Inflation is coming to Cambridge’s water and sewer bills. The Cambridge City Council at its meeting Monday approved a 6.3% increase in the combined cost of water and sewer use for the city’s property owners. Rates for water alone will increase by 8% while sewer rates will go up by 5.9%. The change in the combined rate will begin April 1st.
The city’s budget and total water consumption drive what residents are charged, according to a report City Manager Yi-An Huang gave to councillors. While water consumption is slightly down this year, the report says that more money needed to be allocated to pay for the salaries and benefits of the city’s water staff.
Huang’s report noted the combined rate increase for this year is lower than the city initially projected, but slightly higher increases in rates should be expected compared to what residents are used to. Between fiscal years 2018-2027, the average rate increase per year was 5.8%, but for 2027-2031, it’s expected to be 7.6%
Further rate increases down the line can be attributed to projects limiting combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges, according to Deputy City Manager Kathy Watkins. Cambridge’s CSO system acts as a relief valve when heavy rainfall overwhelms the water and sewage system, discharging sewage into the Charles River and Alewife Brook so it doesn’t back up into homes or streets.
“When we look at some of the outer years, you start to see some of the combined sewer overflow projects being projected and that capital hitting as well,” said Watkins.
The combined rate also funds ongoing infrastructure projects to improve water quality and drainage like the one in The Port, which is prone to flooding. But while Cambridge manages its own water reservoir system, the sewer rate is heavily impacted by what the Massachusetts Water and Resources Authority (MWRA) decides to charge.
“We collect the sewage, but it ultimately goes to the MWRA, and then we have to pay the MWRA,” Watkins explained.
Other projects the city’s water and sewer and system are responsible for include removing lead pipes, in line with state regulations, and using special carbon filters to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the water supply. These “forever chemicals” are linked to a myriad of health problems. The PFAS filtration system, originally funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, costs the Cambridge Water Department $1.3 million per year to operate.
Current state regulations set the largest acceptable amount of PFAS in the water at 20 parts per trillion. This represents “one drop of something in Fresh Pond,” according to Councillor Patty Nolan. The state goal is to get levels below 10 parts per trillion. Cambridge is already better than that: toward the end of the year, “we are getting a combined total of approximately 6.5 parts per trillion” of PFAS in Cambridge’s water, said Mark Gallagher, managing director of the Cambridge Water Department.
Eight out of nine councillors voted in favor of the increase to the combined sewer and water rate, with E. Denise Simmons absent during the vote.
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