Customer Notification - Proposed Wastewater Rate Adjustments - Dublin San Ramon Services District
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Customer
Notification
Proposed Wastewater
Rate Adjustments
D ublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD) began providing wastewater
services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, ten years after it was founded in
1953. Today, DSRSD provides wastewater services to approximately 150,000
How are Rates Set?
We calculated the proposed wastewater
rates based on two studies:
people living in Dublin, south San Ramon, the U.S. Army’s Parks Reserve Forces
Training Area, and the City of Pleasanton (the latter by contract). • 2018 Regional Wastewater Rate Study
While most customers rarely think about it, sewer service is an essential • 2018 Local Wastewater Rate Study
utility. Whatever goes down toilets and drains travels through DSRSD’s vast For more information, visit:
sewer collection system (206 miles of pipe) to the District’s treatment plant in www.dsrsd.com/wastewater-rates
Pleasanton. The plant treats ten million gallons of wastewater a day; about one
third is recycled into irrigation water and the remainder is safely released into
San Francisco Bay.
For a single-family residence in Dublin, 20 percent of the annual sewer bill
covers the cost of wastewater collection and 80 percent covers the cost of treat-
ment and disposal. For commercial, industrial, and institutional customers the
split ranges from 10 to 20 percent for collection and 80 to 90 percent for treat-
ment and disposal. (Recycled water customers pay the cost of recycling.)
In setting wastewater rates, one goal is to allocate the costs equitably to the
various customers. Another goal is to achieve maximum use of the District’s
infrastructure with minimum disruption of service while protecting pub-
lic health and the environment. The District needs to rehabilitate and replace
various parts of the system as they age. To plan this work, the District has
an extensive asset management program and updates its Sewer System
Management Plan every five years. These efforts and wastewater rate studies
have determined that additional investment will be needed to maintain the
community’s multi-million dollar wastewater system. That is why the District is
proposing wastewater rate adjustments.
Residential Customers
Customers who live in single-family homes, townhouses, and The rates below include fees for collection and treatment
condos are billed an annual flat rate for wastewater services. For services. Collection fees will increase by $15, $15, $12, $12, and
almost a decade, this charge has been listed as DSRSD SEWER $12 in fiscal years 2018-2022. Treatment fees will not increase
SVC on the owner’s property tax bill. Owners of multi-family the first fiscal year, but will increase annually thereafter based
properties (e.g., apartments) also pay a flat rate for wastewater on the February Consumer Price Index (All Urban Consumers for
services. They are charged for these services on their bimonthly San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose) starting in fiscal year ending
water bills. Rates for these customers are proposed to increase (FYE) 2019.
each year for the next five years as shown in the table below.
RESIDENTIAL Current Total PROPOSED ANNUAL RATE
Collection and treatment Annual Rate FYE 2018 FYE 2019 FYE 2020 FYE 2021 FYE 2022
Annual billing on property tax roll
Single Family or Townhouse 382.38 397.38 418.63 437.01 455.51 474.14
Condo 260.34 271.60 287.02 300.28 313.61 327.03
Bi-monthly billing
Residential - Multi-family 219.54 229.32 242.58 253.98 265.44 276.96
Commercial Customers
Commercial and industrial customers are charged variable with high strength level, while car washes or laundry services
rates and billed bimonthly. contribute wastewater with low strength level. The District has
The rate structure for commercial customers is proposed to determined rates based on historic wastewater strength data for
change: rates will no longer be based on customer categories— each customer category and will verify these rates through peri-
restaurant, bakery, mortuary, laundry, car wash, grocery, etc.—but odic, random sampling.
on wastewater strength levels—high, medium, and low—and on Of the District’s 1,358 commercial customers, 78 percent cur-
volume of wastewater treated. Wastewater strength is measured rently are in the low strength category, 21 percent in the medium
by the degree of organic pollution in the wastewater, called BOD strength category, and only one percent are in the high strength
and TSS.* category.
In FYE 2018, many commercial customers’ rates will de- The District has only seven industrial customers; each is
crease. The following four fiscal years, the commercial rates will unique, so they are being contacted directly to review their rate
increase based on the annual change in the February Consum- adjustments.
er Price Index (All Urban Consumers for San Francisco/Oakland/ * BOD, biochemical oxygen demand, is the industry standard for measur-
San Jose). ing the strength of wastewater. It is commonly expressed in milligrams of
The District will continue to charge customers based on the oxygen consumed per liter of wastewater (mg/L, equivalent to parts per
cost of service. The higher the strength level of the wastewa- million) during five days of incubation at 20 degrees Centigrade.
ter, the higher the organic pollution in the wastewater and the TSS is total suspended solids, the entire amount of organic and
more costly it is for the District to treat and dispose of the waste- inorganic particles dispersed in wastewater. It is also expressed as mg/L.
water. For example, grocery stores often contribute wastewater
PROPOSED PER UNIT RATE ** Strength factor is an aver-
COMMERCIAL ** Current per
age of biochemical oxygen
Collection and treatment Unit Rate FYE 2018 FYE 2019 FYE 2020 FYE 2021 FYE 2022
demand and total suspend-
Low: Less than 300 mg/L ed solids. The commercial
businesses listed on the left
Car Wash 7.94 3.12 3.30 3.46 3.61 3.77 in Low/Medium/High cat-
Bakery 6.13 3.12 3.30 3.46 3.61 3.77 egories are only examples
Commercial Laundry 3.76 3.12 3.30 3.46 3.61 3.77 of where they may fall; the
business’ actual strength
Mortuaries 6.77 3.12 3.30 3.46 3.61 3.77 factor will determine their
All Other Commercial 3.25 3.12 3.30 3.46 3.61 3.77 billing category.
Medium: > 300 and 600 mg/L
Grocery - Garbage Disposal 6.39 7.38 7.65 7.89 8.13 8.38DUBLIN SAN RAMON SERVICES DISTRICT
Notice of Public Hearing:
Proposed Change to
Wastewater Rates
Public Hearing
June 20, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.
7051 Dublin Boulevard, Dublin, CA
The DSRSD Board of Directors is holding a public hearing to Any record property owner or tenant-customer of a parcel re-
discuss and potentially adopt a change in its wastewater service ceiving water service may submit a written protest, but only one
rate structure to equitably allocate costs among customer class- protest will be counted per parcel served by the District.
es, to adequately fund necessary replacement projects, and to The written protest must identify the affected property by
focus on preventive maintenance. These adjustments are pro- assessor’s parcel number, street address or DSRSD account
posed to take effect on July 1, 2017. Public comments and written number; identify the record property owner or tenant-custom-
protests will be accepted in advance of and at the public hearing. er; clearly state that the transmittal is a protest to the proposed
rate and charge; identify what proposed rate and charge is being
How Can I Learn More? protested; and bear the original signature of the record property
For additional information, visit: owner or tenant-customer. In the case of electronically delivered
www.dsrsd.com/wastewater-rates documents, a scanned signature will be accepted, subject to
verification.
Questions: Contact DSRSD Administrative Services Manager
Carol Atwood, (925) 875-2270, atwood@dsrsd.com Mail or deliver protests to:
Attend the public hearing: June 20, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. in the Nicole Genzale, District Secretary
District Office Boardroom, 7051 Dublin Blvd, Dublin. Video Dublin San Ramon Services District
recordings of Board meetings are posted the next day on www. 7051 Dublin Boulevard, Dublin, CA 94568
dsrsd.com (click the Board Meetings button on the home page).
Please note on the envelope: “Protest of Proposed Wastewater
Rates”
How Do I Protest?
Or, email protests as a PDF document attached to an email to
The District and its Board of Directors welcomes and will con-
Board@dsrsd.com. Please note in the subject line: “Protest of
sider input from the community on the proposed changes to
Proposed Wastewater Rates.”
rates and service charges at any time, including during the public
hearing. However, in accordance with Proposition 218, only valid Or, fax protests to (925) 829-1180. Please note in the subject line:
written protests received by the pertinent deadline below will be “Protest of Proposed Wastewater Rates.”
counted as formal protests. For more information, read the complete DSRSD Policy on
Protests submitted by mail, fax, or email must be received Proposition 218 Receipt, Tabulation and Validation of Written Pro-
by 5:00 p.m. on June 20, 2017. tests on www.dsrsd.com (click About Us, then District Policies).
Hand-delivered protests must be received before the close of
the public hearing on June 20, 2017.
Prioritizing Maintenance and Planning for Future Sewer Replacements
DSRSD hydro cleans its sewer pipes with recycled water, removing
grease and roots that can cause clogs and sewage overflows.
Then a closed-circuit video camera is sent through the pipes
to record their condition. Normally, crews inspect 10 per-
cent of the 206 miles of sewage pipes annually. But many
sewer lines installed before 2000 have poor quality video
recordings, or none at all. The District hired National Plant (Above) Household grease clogs sewers. Learn
Services to clean and inspect 350,000 feet of these what not to flush to keep wastewater flowing to the
older pipelines. This $450,000 project will be com- treatment plant. (Left) Moisture-seeking roots intrude
pleted in 2017. Using the data collected, staff rates into sewers. Avoid planting trees over your home’s
the condition of every pipeline according to national sewer lateral pipeline.
standards to prioritize repairs.7051 Dublin Blvd.
Dublin, CA 94568
www.dsrsd.com
Notice of Public Hearing:
Proposed Change to
Wastewater Rates
Public Hearing
June 20, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.
7051 Dublin Boulevard, Dublin, CA
Large Sewer Pipe Project
Happening This Summer
Inspections revealed significant concrete
erosion (yellow patches) inside the Dublin trunk
sewer, a 55-year-old pipe that runs under Village
Parkway in Dublin all the way to the wastewater
treatment plant in Pleasanton. Sulfides in wastewa-
ter have caused the erosion and exposed reinforcing
rebar in some places. DSRSD will rehabilitate the pipe
this summer by inserting a flexible liner that hardens in
place to restore the old pipe’s interior to near-new con-
dition. The project will add 50 years to the pipe’s expected
life. Estimated construction cost is $8.3 million. Learn more:
www.dsrsd.com/trunksewerYou can also read
