Exploring options for better control of water bills.

The DEP has been spending the last few years preparing buildings in the City of New York for a water-billing rate that is determined by the amount of water consumed by a property.

The DEP claims that on July 2006 they will convert all water billing to meter billing.

At that point, frontage will no longer be an option for water billing. The DEP has extended the date twice.

Will they extend the date again? No one knows for certain.

Most buildings in NY complied and installed entire premise meters. However, many buildings opted to stay on frontage billing while the entire premise meter monitored meter consumption, and plan on remaining on frontage until the DEP converts them to meter billing.

This does not always save the owner money.

A review of frontage vs. meter bills reveals that many buildings should convert to meter billing now for substantial savings on their water bills.

Analyzing each building for the best possible water rate is the only way to properly determine what rate to choose. The right choice can save owners thousands of dollars per year.

While owners are on frontage they are not realizing that their I-Mon meter, (I-Monitor is the status that a meter is in while the property continues to be billed on frontage) may have malfunctioned and no longer registering.

This problem is going to cause hundreds of thousands of billing errors when the DEP does convert everyone to meter. A meter that isn't registering is subject to incorrect estimating. Estimating, whether high or low, is never in the owner's favor.

If the DEP estimates too low, then one day the owner will receive a whopping catch-up bill.

Budgeting for water expenses is essential today.

Water bills are going to rise 100% in the next ten years. The much anticipated and costly filtration system is now under construction in the Bronx.

An Independent cost survey group did a study of the cost of the filtration system. They projected the cost of building this system to be over a billion dollars.

In addition, annual maintenance of the filtration system will be in the millions. Much of this money will have to come from building owners pockets.

With water bill rates increasing annually, every drop of water must be monitored.

It will be too costly to the owner if a building is subject to water leaks or waste.

Automatic Meter Reading (known as AMR) was developed to account for every drop of water.

This technology system reads all utility meters, but for this application, specifically water meters. It is used to bill commercial tenants and read entire premise meters for the DEP.

However, in the rest of the world and many parts of the United States; AMR is utilized to read each residential tenant's water consumption in order for the tenant to pay their own water bill. (It's time that New York State joins the rest of the world and permit residential tenants in rent controlled buildings pay for their own water use.)

AMR helps buildings maintain a budget for water use.

The system is always programmed to pick out consumption irregularities that will indicate leaks or waste. AMR is a very helpful tool to stop problems before they get too costly. The DEP currently approves one AMR system.

This AMR system specifically indicates if meters and/or valves are broken. AMR is more accurate than manual meter reading. An added bonus to AMR is that it is less expensive than manual meter reading.

The DEP has introduced the Multi-Family Conservation Program that can be used in lieu of frontage and meter billing.

The incentive for this program is that there is one flat rate used per apartment per year. Not all buildings will benefit by utilizing this bill rate, but for many this will be the answer to the high cost of water billing.

The owner has to work closely with the DEP by installing low flow fixtures such as, toilets, showers, sinks and washing machines.

Tenants may not have dishwashers in their units. The DEP will kick buildings off this program if the building is not kept watertight.

The fact, according to the DEP, is that once the DEP converts all buildings to meter billing they are going to remove all programs that will give the buildings recourse if a water bill gets too high.

This will leave owners high and dry if a water bill reflects a leak or the bills get too high per apartment.

The Multi-Family Conservation Program is scheduled to close the application date on December 31, 2005. Again, a proper analysis of water consumption will help determine if a building should apply for this program.

The process for eligibility in this program takes months. Anyone interested should start months before the deadline of December 31, 2005.

Now is the time to have water bills properly analyzed for the best water rate and AMR installed to help monitor the consumption of water meters.

Serious attention is needed now to help control future water expenses.

DEBBIE GINSBERG, PRESIDENT, REFUND CONSULTANTS INC. AND REMOTE METER TECHNOLOGY