1 Water and Wastewater System Information

2 Purpose Clarification of the Terms Related to Water and Wastewater System – (Slides 3 – 7) Citizen FAQ’s – (Slides 8 – 16) History of City Water and wastewater System – (Slides 17 – 23) Needed System Maintenance and Improvements – (24 – 34) Note: This presentation can also be found on the City’s web site at

3 Explanation of Terms

4 Capacity (Availability) Cost The amount paid for “ownership” of a specific number of gallons per day to be delivered (water) or collected (wastewater) from/to another jurisdiction’s treatment plant. One time cost Consumption (usage) charges are separate Consumption (Usage) Fee The fee charged for the specific amount water delivered through a water meter to the user. “Consumption” is completely different and separate from “Capacity.”

5 Explanation of Terms Enterprise Fund - Water and Sewer Self supporting fund separate from the General Fund – Water and Sewer expenses are paid only from the revenue generated by water and wastewater fees Revenue is generated from consumption and tap fees – Tap fees are charged to the contractor or developer for connecting into the water and sewer system that was paid for by existing customers. – Usage fees are charged to residents for water consumed. The rate structure can change as long as revenue and expenses balance. Enterprise fund reimburses the General Fund for administrative support costs

6 Explanation of Terms General Fund General Fund is funded from tax revenue All City departments are funded from the General Fund except water and sewer (Enterprise Fund). Inflow and Infiltration (I&I) Typically occurs during heavy rains as the ground becomes saturated Wastewater pipes are not pressurized so as they age and crack, ground water seeps into the pipe (inflow and infiltration) All content of the wastewater pipes is metered and collected at the UOSA treatment plant. I&I thus increases the City’s usage costs.

7 Explanation of Terms PWCSA - Prince William County Service Authority PWCSA provides water and wastewater services to the residents of Prince William County Tap Fees Tap Fees are a one time fee charged for a new connection into the City’s water and sewer system Fees are used to pay for infrastructure related expenses such as water capacity and water/sewer pipelines UOSA - Upper Occoquan Sewer Authority Manassas Park is a member owner of UOSA along with Fairfax County, Prince William County and the City of Manassas Manassas Park has equal representation on the UOSA Board

8 Citizen FAQ’s

9 Does the City perform water quality testing on our drinking water? Yes. A public water system cannot operate unless water quality testing is performed per EPA standards and in compliance with the “Safe Drinking Water Act” – EPA requirements are enforced by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Office of Drinking Water – The City performs routine quality testing in compliance with EPA and DEQ rules and regulations – Depending on the substance, tests are performed monthly, quarterly, annually as required – Test sampling locations within the City have been evaluated and approved by DEQ per EPA requirements Representative of the quality of water within the particular area of the test site.

10 What has been done to address water quality issues in 2007? Violations in 2007 Trihalomethanes (TTHM’s) on east side of the City – First DEQ notice of violation issued late March 2007 (exceeded 80 ppb maximum limit) – Quickly developed a plan to resolve, and notified the Office of Drinking Water of the plan. – Replaced water source and corrected by May 1, 2007 – Ensured that the City’s wholesale supplier had processes in place to correct the problem before changing back – Two subsequent violations because the previous high TTHM results continued to be averaged into the 4 quarter running average per EPA requirements. – Current running quarterly average is 42 ppb, well below maximum limit of 80 ppb

11 Violations in 2007 Bacteriological Violation on the west side of the City – Upon notification by the state certified lab Wells were shut down PWCSA chlorinated water was introduced to west side thru the Rugby Road vault - provided clean chlorinated water to replace and disinfect. State Office of Drinking Water was notified of plan of action Test samples were collected from the area surrounding the violation location and the City’s Well # 6 was identified as the source within 4 days Well #6 remains offline following numerous attempts to disinfect. – The City has decided to retire the well rather than incur costly on-site treatment. What has been done to address water quality issues in 2007? p2

12 Why are the number of days between meter reads different each month? Staff has taken steps to ensure each residential meter is read within the same 3 days each month. Water Meters are read every month unless there are extenuating circumstances (ice or snow covers the meter) Meter reading is sometimes delayed when staff are pulled to resolve emergency situations

13 Example of a meter reading 30,000 in month 1: Month 2: Household uses 300 gallons because the house was occupied at the end of the month. – Meter is tracking 30,300 (30, ) but registers 30,000 since it has not reached the next 1,000 gallon increment – Current read – Last read = 30,000 – 30,000 = 0 gallons billed for month 2. Month 3: Household uses 2,600 gallons. – Meter is tracking 32,900 (30, ,600) but registers 32,000 since it has not reached the next 1,000 gallon increment – Current read – Last read = 32,000 – 30,000 = 2,000 gallons billed for month 3. Month 4: Household uses 1,200 gallons and then goes on vacation for 2 weeks – Meter is tracking 34,100 (32, ,200) but registers 34,000 since it has not reached the next 1,000 gallon increment – Current read – Last read = 34,000 – 32,000 = 2,000 gallons billed in a month while the household was on vacation. Rounding - Meters only roll up to the next number in 1,000 gallon increments, but internally the meter tracks all gallons used. See example: Why is my bill high when I was on vacation? Are the meter reads rounded to next highest 1,000 gallons?

14 Why can’t we defer improvements a few more years since the City has already deferred for numerous years? The City is effectively deferring projects by distributing projects over 10 to 20 years As reported by the City’s engineer, some system components are critical and subject to imminent failure. The critical areas have been budgeted first and the less critical are spread evenly over the next 10 to 20 years. Failing water and sewer infrastructure will pose a threat to the health and safety of the City’s residents. If the infrastructure projects are completed gradually, it will have less of an impact.

15 Why do we need to purchase capacity to replace the wells? Changing from wells to PWCSA water on the west side – PWCSA water will provide higher, more consistent quality – The wells are over 50 years old and one of the wells is showing signs of declining quality – The risk of possible system failures if system improvements are further deferred is a risk to the health and welfare of residents – New capacity to be funded from Revenue Bonds Discussions with bond consultant are underway Rates are determined based on this direction Repair, maintenance, replacement of infrastructure to be funded from tap and user fees

16 Are Water and Sewer Expenses Funded by Tax Revenue? No. The Water and Wastewater Systems are funded completely by the Enterprise Fund as defined and described on the previous slide # 5. Note: Garbage collection is not funded from the from water and sewer revenue, i.e. the Enterprise Fund

17 History of City’s Water and Sewer System

18 In The Beginning….. City boundaries stopped at Route 28 and wells provided all the City’s water west of Route 28 – Currently the City’s wells produce about 500,000 gallons per day with the capability of 800,000 gallons per day peak flow The City Owned and Operated a wastewater treatment plant within the City boundaries City had sufficient water and sewer capacity to support current and growth planned at that time

19 Since Then.... Water The City purchased capacity in the Manassas water treatment plant to serve the east side of Route 28 Wastewater Virginia Water Control Board was concerned with protecting the Occoquan Watershed (raw source for drinking water in northern Virginia) The State mandated that : – Manassas Park close down its wastewater plant – Join with Fairfax County, Prince William County and the City of Manassas to form the Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority (“UOSA”)

20 Since Then.... Wastewater (con’t) With the UOSA plant completed, City believed that Manassas Park wastewater costs would decrease when original bonds were paid.

21 Now.... The city owns 5.4% of the total UOSA capacity – City pays for volume of wastewater that is delivered to the UOSA plant from Manassas Park Costs continue to rise – City’s UOSA capacity has not increased, but maintenance and debt costs have increased EPA and the State continue to mandate cleaner water and wastewater standards to improve the environment and protect health – Requires costly process upgrades 30+ year-old UOSA process equipment is at end of life cycle and must be replaced – UOSA passes costs to member jurisdictions based on the percent of capacity owned in the plant

22 UOSA Treatment Plant – Compton Rd. in Centerville

23 Future.... Water The City needs additional water capacity – Support commercial development – Replace wells on the west side Wastewater City still has adequate UOSA capacity for new developments currently planned Possible plans for re-development of existing commercial areas may require additional UOSA capacity

24 Needed System Maintenance and Improvements

25 A Nationwide Reality - Aging/Failing Water and Sewer Infrastructure “.... utilities are grappling with ….. a convergence of several factors that translate to higher costs for supplying drinking water service: – Deteriorating infrastructure that needs to be replaced – Both growing and declining service populations – Increasing operating costs – More complex regulatory requirements – Undervaluation of water supply and service.” (American Water Works Association, E-Main Stream, 9/12/06, Mary A. Parmelee, Editor)

26 Engineering Evaluation In Summer 2007 Whitman Requardt Engineers completed a thorough evaluation of the City’s water and sewer system Identified areas of near and long term improvements and associated costs

27 Water System Capital Needs $27,695,000 over next ten years Water Connection Construction - Ensure redundancy from wholesale suppliers Water Meter Replacement, 1,100 installed, 2900 remaining Well Chlorination – Backup Water Supply SCADA – Monitoring / Control of System Study for Unaccounted For Water Water Capacity - Well Replacement - Service new commercial developments Water Mains / Hydrants - 13,640 linear feet are urgent - 43,295 linear feet are badly needed

28 Water Valve Repair

29 Sewer System Capital Needs $3,640,000 over next ten years Sanitary sewer relining - 16,400 linear feet are urgent - 14,300 linear feet badly needed Rehabilitate 50 manholes including manhole inserts to contain odor Install pump station Grinder to prevent pump station backups I&I Study Replace 700 partial service laterals

30 Sewer Pipeline Re-lining

31 Annual Operations and Maintenance Water / sewer pipe repair Valve testing and repair Water / sewer system flushing Water tank maintenance and repair Hydrant repair Customer technical assistance Rising costs for personnel, equipment, materials, fuel, outsourcing Water quality sampling Water Billing Meter reading Meter replacement Capital projects management Construction inspections

32 Consideration of Other Options In early 2006 the City approached PWCSA regarding the possibility of a water and sewer system take-over by PWCSA – Hoped to realize economy of scale on rates if combined with Prince William County – Offered potential benefit for system improvements while controlling costs – PWCSA would own and operate Manassas Park’s water and sewer system Rates would be set and collected by PWCSA Customer Service by PWCSA Governing Body carefully considered the PWCSA offer – Proposed PWCSA rates were key to the decision – Rate benefits were not realized

33 Future Water Capacity The City and PWCSA continue to work together for the benefit of both water systems – City provides water service to five adjacent County public facilities – PWCSA provides Emergency water for back-up of the City’s east and west – Coordination on water related health and safety issues – A continuing working relationship makes sense for operational benefits to both systems The City is currently pursuing the purchase of additional capacity from PWCSA for both the east and west sides of the City.

34 Summary of City Challenges System – Wells have operated far beyond life expectancy and are showing signs of failing quality – Aging water and sewer pipes are breaking frequently – Sewer pipes are experiencing inflow & infiltration (rain water seeping into the sewer pipe), which increases UOSA costs – Routine Operation and Maintenance Costs continue to rise (UOSA costs, salaries, fuel, materials, equipment, outsourcing) New and More Complex Regulations – Higher wholesale water rates for new treatment processes – Increased UOSA debt for new treatment processes Need additional water capacity