional $22.17 per month on their water bills, not $1.50 per month as calculated by EPA. That comes out to about $265 a year, PWD said in the statement.

PWD serves over 2 million people in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, and Bucks Counties by drawing water from the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers and cleaning it to EPA drinking water standards.
- more at link -

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Your water bill could increase $265 a year under proposed EPA rule, Philly water department says (Original Post) FakeNoose Feb 2024 OP
Why would the drinking water cost more? Think. Again. Feb 2024 #1
Water and sewer charges are frequently on the same bill MichMan Feb 2024 #2
I see... Think. Again. Feb 2024 #3
Looks like they are just going to have to meet the same standards as the rest of the river MichMan Feb 2024 #4
Yes, it's good that they are planning to keep the river healthy... Think. Again. Feb 2024 #5
Urine contains ammonia MichMan Feb 2024 #6
I'm not a scientist but... Think. Again. Feb 2024 #7

Think. Again.

(17,925 posts)
1. Why would the drinking water cost more?
Mon Feb 19, 2024, 04:21 PM
Feb 2024

The EPA standard being discussed applies to the cleaning up the waste water that is discharged into the river to bring it up to natural river water environmental standards.

Even the article states : The standard for river water as it runs freely is separate from the drinking water standard, which must be made safe for direct human consumption. and the EPA standard in question is for the freely running river water.

Wouldn't the cost for complying with this EPA standard be applied to the pollution source?

Think. Again.

(17,925 posts)
3. I see...
Mon Feb 19, 2024, 04:53 PM
Feb 2024

...so residential tap water users have to pay the cost of the industrial waste water that is causing the problem.

MichMan

(13,159 posts)
4. Looks like they are just going to have to meet the same standards as the rest of the river
Mon Feb 19, 2024, 05:05 PM
Feb 2024
It would mark the first time since 1967 that the EPA raised the bar for oxygen levels along the Philly stretch, essentially bring the Philadelphia stretch up to standards the rest of the river enjoys.

The biggest contributor to low oxygen rates is wastewater-treatment plants, particularly nine key plants along the river, including those owned by the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD). The plants release treated wastewater into the river. The wastewater contains ammonia, which can come from meat, blood, urine, and cleaning products. Ammonia eats up oxygen in the river as it converts to nitrate. That leaves less oxygen for fish.

If the EPA rule proposal is approved, plants operated by Philadelphia, the Camden County Municipal Authority, and Wilmington would all have to comply with new permitting overseen by the state DEPs in coming years. The plants were built decades ago without a way to get rid of the large amounts of ammonia in human waste.

Think. Again.

(17,925 posts)
5. Yes, it's good that they are planning to keep the river healthy...
Mon Feb 19, 2024, 05:19 PM
Feb 2024

...the question is why are residential water consumers paying for that process which is necessitated by the industrial (and probably agricultural) waste being dumped into the river?

(I admit I'm assuming that the largest percentage of the ammonia is an industrial and agricultural by-product, unless the article is trying to imply that a LOT of homeowners are flushing blood and meat down the toilet, which raises a whole bunch of other questions!)

Think. Again.

(17,925 posts)
7. I'm not a scientist but...
Mon Feb 19, 2024, 05:29 PM
Feb 2024

...I strongly suspect the industrial and agricultural waste going into the river far outwieghs the amount of ammonia from urine going through those treatments plants.

But I could be wrong of course, perhaps the Water Department really, really needs to upgrade their equipment after all.

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