How do the water rates charged by the DWSD affect Canton?
The water rates set by DWSD are based on an annual forecast determined by historical data for water usage and estimated costs for water production and delivery services. DWSD uses the forecast to set a rate for each of its customers. By law, DWSD can only recover the cost of service, it cannot make a profit. If more water is sold than forecasted, the extra funds received must be used for the system and offset the need to increase wholesale water rates in the future. The water rate formula that DWSD uses has three primary components: • Usage or demand by each community • The distance from water treatment plants • The elevation of the community relative to the treatment plants. These factors vary greatly in a service area as large as DWSD’s. All customers’ wholesale rates (i.e. the rate Canton pays to DWSD to buy water) are set by this formula. In addition to the cost to purchase water from DWSD, Canton has costs to operate, maintain and replace the 380 miles of local water distribution
