Billing Methodology
Development Project
How Does NEW Water Calculate Bills for Its Customers?
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions
Who are NEW Water’s customers?
How often does NEW Water issue
invoices?
Do residents receive invoices from
NEW Water?
How are customers of NEW Water
invoiced for wastewater treatment
services?
How is each customer’s wastewater
flow and loadings invoiced?
Why are there unmetered and
unsampled wastewaters?
What is the frequency of wastewater
flow metering measurements?
What parameters does NEW Water
sample?
How does NEW Water collect and
analyze samples?
Answers
NEW Water currently provides wholesale wastewater treatment
services for 18 municipal customers comprised of cities, villages,
towns and sanitary districts in Northeast Wisconsin.
NEW Water issues wastewater treatment service invoices on a
monthly basis to its 18 municipal customers, who then in turn bill their
customers/residents.
No. NEW Water issues invoices directly to its municipal customers.
Those customers in turn bill their residents, often adding on
surcharges or their own recovery fees, independent of NEW Water.
NEW Water’s billing rates incorporate a fixed charge, which covers
15% of NEW Water’s total annual revenues to cover debt and capital
payment, and a variable charge which is based on each customer’s
wastewater flow and loadings.
NEW Water has four methods to invoice a customer for its wastewater
flow and loadings. These methods were approved by the NEW Water
Commission and are contained in either the Sewer Use Ordinance or
within sewer service agreements:
1) Metered flow and sampled wastewater
2) Metered flow and unsampled wastewater
3) Unmetered flow and unsampled wastewater
4) Population Equivalency
NEW Water adheres to established guidelines and criteria to
determine when a drainage basin is metered and/or sampled. NEW
Water strives to meter every customer whenever possible. It is not
technically and/or economically feasible, however, to individually meter
and sample every pipe location which enters into the system. In many
instances the flows are too low or inconsistent to obtain reliable test
results.
NEW Water’s flow meters provide continuous flow monitoring data.
The data can be imported from 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes,
hourly to daily increments.
NEW Water analyzes wastewater samples using four strength
parameters: Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Total Suspended Solids,
Phosphorus, and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen.
NEW Water’s Field Services Department is out in the sewer service
area on a regular basis, collecting wastewater samples from manholes
and from metering stations each day. A wastewater sampler is
programmed to take a “sample” (25 to 50 milligrams) of well mixed
wastewater at established flow frequencies, like every 10,000 gallons.
NEW Water sets the sample frequency appropriately to the flow
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District
2231 North Quincy Street | Green Bay, WI 54302 | Phone (920) 432-4893
What is the frequency of wastewater
sampling?
How are my invoiced wastewater
strengths determined if my community
is not sampled daily?
How are unmetered and unsampled
wastewater units determined?
What is the I/I (inflow & infiltration)
charge on my invoice and how is it
determined?
Why is NEW Water reviewing the
customer billing methodology?
How can I find out more about NEW
Water’s services?
condition and strives to collect about 45-50% of the sample container
size. The collected wastewater samples are returned to NEW Water’s
Wisconsin State-Certified Laboratory for analysis per established
laboratory standards and procedures.
The sampling frequency at each location varies based on the
variability of the wastewater. More variability equals a higher sampling
frequency. The following are the current sampling frequencies used by
NEW Water:
1) Daily
2) 1 week every 2 weeks
3) 1 week every month
4) 1 week every 2 months
5) 1 week every 3 months
NEW Water’s computerized billing system will average the strength
data for a rolling 12 months. Example, March 2014 invoice: The
program will utilize the average unit concentration from 03/31/13 to
03/31/14 and apply it to the recorded daily flow to derive the daily
mass of each parameter.
The unmetered and unsampled wastewater units are determined from
comparable preselected meter stations that exhibit a strong residential
with a minor commercial wastewater mix.
A regression analysis is performed on each unit parameter to
determine the appropriate units based against the 30-year average
precipitation amount.
The wastewater I/I (inflow & infiltration) charge is for
theoretic/calculated leakage into the NEW Water owned Interceptor
system that enters downstream of meter stations. The process for I/I
distribution is defined in the Sewer Use Ordinance.
Older sewer pipes within the system (greater than 20 years) are
assigned 700 gallons whereas newer pipes (less than 20 years) are
assigned 200 gallons per inch mile.
A customer’s portion of the daily I/I amount is determined from their
pervious year wastewater flow contribution. Essentially, if customer “x”
contributed 3.2% of the annual flow to the Green Bay Treatment
Facility they would pay for 3.2% of the calculated I/I charge.
After 40 years, the greater Green Bay community has changed
significantly, as has the composition of NEW Water’s customer base,
and product it receives. In April 2014, NEW Water launched a Billing
Methodology Development Project to review how well the status quo
billing methodology is performing, research alternative wastewater
treatment service billing methodologies, engage municipal
stakeholders, compare options against the status quo, and
recommend a framework for a new billing methodology.
NEW Water has proudly been serving greater Northeast Wisconsin
community for more than 80 years, 365-24-7. NEW Water treats on
average 38 million gallons of water each day before returning it clean
to the environment.
For more information, please visit our website:
www.newwater.us