Separate Sewer Meters Discussed At Springdale Water And Sewer Commission

SPRINGDALE -- Separate sewer and water meters could help some larger businesses save money.

Heath Ward, executive director of Springdale Water Utilities, spoke about the idea of creating the option at Wednesday's Springdale Water and Sewer Commission meeting. The idea is in the discussion phase, and there's no timeline for implementation.

Sewer charges are calculated based on water use because it's assumed all water leaves a building through the sewer, Ward said. Some businesses, however, use water in ways where it doesn't go into the sewer. For example, businesses making whiskey use water in their product.

Officials have discussed the option in the past but have never found a way to make a sewer meter work accurately, Ward said. Sewage is difficult to measure because it contains solids in addition to liquid.

Cargill representatives recently approached the utility about pursuing the option, Ward said. Cargill is the largest water consumer in the city at 500 million gallons per year. Even a savings of 1 percent could be a lot with high water use, he said.

The option wouldn't be logical for homes where about 90 percent of used water goes into the sewer system, Ward said. Homes also don't have as high water use as large industrial facilities.

Interested businesses would be charged for the extra meter, and there would be little to no cost to the utility to offer the option, Ward said. The utility already offers an option for a seasonal meter for specific uses, such as a swimming pool or evaporating tower.

Bringing the idea to fruition depends on if officials can find a way to accurately measure sewage, Ward said. If they can, Cargill could become a model for the option.

"We want to find the right answer, not an answer," he said.

The commission also discussed a master plan study and saw a presentation on projecting population growth, demand for water, pipe velocity, water age, wastewater and other statistics.

The study is done every five years and helps the utility staff plan for growth and needs, said Rick Pulvirenti, chief operating officer and director of engineering.

"This is helping us guide where we go," he said.

Springdale's population is 76,725 and is estimated to be 87,209 in 2020 and 131,327 in 2040, said Justin Bland, project manager with Garver, a Fayetteville engineering firm. Most growth between now and 2020 will be in the southeast, southwest and northwest areas of the city. Most growth leading up to 2040 will be in the northwest area because of the planned U.S. 412 bypass.

"It's really hard to say what will happen in 25 years, but that's what we came up with," he said.

Pulvirenti said he hopes to further discuss the study again at the January meeting. Ward said he hopes the commission will adopt the study in either January of February.