Bloomfield Hills

Hills to save money by switching to SOCWA for water, sewer

By Mary Beth Almond
C & G Staff Writer

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — The city is currently in the process of switching its wholesale water supplier from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority.

City Commissioner Pat Hardy said the swap is all due to the rising cost of water.

“Hubbell Roth and Clark showed us how we could save our residents some money, and it made good sense to join (SOCWA) for that reason alone. One of Michigan’s greatest natural treasures is its proximity to water — which most of us take for granted. The more it costs, the more we watch how we use it,” she said.

City Engineer James Burton of HRC said Detroit’s water rates will go up an average of 8 percent throughout their service area, and sewer rates are also increasing. Instead, Bloomfield Hills will be able to pass on a 3 percent increase for each rate — or about $74 more than last year per average customer — thanks to their new connection to the SOCWA system.

If the city had stayed with DWSD, Burton said, the total retail water rate would have increased 20 percent over last year’s rate, after accounting for other increases as needed.

SOCWA’s wholesale rate — which Burton said is approximately just over half of the total rate and isn’t what the city’s customers see — is substantially lower than the proposed DWSD rate. He said the switch will likely save the city $6.64 per 1,000 cubic feet of water, $279 per customer per year, or approximately $450,000 overall.

“It’s a big rate savings, and it also provides some rate stability — something in the past that we’ve lacked in the city,” Burton said.

Although the transition from DWSD to SOCWA will result in a substantially lower wholesale water rate than last year, Burton said the decrease will be offset by an increase in operations and maintenance by the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner, system improvements to allow the city to access SOCWA’s water supply, and the development of a new rate component that will allow the city to buffer future rate increases.

Burton said the percentage difference in the rates has fluctuated a lot over the years. Since 2002-03, he said, the water rate has increased on average about 15.6 percent, while the sewer rate has increased on an average of about 10 percent.

“This year, we recommend establishing a reserve fund, which is essentially a fund where you can keep your rate, you can buy down the rate with it, or you can sock that money away and store it for future capital improvements,” he said.

As part of the transition to SOCWA, the city will make some water system improvements, including adding a pressure-reducing valve/meter vault and extending a water main along Quarton Road, which will both begin this month.

Burton expects the switch to be complete by July 1.

“Our negations are complete with SOCWA, but we haven’t signed a contract yet because we’ve been waiting for all the documents to get done,” he said.

Even with the new SOCWA connection, Hardy said water is still costly. She said the city is encouraging everyone to water their lawn between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at malmond@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1060.