DC Water’s Board of Directors today amended the residential Water System Replacement Fee (WSRF) that will be charged in Fiscal Year 2016. The WSRF is a new fixed fee to fund the one percent per year drinking water system replacement program that will cost $40 million annually. This is one of several changes to the rates that will take effect October 1, 2015.

The rate and fee structure had been voted into effect by the Board of Directors on July 2, 2015 and communicated extensively by DC Water. The communication effort resulted in feedback that identified a small group of residential customers who have larger water lines for fire suppression to comply with construction codes for new homes. In some cases that would result in a monthly bill increase in excess of $80 per month for residential customers. Today’s unanimous vote by the Board sets the WSRF for those residences with a meter size of greater than 1” to the 1” rate of $9.67.

“We heard from residents about the impact of this fee,” said DC Water Board Chairman Matthew Brown. We do not want our rates to be a disincentive for the installation of fire protection systems.”

“As a result of our outreach to communicate the new rates, we found a very small subset of customers where the consequence did not seem fair,” said DC Water CEO and General Manager George S. Hawkins. “We acted quickly to research the problem. I applaud the Board for taking quick action to resolve it fairly.”

Questions about this fee and the new rate structure can be answered by DC Waters Customer Service Department at 202-354-3600.

More information about the Water System Replacement Fee and the new rate structure can be found at:
dcwater.com/updates
dcwater.com/rates

More information about customer assistance can be found at:
dcwater.com/cap