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 Bayfield sewer rates increasing
12/28/2012 By: Times staff
Bayfield sewer rates will increase 5 percent starting in January. The town board approved the increase on Dec. 18. The additional money will be used to secure a $600,000 loan for sewer collection system repairs, according to Town Manager Chris La May.
The town’s sewer collection system experiences ground water infiltration during the spring and summer months. The groundwater level rises and infiltrates the system through weakened joints and cracks in the lines. Groundwater infiltration increases the hydraulic loading (total volume) at the sewage treatment plant, pushing the plant’s design capacity and negatively impacting the biological treatment process.
To address the infiltration, the town proposes to slip-line the main sewer collection lines rather than replace aging lines. Pipe lining would be completed with thermoformed or thermoplastic (PVC) pipe or cured-in place-pipe (CIPP).
The liner material is rapidly pulled through the host pipe from manhole to manhole while the liner material is still flexible and then expanded and cured, generally through the application of steam, to form a hard, durable liner material. Pipe lining products conform to the interior of the host pipe so that there is no gap between the liner pipe and the host pipe. Services are then re-established remotely using a robotic cutter traveling inside the pipeline.
On June 1, 2012, the board of directors of the Colorado Water Resource and Power Development Authority approved the town for a $600,000 Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund (WPCRF) direct loan to conduct repairs. The loan is for 20 years at an interest rate of two percent.
The loan was approved with the condition that the town increase the sewer user rate to meet the authority’s rate covenant for the loan. The rate covenant requires that the annual operating income to the town’s sewer fund exceeds annual debt service by 10 percent.
The 5 percent increase equates to an additional $2.10 per equivalent residential tap (ERT) per month and is expected to generate approximately $35,000 annually.
The town is concluding an extensive planning effort, which includes a survey of the existing collection systems, evaluation of collection system capacity for future growth, and identification of capital improvements necessary to accommodate growth. Upon completion of the planning effort, town staff will reevaluate the water and sewer rate structures to assure long term needs are addressed.
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