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Cleanlink News 6/4/2009

Cleaners Must Be Ready For Water Shortages


Some Americans can expect to see huge rate increases for water and sewer costs in the coming months and with them, hear a chorus of complaints and protests. This is occurring as city after city is forced to grapple with growing water shortages, aging water infrastructure, and postponing badly needed water and sewer rate hikes.
 
Some of the most serious problems are in California, where some municipalities, such as Stockton, are proposing a 63 percent rate increase over a four-year period. However, California is certainly not alone. For instance:
• Some West Virginia residents will have to fork-up 83 percent more to pay for sewer costs and 25 percent more for water
• New Yorkers will get soaked with a 13 percent jump in water rates starting in July 2009
• Residents of Chapel Hill, NC, can expect to see a 10 percent increase in water and sewer rates very soon.
 
Many consumers have signed petitions and are protesting the rate hikes.

“I’m a Vietnam vet [and] never in my life would I think about protesting water and sewer charges after living in the jungles of Vietnam. And it’s not only me (who is affected)—it’s the people on fixed and limited incomes,” says Larry Ward of Pine Hill, WV.
 
But, according to Klaus Reichardt, founder and managing partner of Waterless No-Flush urinals, water officials have little recourse but to raise rates.
 
“Many areas of the country are experiencing severe water shortages and these are not temporary [shortages] as in years past,” he says. “Demand is outstripping supply…it’s as simple as that.”
 
Reichardt adds that one of the few good things evolving from the problem is that customers, both on a residential and commercial level, are becoming much more water wise.
 
“Water is our most precious natural resource,” Reichardt says. “Historically, North Americans have rarely been concerned about their water supply, but now we must be very careful to use it responsibly and appropriately.”


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