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City residents will pay 25 cents more per gallon for water in 2010, than they paid in fiscal 2009.

"I'm sure that's not welcomed news for anybody," Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) said. "But if you don't keep up on your water and sewer, it could lead to a crisis. It's expensive, but it's necessary."

This 12 percent proposed increase in rates beginning July 1 would bring the average residential bill to $138 per quarter. In fiscal 2009, the average was $124 per quarter. These numbers are based on a calculation of households using about 250 gallons per day for 90 days.

All of the rates will remain on a quarterly schedule, and remain tiered based on how much water a household uses. Rates are lower for 6,000 gallons quarter, but jumps by more than $1 if water usage flows beyond the 6,000 gallon mark.

This tiered system is in place so that residential customers who tend to use less water don't have to bear the same burden as high-use business customers, said the city's budget director, Katie Barkdoll.

Residents will also see a 12 percent increase in base charges — the rate that all residents pay for the city's water and sewer services. The base charges will range from $24.07 to $33.69, depending on a household's meter size.

The last annual increase for water and sewer rates was in 2007, when the rates jumped by 20 percent from 2006. The rates also rose by 10 percent in 2005.

The city has planned about $59.4 million in upgrades, repairs and expansions of the city's water sources and treatment plants in 2009. The majority of the projects will be funded through bonds.

"We probably could've done with a bigger increase, but I had to balance it by spreading out," Holtzinger said. "These [raises] are to maintain our current system and plan ahead of time. You don't want to be in a reactive mode, you want to be in a proactive mode."

Holtzinger said he knows it's no secret that he comes alive on the topic of water and sewer and all things engineering, so he explained in layman's terms for The Gazette the top three water and sewer projects that residents' water and sewer money will pour into.

New Design Water Plant Expansion

"You can't just pump water from rivers. Unless you want to drink Hagerstown's poop water, you need a new wastewater treatment plant," Holtzinger said.

The expansion of the New Design Water Plant is the most intensive and most expensive of projects slated for this year, coming in at $28.5 million. The city will go in with Frederick County to tap into the Potomac River to expand the city's water supply, and will need to treat the water from the river to bring it up to drinking water standards.

The Potomac River tap is necessary because while the city is able to meet its average daily demand of water, the city is not prepared to handle a maximum daily demand, which is caused by increased water use on hot days or to fight fires.

Gas House Pike Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion

"When you take a shower, wash dishes, do laundry —that water has to go somewhere," Holtzinger said.

The expansion of the Gas House Pike Wastewater Treatment Plant will allow the city to clean more water and do it more effectively before it dumps back into the Monocacy River.

The $5.5 million project, slated to begin this year, is important to keep up with the amount of water that the city has to process. The plant needs the capabilities to remove harmful enhanced nutrients from all of its water sources. In addition to the water coming from the city's sinks and toilets, the plant needs to be upgraded to deal with excessive peak flows that can come from sources such as rain water.

Ballenger-McKinney Wastewater Treatment Plant

"Under any scenario, we're going to need some capacity from the Ballenger/McKinney to supplement wastewater," Holtzinger said.

The McKinney half of the plant is under way, and the Ballenger Creek plant already processes a portion of the city's wastewater, as well as wastewater from the rest of Frederick County.

The city will contribute $1.5 million to the project, carried out by the county, to expand the current wastewater treatment capacities of the Ballenger Creek plant, which will soon exceed its capacity. The McKinney will be built adjacent to the Ballenger plant, and the city's contribution will ensure its share of the new plant's capacity.

E-mail Erica L. Green at egreen@gazette.net.