The State College Borough Water Authority has achieved the lowest rates among systems while maintaining a high level of customer service, enhanced facilities operation and ongoing investments in the system’s infrastructure. A national survey conducted by American Water Works Association in 2017 revealed an average residential water charge of $24.23 per month for water systems of similar size. State College Water Authority’s average rate per month is $16.46. A growing service area, prudent management and keen oversight of fiscal resources are the reasons for this superior affordability.
Another contributing factor to the superior affordability are our efforts to minimize non-revenue water. The American Water Works Association has defined non-revenue water as the sum of “unbilled authorized consumption” (water for firefighting, flushing, etc.), plus “apparent losses” (customer meter inaccuracies, unauthorized consumption, etc.), and “real losses” (system leakage, tank overflows, breakage, etc.).
The total 2019 non-revenue water was 656,753 GPD (gallons per day) as compared to 2018 of 833,882 gallons. The actual percentage of real losses compared to 2019 total production is 11.4% which is an outstanding result. The Authority has committed significant resources and personnel to control water loss. Aggressive leak detection and leak correction efforts insure that system leakage is minimized to the greatest possible degree. These efforts have been successful with annual water loss consistently under 12%. PA DEP goal is 20% or less for non-revenue water.
The Authority continues to work hard to keep your rates affordable. Excellent water quality and system maintenance will continue to be a high priority.