Water district OKs rate hikes Week Of 12/20/2021

Customers of the Northwestern Water and Sewer District will see an increase in their rates in 2022.
The district board of trustees approved a 2.2 percent increase in water rates and a 1.8 percent increase in sewer rates as well as a $30 million capital budget during the board’s Dec. 9 monthly meeting.
Last year, the board opted to not increase rates for 2021 but some consumers may have experienced increases if the entity that provided their water treatment service raised rates.
The 2022 capital budget allocates $20 million for water-related projects and $10 million for the wastewater network across the district’s five-county service area.
“The expected costs of providing water and sewer services reflect higher operating costs due to uncertainty within the supply chain, higher treatment costs from suppliers, the increased cost of customer data security, and sewer odor control in some areas." said board chairman, Mark Sheffer.
The district is expecting to complete the construction in 2022 of a 1.5-million-gallon elevated water storage tank in Lake Township along Lemoyne Road, between Hanley and Latcha roads. The project began in the summer of 2021.
The tank will serve Walbridge, Rossford, parts of Northwood, and Lake, Troy, and Perrysburg townships in northern Wood County.

Regional projects
The district will also construct two regional waterline connections.
A new 8-mile waterline from Weston through the Village of McClure, and extending across the Maumee River will provide water service to McClure, Liberty Center, and surrounding areas in Henry County. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2022. The district will also begin construction on an 8-mile regional waterline that will supply water from the Village of North Baltimore to the Village of McComb.
Planned sewer projects include new pump stations at Ford Road in Perrysburg Township and at Willowbend in Middleton Township.
Federal and state grant programs will assist the district in moving forward on construction for an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency-ordered sanitary sewer system near Sugar Ridge in Middleton Township. The project will replace aging septic tanks.
The district will also continue the rehabilitation of the sanitary sewer system in McComb.
The district serves more than 20,000 customers, providing more than 5.4 million gallons a day of drinking water and treating 850,000 gallons of wastewater daily.