Trending
The Altoona Water Authority’s website has a page devoted to conservation tips.
The state Department of Environmental Resources publishes a fact sheet with similar tips.
Ditto for the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Those tips include advice on repairing leaky taps, installing water-efficient toilets and other appliances and using water sparingly on lawns and for washing cars.
Following that kind of advice – especially for installation of modern water-efficient devices – has led to reduction in average water use by the authority’s household and business customers.
And that in turn has led to a reduction in water revenues, according to authority controller Gina DeRubeis, reporting year-to-date numbers at a meeting Thursday.
The revenue reduction – 2 percent for water and 1 percent for wastewater – triggered some dry comments by authority officials mindful of the water-savings push.
“Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy,” said Chairman Maury Lawruk.
“It’s like slapping ourselves in the face,” said Environmental Services Manager Todd Musser, who just since that meeting has obtained approval for new wastewater rates, rules and regulations that encourage conservation, because the less discharged the lower the cost for customers.
“This is our bread and butter,” DeRubeis told the board.
Still, the conservation “is for the greater good,” DeRubeis said after the meeting.
Ultimately, there’s little worry that the authority will struggle to remain afloat financially, as the board has power to set rates to cover its costs.
The authority is under no legal obligation to promote conservation, but “we’re always kind of asked to do that” by DEP, said in-house engineer Mike Sinisi.
“There’s no official program” at DEP designed to push local authorities like Altoona’s to encourage customers to conserve, said John Repetz, spokesman for DEP’s South Central region.
“Still, water is a limited resource, and it shouldn’t be wasted,” Repetz said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.