Plan to Meter Waste Water in Homes May Die

A plan to use 60 homes throughout Los Angeles to help accurately calculate sewer fees may be down the tubes.

Amid complaints in the San Fernando Valley over the city’s sewer fees, the City Council voted in October to have meters installed at 60 residences--four in each of the 15 council districts--to measure the waste water leaving homes.

The data from the meters was to be analyzed after one year and used to calculate a fair sewer fee to pay for maintenance of the massive system.

But the city Bureau of Sanitation warned city officials that to get an accurate data base, the city would have to put the meters in 1,000 homes instead of 60, at a cost of about $700,000.

That did not sit well with Councilwoman Laura Chick. She said that to continue with the study on 60 homes would be an “exercise in futility” and to extend the test to 1,000 residences would be “an outrageous expenditure of taxpayer dollars.”

Chick suggests the city drop the idea altogether and adopt a proposed sewer rate formula that would reduce the fee for many Valley residents.

But Councilman Richard Alarcon, who proposed the 60-home test, said the city should not shelve the plan just yet. He suggested the city go ahead with the test and see what the results are before adopting a new sewer rate system.

“It’s premature to have any kind of judgment on it,” Alarcon said.

The council’s Public Works Committee, headed by Alarcon, will consider the issue in the next few weeks.

The debate is the latest development in a long-running saga over the city’s sewer rates.

Most residences have meters to measure the water entering a home, but the city cannot afford to install meters on every home to measure how much leaves a residence. Consequently, the city cannot accurately calculate how much each residence should be charged.

Sewer fees are now based on the amount of water taken in by each home. The city assumes that about 60% of the water used in each home exits through the sewer, through washing clothes or flushing toilets.

But Valley residents and council members such as Chick say the assumption is often wrong, particularly for residents who own large lots and put most of their water into gardens and lawns.

In response, several Valley council members are supporting a new formula based on water used during the rainy winter months, when residents are less likely to irrigate lawns and gardens.

According to a city report, the proposed change would reduce fees for many Valley and Westside residents who own large lots, while increasing fees for smaller homes in South and Central Los Angeles.