Consumers brace for increase in water bills

Teri Ann Renee Paisley, Gleaner Online Writer

The slogan on my water bill reads, ‘A small price for a big service’. I wonder what qualifies as a ‘small price’? These days nothing is small and certainly not my water bills. The average water bill varies depending on the consumption level of the household as well as if it is connected to the central sewage system.

The recent drought had consumers scrambling to get an adequate supply of water even while they had to find the money to pay their bills. Some institutions such as schools, suffered from a low water supply and although water was trucked to some areas not everyone was able to have water on a regular basis.

In an effort to conserve during the dry season, there has been several calls for consumers to help by reducing the amount of water that is used in a household. Some of these measures included collecting water during the rainy season, and fixing leaky pipes.

Consumers should expect to see an increase in their water bills as was announced recently by The National Water Commission.The company asserts that this increase is due to the implementation of the terms of the 2008-2013 Tariff regime.

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The National Water Commission has announced that water supplied from April 1, 2013 will attract a 2 % increase in the K- Factor.

What is the K- Factor?
According to the information on the National Water Commission’s website, http://www.nwcjamaica.com,
‘the K-Factor is an approved mechanism for the N.W.C to acquire a predetermined amount of funding to do an approved set of capital projects in order to improve service to customers. It appears on customers’ bills as percentage charge and the actual percentage will vary from year to year.’
The K-Factor last year was 25% but its present rate is 27%.

So how can you cope with the increase?
It makes sense to continue with water preservation measures even as we struggle to maintain a continuous water supply.

Tags: rates, water