Water and Sewer Pipes

We’re facing serious deterioration in our water and sewer pipes. We’ll have to invest significantly in the next 5 to 10 years to repair them.  

Sewer: In January 2010, the MWRA estimated that 56.3% of Newton’s average daily sewage flow was clean water that had infiltrated the system through leaks in the sewage pipes. With the MWRA charging the City of Newton $19.7 million for sewage treatment, that means that $11.1 million is being spent unnecessarily. By investing additional money in repairing the leaking sewer pipes, the City will have significantly lower average daily flow of sewage which is the basis for the MWRA assessment. The Chief Operating Officer has estimated that the City needs to invest approximately $50 million in the sewer lines to repair leaks.

Water: The Commissioner of Public Works noted that the City is experiencing 26.7% of “unaccounted” water but the goal is 10%. In other words, between leaks in unlined water pipes and meters underreporting the amount of water being used (possibly as well as flushing of hydrants), the City is not able to account for 26.7% of the water for which the City is charged. While the installation of new water meters should decrease the amount of unaccounted water, leaks need to be stopped as well.

Investing in the pipes translates into raising water and sewer rates. The Board of Aldermen sets water and sewer rates.  Fees are meant to cover 100% of operating costs in these stand-alone enterprise funds, including debt service for capital projects and regular maintenance. Despite all the increases in fees in recent years, we’re still not investing sufficiently to improve the condition of the pipes in a meaningful way.