United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office Of Water
(WH-547)
EPA 832-B-92-003
August 1992
4>EPA
Determining Wastewater
User Service Charge Rates
A Step By Step Manual
Printed on Recycled Paper
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1
INTRODUCTION
Good financial management is a critical part of all wastewater opera-
tions. It allows you to establish the user service charge rates neces-
sary to keep your utility financially healthy and running smoothly.
This publication was designed to help small to medium-sized waste-
water utility operations decide how much they should be charging
their residential, commercial, and industrial customers for wastewater
services. It includes a Lotus 1-2-3 computer model program and
manual procedures to help you calculate specific values for your
system's user service charges.
Using a model computer program to help calculate your user service
charge rates has many advantages. As you know, setting rates can be
a difficult and time-consuming task, involving lots of paper, pages of
statistics, and hours of work. Computers simplify these tasks. This
computer program quickly and accurately calculates user service
charge rates using specific information from your wastewater opera-
tions. In addition, once you have collected the basic information, this
computer program makes it easy for you to see the effects of a
change in different operating variables. Unfortunately, the program
cannot make the difficult decision of when to increase user service
charges. However, it will quickly give you information to support
those decisions.
The computer program is designed to be as easy to use as possible.
The only requirements are that you have an IBM-PC or PS/2 compat-
ible computer and Lotus 1-2-3, version 2.01, 2.2, or higher. The pro-
gram only requires that you have general familiarity with your com-
puter and know how to start Lotus 1-2-3. The instructions in this
manual and on the computer screen will lead you through the pro-
gram.
INFORMATION You NEED
The computer program supplied with this manual will ask you for
information about your wastewater system, its costs, treatment waste-
load, and other information. To save time, have the following infor-
mation at hand before starting the computer program:
• financial statements. The latest annual financial statements for your
wastewater operations. If you combine the finances for water and
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wastewater operations, you'll need to break the records down into
separate water and wastewater accounts.
current user service charge rate schedule. This is the existing rate
schedule used to bill your customers. If your billing system
doesn't use metered fresh water to bill for wastewater service, the
program will need information on the number and type of
customers.
total wastewater flow. The total annual flow in gallons (not mil-
lions of gallons) treated by your treatment plant over the same 12-
month period covered by the financial statements. (Multiply cubic
feet by 7.5 to get gallons of flow.)
total metered water flow (if applicable). The total annual metered
drinking water in gallons (not millions of gallons) provided to
your wastewater customers over the same 12-month period covered
by the financial statements. The annual metered water flow should
be sub-grouped by user type: residential, commercial/institutional,
and industrial.
total industrial wastewater flow. The program will require the
total industrial wastewater flow through the treatment plant, for
both metered and unmetered systems. If this figure is not avail-
able, you will have to estimate the flow.
total annual influent BOD and SS. The pounds (not millions of
pounds) of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended
solids (SS) treated by your plant over the same 12-month period
covered by the financial statements.
the number of customers by type (for unmetered water only).
Type means residential single-family, one- and two-bedroom apart-
ments, three-or-more bedroom apartments, commercial (such as
stores, restaurants, office buildings) and institutional (such as
churches, hospitals, government buildings), and industries. Nor-
mally, industrial wastewater is metered and analyzed by the
wastewater utility to accurately assess each industrial user's service
charges.
an IBM-compatible computer with Lotus 1-2-3, version 2.01, 2.2,
or higher. An IBM PC, PC-XT, or PS/2, or compatible with Lotus
1-2-3, version 2.01, 2.2 or higher and enough memory to run Lotus
1-2-3. The Lotus 1-2-3 program included with this manual is avail-
able in 3.5"-730Kb format, or 5.25"-360Kb format. A fixed disk
(hard disk) drive isn't required, but the files necessary to run the
program may be copied to a fixed disk drive.
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ASSUMPTIONS
The computer program is designed using the following assumptions:
• wastewater flow. The program uses an equivalent dwelling unit
(EDU) methodology for unmetered fresh water systems. An equiva-
lent dwelling unit (1.0 EDU) is a single-family detached residence.
The program assumes a one- or two-bedroom apartment equals
0.75 EDU, a three-bedroom apartment or larger equals 1.0 EDU, a
commercial/institutional user equals 2.5 EDUs, restaurants and
taverns equal 10.0 EDUs, and industrial users are charged based
on actual wastewater flows. Extraneous wastewater flows (i.e.,
infiltration and inflow) are distributed to users in the same manner
as normal wastewater flows.
• financial management. The wastewater operations are assumed to
be financially self-sufficient municipal utility operations.
• uniform rates. All users are billed on a uniform rate to assure fair
and equitable distribution of the wastewater operational costs to
each user. (For example, all users pay their proportionate share of
the wastewater operational costs.) The uniform rate calculated by
the program is based on total volume (gallons) of wastewater and
the normal BOD and SS content for residential wastewater. The
cost of treating high strength BOD and SS wastewater is included
as a surcharge in the uniform industrial rate.
A surcharge occurs only when the program determines that the
BOD or SS concentration of the wastewater treated by your plant
exceeds that normally expected from domestic sewage. (Normal
domestic strength wastewater is assumed to contain .002294 pounds
of BOD and SS per gallon, or 2,294 pounds per 1 million gallons
of wastewater.) The program then assumes that industry is the
source of the excess treatment load and develops an industrial
surcharge rate.
Some wastewater utilities use the declining block rate structure,
where higher volume users pay a lower rate per 1,000 gallons of
wastewater treated. This approach isn't used by this program be-
cause it doesn't equitably charge users for the cost of wastewater
services.
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STARTING THE PROGRAM
Before using the computer program, you're encouraged to first read
through this manual and assemble the required information.
COPY THE DISK
Make a back-up copy of the program disk, use the back-up copy,
and put the original disk in a safe place. If you have a hard disk,
you can copy either the version 2.01 files (RATE201.WK1 and
NEWRATES.PRN) or the version 2.2 (or higher) files (RATE.WK1
and NEWRATES.PRN) from the floppy disk that came with the
manual onto your hard disk drive. Be sure to copy both files;
both are necessary.
LOAD LOTUS 1-2-3
Load Lotus 1-2-3 on your computer in the normal manner.
LOAD RATE.WK1
Make sure that Lotus 1-2-3 knows where to look for the
RATE.WK1 files by setting the directory with the SLASH KEY (/)
File-Directory sequence, and then typing the appropriate directory
(A: or C:\LOTUS if your files are on a fixed disk, etc.). Follow
the usual Lotus file retrieve sequence by pressing SLASH KEY File-
Retrieve, and load RATE.WK1.
When RATE.WK1 loads, it begins an automatic program that will
lead you through the entire process. Read the screens carefully;
follow the instructions shown on each screen and observe the rules
that follow.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
To enter the information for a specific question, type the appropriate
response and press ENTER. While you're typing, the information being
typed will appear at the top of the screen. You may correct errors in
a line you are entering by using BACKSPACE and the left and right
ARROW keys, and re-typing. After you press ENTER (RETURN key), the
information will appear in the proper location on the screen. In some
parts of the program where the data is necessary to calculate new
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rates, you'll have a second chance to edit your entries on the entire
screen before going on to the next screen.
When entering numbers into the program, don't use commas or cur-
rency signs. The program will insert commas and currency signs
where necessary. If you wish to enter a decimal, such as dollars and
cents, you must type the decimal point. For example, $3 would be
entered simply as 3 (no currency sign), while $2.75 would be entered
as 2.75 (decimal point, but still no currency sign). Three million
(3,000,000) would be entered as 3000000 (no commas).
If you follow the directions, you shouldn't have any difficulty. How-
ever, if you become completely lost or enter the wrong information,
the program can be stopped by holding down the CTRL (Control) key
and pressing the BREAK key once. After pressing this key sequence, an
error message will flash on the screen; just press ENTER once, and
then re-load the program from the disk to re-start. This is usually not
necessary; even if the information entered is incorrect, the program
will still run through to completion.
Occasionally, you'll type something or do something the program
doesn't expect or won't accept. An electronic beep will sound. This is
neither disastrous nor unusual, even for experienced Lotus 1-2-3 users.
There is always a reason; study the screen and follow the directions
carefully, and the beeps will be minimized.
After running the program, the results of your work — the informa-
tion you enter and the recommended new rates — will be saved to a
text file named NEWRATES.PRN. This file should never be erased! If
you want to see the results of a program run, print the file using a
word processor or copy it to another directory. You can print or copy
the file, but don't erase or delete the original file.
It's not necessary or recommended that you save the RATE.WK1 file
after running the program. However, if you are proficient with Lotus
1-2-3, you can save the file under a different name. To save the
spreadsheet file, rename it so that the original RATE.WK1 file
remains intact.
If you are an EPA wastewater construction grantee, you may wish to
calculate only the user charge (operations, maintenance, and equip-
ment replacement) rates. To accomplish this, simply enter a 0 for
principal and interest payments on the WASTEWATER COLLECTION
AND TREATMENT EXPENSES screen, and exclude all revenues
collected for debt service.
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INTRODUCTORY SCREENS
After starting RATE.WK1, an introductory screen appears, as shown
in Figure 1.
Welcome to
DETERMINING
WASTEWATER USER SERVICE CHARGE RATES
developed lor the
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
by the
Municipal Technical Advisory Service
University of Ten
1991
(Please press the ENTER key to continue.)
Figure 1:
Introductory
Screen
Pressing ENTER takes you to a second screen that asks for the name
of your jurisdiction (city, county, district, etc.), which may be up to
72 characters long. Please don't try to bypass this screen: the pro-
gram uses your jurisdiction name to track some of its actions. You
must type an entry and press ENTER before the program will proceed.
The next two screens give basic instructions on what information the
program will need, as shown in Figures 2 and 3 on the next page.
Read the first screen, press ENTER, then read the second screen and
press ENTER again. You will be presented with three choices at the
top of the screen: CONTINUE, QUIT, or READ THE INSTRUCTIONS
AGAIN. You can move the highlighted cursor from choice to choice
with the SPACE BAR or the right and left ARROW keys. The second line
of the screen will show explanatory text for each choice as you move
from one choice to the next. Make a choice by highlighting the text
with the cursor and pressing ENTER.
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Anytown, USA
Determining User Service Charge Rates
This Lotus 1-2-3 program will help you to determine your user
service charges tor wastewater treatment. You should read through the
manual which accompanies this program before proceeding. If you
havent read the manual, you should choose "QUIT" after reading this
screen and the next screen.
To use the Wastewater User Service Charge Rates Program, you
should have the following Information at hand:
(1) The latest financial statements and/or budgets for your wastewater
operation, Including all revenues and expenses;
(2) If you meter water consumption, you need the current billing
schedule (rates per 1,000 gallons of wastewater treated);
Please press ENTER for more Instructions
Figure 2:
First
Instruction
Screen
(3) If you do NOT meter or estimate water consumption, you need the
number of wastewatar customers In each of the following classes:
(a) Single-family residences;
(b) Apartments with 1-2 bedrooms, and with 3 or more bedrooms;
(c) Commercial and Institutional users other than restaurants;
(d) Restaurants; and
(e) Industries.
(4) The actual total annual wastewater flow of your plant and the total
flow of all Industrial users (In gallons).
(5) If you meter water use, total annual metered water flow broken
down by type of user (residential, commercial, and Industrial).
(6) The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended solids (SS)
(both In pounds) content of the wastewater which comes Into the
plant (Influent) each year.
If you have this Information at hand, press ENTER and select CONTINUE;
otherwise press ENTER and select QUIT, and return to this program
later.
Please press ENTER when you have read this screen.
Figure 3:
Second
Instruction
Screen
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8
METERED/UNMETERED SCREEN
This screen (Figure 4) asks you to identify how you determine users'
wastewater flow (METERED or UNMETERED). Your choice here will
determine the direction the program follows from this point on. Use
the SPACE BAR or ARROW keys to make a choice, and press ENTER.
METERED/UNMETERED
Is your fresh water supply METERED or UNMETERED?
(Press the right or ton ARROW key
to select "METERED" or "UNMETERED")
Figure 4:
Metered/
Unmetered
Screen
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CURRENT WASTEWATER BILLING
SCHEDULES (METERED ONLY)
This screen, shown in Figure 5 with example data, asks you to enter
your current billing schedule (per 1,000 gallons of use) for wastewater
user service charges. This information is used for comparison pur-
poses at the end of the program, where new wastewater bills are
compared to the average bills under the existing rates for billing
classes you enter on this screen. It begins by asking for the first step,
beginning with zero usage.
Anytown,USA
METERED water
r Service Charge Rates
Currant Wastewater Services Billing Schedule
Monthly Rates
11111111111 n n 1111111 i-t + t M
Total Gallons Treated
From... To...
0
2,001
4,001
6,001
10,001
2,000
4,000
6,000
10,000
Rate per
1,000 gallons
$2.00
1.90
1.80
1.50
1.40
Figure 5:
Metered Water
Billing Schedule
(with example
data)
Type the first usage figure, with no commas (for example, 2000), and
press ENTER. Then enter the rate per 1,000 gallons for this class (no
currency signs or commas; only decimal points if necessary). When
you press ENTER, the program starts the next step by taking the pre-
vious figure and adding 1 to it. Continue entering steps as before.
You may enter up to 10 rate steps, but no more. You must enter at
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10
least two rate steps for the program to proceed. When you enter
your last step (for example, 10,000 gallons and above), leave the To
step blank and press ENTER. In version 2.01, type a 0 and press EN-
TER. Then enter the rate for that step. The program then displays the
EDIT MENU (see page 11). If your rate structure uses uniform rates
(the same rate per 1,000 gallons for all levels of usage), just enter
two rate steps at that rate.
Figure 6:
Instructions for
Unmetered
Users
ENTERING CUSTOMERS BY TYPE
(UNMETERED ONLY)
If you choose UNMETERED water on the METERED/UNMETERED
screen, a message (see Figure 6) says you will be asked to provide
information about the number of customers by type of users. This
information is essential to arriving at recommended rates for a flat
rate wastewater user service charge system.
ENTERING THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS BY TYPE OF USER
On the next screen, you will be asked to enter the number of
customers by type of user (residential, apartments, commercial, etc.).
This Information Is necessary to evaluate the the amount of waste
being treated by your plant and determine If a surcharge for Industrial
users Is necessary.
Please press ENTER when you are ready to proceed.
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Pressing ENTER takes you to a screen, shown in Figure 7 with ex-
ample data. You should enter the number of customers by class (no
commas in the number). If you don't have any customers in a par-
ticular class, enter a zero. After entering the last figure, the EDIT
MENU will appear.
11
Anytown, USA
Determining UMT Service Charge Rates
Number of User* by Type - UNMETERED WATER
NUMBER of
TYPE OF CUSTOMER CUSTOMERS
Single Family Residences 8,000
Apartments (1-2 bedroom) 1,500
Apartments (3 or more bedrooms) 1,000
Commercial/Institutional 900
Restaurants and Taverns 100
Industrial 100
Figure 7:
Entering
Numbers of
Unmetered
Users by Type
(with example
data)
EDIT MENU
The EDIT MENU is a feature that will appear on a number of screens
after you enter the last data item on the screen. It allows you to
make changes to any of the data you have just entered before leaving
the screen. Highlighting YES and pressing ENTER displays a message
explaining that an entry can be changed by highlighting it with the
cursor (use the up, down, left, and right ARROW keys), typing the
new data, and pressing ENTER. Only the data you entered on this
screen should be changed. Changing any other information on the
screen could have unpredictable and possibly unpleasant results!
If you change an item on the screen and press ENTER, you will be
asked if there are any other changes to be made. A NO selection lets
you move to the next screen by pressing ENTER.
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12
WASTEWATER OPERATIONAL
EXPENSES
The next screen (see Figure 8) is an introduction to entering your
wastewater collection and treatment expenses. This portion of the
program will require the use of your financial statement(s).
ENTERING YOUR WASTEWATER OPERATIONAL COSTS
On tha next screen, you will be asked to enter your system's total
cost of operations. The figures you will be asked to enter Include the
typical Items tor your wastewater collection AND treatment operations:
Salaries and benefits
Utilities
Equipment replacement fund (reserve for replacement) contributions
Chemicals, supplies and parts
Contract services
Administrative costs and office supplies
Principal and Interest payments
Any other costs
As you enter these figures, help will be available to explain what
each category Includes. Help Is also In the manual. Please Include ALL
costs; the help screens are Just "reminders," not comprehensive lists.
Please press ENTER when you are ready to proceed.
Figure 8:
Instructions
for Entering
Operational
Costs
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After reading the introductory screen, press ENTER and the data entry
screen will appear (see Figure 9). You will be prompted for the fiscal
year covered by the figures you are about to enter. Just type the year
(for example, 1990). Don't type FY; the program will add that prefix.
If the figures are for a 12-month period other than a fiscal year, you
may edit the FY prefix after completing data entry on this screen by
using the EDIT MENU that appears following the last entry.
13
What fiscal year are thaaa figures for?
Anytown, USA
Wastewater Collection and Treatment Expenses
Salaries and Fringe Benefits
Utilities
Equipment Replacement Fund
Chemicals;, Supplies and Parts
Contract Service*
Administrative Costs & Office Supplies
Principal and Interest Payments
Other Costs
Figure 9:
Entering
Collection and
Treatment Costs
(fiscal year)
This screen is different from the other screens of the program in that
it offers help in classifying your expenditures. After entering the fiscal
year and pressing ENTER, a menu choice for SALARIES AND PRINCES
appears (see Figure 10). Moving the highlighted cursor to HELP! and
pressing ENTER takes you to a screen of explanatory information on
SALARIES AND FRINGES (see Figure 11). After reading the screen,
return to the EXPENSES screen by pressing ENTER. You then must
highlight the expense item title and press ENTER again before typing
an amount. Continue in the same way through all of the items on the
screen. After you have entered all the figures, the program will com-
pute the total (see Figure 12 on page 15), and the EDIT MENU will
appear after you enter the last item. Remember, no commas and no
currency signs.
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14
Salaries and Fringes HELP!
Ready to enter salaries and fringes expenses (press ENTER)
Anytown, USA
Wastewater Collection and Treatment Expenses
FY1990
Salaries and Fringe Benefits
unities
Equipment Replacement Fund
Chemicals, Supplies and Parts
Contract Services
Administrative Costs & Office Supplies
Principal and Interest Payments
Other Costs
Figure 10:
Entering Salaries
and Fringes
SALARIES AND FRINGES: HELP
Salaries and fringe benefits Includes ALL of the following Items
for all employees of the wastewater collection and treatment
operation, Including office and administration employees:
Salaries
Wages
Temporary Salaries
Overtime Pay
Sick Pay
Holiday Pay
Longevity Pay
Bonuses
Social Security
Health and Hospltallzatlon Insurance
Retirement Contributions
Workers' Compensation
Unemployment Compensation
Employee Training
Life Insurance Costs
Other Employer Contributions
Please press ENTER when you are ready to proceed
Figure 11:
Salaries and
Fringes
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Anytown, USA
Wastawatar Collection and Treatment Expenses
FY1990
Salaries and Fringe Benefit* $1,367,000
Utilities 127,000
Equipment Replacement Fund 330,000
Chemicals, Supplies and Parts 45,000
Contract Service* 67,000
Administrative Costs & Office Supplies 138,000
Principal and Interest Payments 195,000
Other Costs 56,000
TOTAL EXPENSES: $2,325,000
15
Figure 12:
Wastewater
Collection and
Treatment
Expenses
(with example
data)
Following is the text of the EXPENSES HELP screens for easy refer-
ence:
SALARIES AND FRINGES: HELP
Salaries and fringe benefits includes all of the following items for
all employees of the wastewater collection and treatment operation,
including office and administration employees:
• salaries,
• wages,
• temporary salaries,
• overtime pay,
• sick pay,
• holiday pay,
• longevity pay,
• bonuses,
• Social Security,
• health and hospitalization insurance,
• retirement contributions,
• workers' compensation,
• employee training,
• life insurance costs, and
• other employer contributions.
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16
UTILITIES: HELP
Utilities includes any expenditure for natural gas, electric power,
telephones, and water service for the treatment plant and the col-
lection system. Be sure to include the power costs for operation of
collection system pumps and lift stations, as well as any charges
for telephone lines required to monitor and control the collection
system. Utilities may also include the cost of refuse collection for
the treatment plant.
EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT: HELP
Each wastewater operation should have some method of setting
aside funds for the replacement of major equipment items. One of
the most frequently used techniques is an equipment replacement
fund or reserve for equipment replacement. This should include any
funds your wastewater operation sets aside to pay for future repair
and/or replacement of items such as lift pumps, vehicles, and
other major pieces of equipment used to collect and treat waste-
water.
CHEMICALS, SUPPLIES, AND PARTS: HELP
This category includes all of the following typical items, and any
similar items:
• treatment chemicals,
• laboratory supplies,
• gas, oil, diesel fuel, grease, etc.,
• machinery and equipment parts,
• automotive parts,
• electrical, painting, plumbing, and carpentry supplies,
• repair parts for collection lines,
• consumable tools,
• concrete, metal, and plastic pipe and culverts used for repairs,
• cement, crushed stone, gravel, sand, and dirt,
• building materials,
• asphalt, and
• other repair and maintenance supplies.
CONTRACT SERVICES: HELP
This category includes any services purchased from providers who
are not part of the wastewater operation. Typical items include:
• freight, express, and truck charges,
• contract printing and duplication services,
• legal services,
• data processing services,
• architectural and engineering services,
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• plant and collection system repair and maintenance services, Hj "*7
• automotive repair and maintenance services, and • •
• leased equipment costs.
ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND OFFICE SUPPLIES: HELP
Administrative costs includes any expenditures that could be con-
sidered indirect, overhead, and/or not directly attributable to the
actual collection and treatment of wastewater. Included in this
category would be any costs of utility billing and revenue collec-
tion, management of the wastewater system, and office supplies.
Typical items of expenditure would include:
• postage,
• travel costs,
• data processing costs,
• printing, publications, subscriptions, and professional dues,
• office and utility billing supplies,
• wastewater share of water meter-reading costs,
• delinquent accounts collection costs,
• liability and structural insurance, and
• rents and leases.
PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST: HELP
This category includes the annual debt service cost associated with
borrowing and repaying money for the wastewater system. The
annual payments on bonds, notes, revenue anticipation notes, state
and/or federal loans, mortgages, and any other short or long-term
debt should be included. In addition to the annual principal and
interest on these loans, bank service charges, bond sale expenses,
and costs associated with redeeming bond coupons should be in-
cluded as well.
OTHER EXPENSES: HELP
This category covers any expenditure items you may not have
included elsewhere. Be aware that most "other" items can often be
properly accounted for under Administrative Costs. This category
would include the amount of any actual annual funds placed in a
specific reserve account for facility replacement or depreciation.
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18
OTHER REVENUES
Other revenues are all revenues that come into the wastewater system
other than user service charges and surcharges. An introductory
screen explains other revenues (see Figure 13).
ENTERING "OTHER REVENUES" INFORMATION
On the next screen, you will be asked to enter all revenue* other
than user service charges. "Other" revenue Includes connection lees,
special assessments, Interest on Investments, and any other revenue
derived from any source other than user service charges and
surcharges, Including any minimum fixed fee charged to users that Is
not related to wastewater usage.
Please press ENTER when you are ready to proceed.
Figure 13:
Instructions
for Entering
Other Revenues
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At the OTHER REVENUES data entry screen (see Figure 14), you're
asked to enter all other revenues. While the listing may not be com-
prehensive, please enter all operating revenues other than user service
charges and surcharges in some category on this screen. This screen
follows the format of the preceding screens, prompting for each entry.
The program then calculates a total, and allows use of the EDIT
MENU after the last entry.
19
Anytown, USA
Determining User Sarvlca Charge Rates
Other Wastawater Revenues
Connection Fees
Special Assessments
Minimum Service Fee
Interest on Investments
Other Revenues
$10,000
5,000
20,000
25,000
3,000
TOTAL, OTHER REVENUES: $63,000
Figure 14:
Entering Other
Revenues
(with example
data)
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20
TREATMENT PLANT STATISTICS
Instructions on entering wastewater flow and BOD and SS statistics
for your treatment plant appear on the next screen (see Figure 15).
ENTERING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR TREATMENT PLANT
On the next screen, you are asked to enter the Biochemical
Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Suspended Solids (SS) which your
treatment plant receives every year, and how much i
through the plant every year. You will be asked to enter these figure* In
pounds for BOD and SS, and gallons for total flow. For example. If your
plant handles 7 million pounds of Influent BOO per year, you would
enter "7000000" (no commas) for that question.
The numbers you provide would be tor the same period which you
Indicated for the fiscal year In the "Expenses' section, which was:
FY1990
Remember, these are ANNUAL figures, not daily or monthly.
Please press ENTER when you are ready to proceed.
Figure 15:
Instructions
for Entering
Treatment Plant
Statistics
\
After reading the information screen, pressing ENTER takes you to a
data entry screen (see Figure 16 on the next page) where the first
item requested is ANNUAL WASTEWATER FLOW. This should be an-
nual — not monthly or daily flow — and it should be in gallons —
not hundreds, or thousands, or millions of gallons. It may seem cum-
bersome typing all those zeros, but it ensures accuracy in the rate cal-
culations and avoids the confusion of using terms such as "MGD" or
"flow in OOOs." The next three items follow the same format: annual
influent BOD, SS figures in pounds (not long or short tons or hun-
dredweight), and total annual industrial wastewater flow. All four of
these figures are critical to determining the user service charge basic
rate and the industrial surcharge, if any. The annual total wastewater
and industrial wastewater flows, BOD, and SS figures are for the
same reporting period (fiscal year or other 12-month period) that was
used for the WASTEWATER OPERATIONAL EXPENSES figures.
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Anytown, USA
Determining User Sarvlca Charge Rates
Traatmarrt Plant Information
(ANNUAL RGURES)
What was the total ANNUAL flow
through your treatment plant
(In gallons):
How much Influent BOD did your
treatment plant receive
(In ANNUAL pounds):
How much Influent SS did your
treatment plant receive
(In ANNUAL pounds):
Total ANNUAL INDUSTRIAL
WASTEWATER flow:
FY1990
1,000,000,000
2,500,000
2,200,000
100,000,000
21
Figure 16:
Entering
Treatment
Plant Statistics
(with example
data)
For jurisdictions that use metered water to bill wastewater operational
costs, two additional items are requested at the bottom of the screen
(see Figure 16a): annual metered water flow figures in gallons for
residential, and commercial/institutional wastewater treatment users.
Total ANNUAL RESIDENTIAL
METERED WATER flow.
Total ANNUAL
COMMERCIAL/INSTITUTIONAL
METERED WATER flow:
Total METERED WATER FLOW
750,000,000
50,000,000
900,000,000
Figure 16a:
Entering
Metered Water
Flow (with
example data)
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22
RECOMMENDED USER
SERVICE CHARGE RATES
The last step in the program is the actual calculation of the basic
user service charge per 1,000 gallons of waste water treated, and an
industrial surcharge per 1,000 gallons, if required. The resulting infor-
mation is placed, for metered water systems, in a table that compares
typical wastewater service charge bills under existing rates and the
new recommended rate, including any industrial surcharges (see Fig-
ure 17).
Figure 17:
Recommended
Rates - Metered
Systems (with
example data)
Anytown, USA
Determining User Service Charge Rates
New Wastewater Rates Table - METERED WATER
Rates per 1,000 gallons treated
User Type &
Gallons
Used
3,000
5,000
3,000
5,000
Current
Rate per
1.000G
New
Rate per
1,0000
Residential, Commercial and Institutional
$2.00
1.90
$2.00
1.90
Industrial
$2.31
2.31
$4.38
4.38
Monthly
BUI
$6.92
11.53
$13.13
21.89
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For unmetered systems, the results are presented on text screens (see
Figures 18 and 19) containing the new basic service charge rate, the
industrial service charge rate including any surcharge, and estimates
of bills for typical residential and commercial users.
23
RECOMMENDED WASTEWATER USER SERVICE CHARGE RATES
Baaed an the Information you have entered In the model, new
uniform wastewater user service charge rates have been calculated for
your jurisdiction. The new rates, Including Industrial surcharge rates If
necessary, have been saved on the default disk for your Lotus 1-2-3
flies as a file named NEWRATES.PRN. After you leave this screen, the
model stops running and the screen will show the area where the new
rates are displayed, which Is the same area saved as NEWRATES.PRN.
By using the arrow keys, you can view any part of the rate table which
may not appear on the screen.
NEWRATES.PRN Is a "Print" file, which means that It can t.i
printed using any word processor or any method which will print
standard ASCII-format text files. It CANNOT by printed from Lotus 1-2-3.
Before running the model again, you should either print or copy
NEWRATES.PRN If you want to save the results of this model run. DO
NOT erase or move NEWRATES.PRN; this would cause an error.
Please press ENTER when you are ready to proceed.
Figure 18:
Recommended
Wastewater
User Service
Charge Rates
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24
Anytown, USA
Determining Wastewater User Service Charge Rates
New Wastewater Rates Table - UNMETERED WATER
The new wastewator user charge for residential customers at the rat* ol
$2.08 per 1,000 gallons results In a "flat rate" monthly bill for a
residential customer of:
$ 11.64
The new wastewater "flat rate" monthly bills for other users are as
follows:
Apartments (1&2 bedroom): $ 8.73
Apartments (3+bedrooms): $ 11.64
Restaurants and Taverns: $116.39
Commercial/Institutional: $ 29.10
The new wastewater user charge rate for Industrial customers,
Including any surcharge:
$3.94 per 1,000 gallons
Figure 19:
Recommended
Rates-
Unmetered
Systems (with
example data)
The recommended new rates and the information you entered into the
program is placed in a text file named NEWRATES.PRN, which is
saved to the default directory for your Lotus 1-2-3 worksheet files.
This is a standard ASCII text file which can be printed with any
word processor or any other software that can print ASCII files.
PRINTING FROM WORDPERFECT 5.0 OR 5.1
To print NEWRATES.PRN with WordPerfect 5.0 or 5.1, start
WordPerfect the way you normally would, press List Files, and
type in the full name of the directory where NEWRATES.PRN was
saved, which should be the default directory for your LOTUS 1-2-3
files, such as C:\123 or C:\123\FILES or C:\LOTUS, etc. Find
NEWRATES.PRN in the list of files, highlight it and press <1> or
to retrieve the file just as you would a normal WordPerfect docu-
ment. Alternatively, press Retrieve, and type in the full
directory path and name of the file, and press ENTER. The file will be
converted to WordPerfect format as it is retrieved. You will want to
edit the file before printing because it will contain extra blank lines
at the beginning, at one location in the middle of the first page, and
at the end of the text. You may also need to adjust the margins
and/or type size.
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PRINTING FROM MICROSOFT WORD
To print NEWRATES.PRN with Microsoft Word, start Word the way
you normally would and select TRANSFER and then LOAD. Next type
the full path and name of the file (e.g. C:\123\NEWRATES.PRN) and
press ENTER. You cannot use the key to list files in LOAD be-
cause NEWRATES.PRN doesn't end in .DOC like a standard Word
document. The file will be converted to Word format as it is retrieved.
You will want to edit the file before printing because it will contain
extra blank lines at the beginning, at one location in the middle of
the first page, and at the end of the text. You may also need to
adjust the margins and/or type size.
PRINTING FROM IBM DOS OR MS-DOS
To print NEWRATES.PRN directly from DOS, leave Lotus 1-2-3 or any
other application and get to a DOS prompt (C:>, A:>, etc.). Make
sure you are in the directory which contains your complete copy of
DOS. On a hard disk system, this will usually be C:\DOS or CABIN
or sometimes just C:\ if you keep DOS in your root directory.
Type Print [drive] [path] \NEWRATES.PRN, and press ENTER. Drive is the
letter of the drive where the NEWRATES.PRN file is saved, and path
is the directory or subdirectory where it is stored. For example, Print
C:\LOTUS\FILES\NEWRATES.PRN. DOS will respond with a question:
"Name of list device [PRN]:." PRN is the default destination for the
file, and represents the printer attached to your computer, or the first
printer (LPT1 in DOS parlance) attached to your network. If you want
to print the file to any other port or device (LPT2, COM1, COM2, etc.)
you should type it in here. Otherwise, just press ENTER and
NEWRATES.PRN will print on the printer attached to your computer's
parallel printer port.
RE-STARTING THE PROGRAM
If you want to see the effect of changing the expenses, revenues, or
other variables on your wastewater rates, you can do this by
re-starting the program from the beginning. The results of the pro-
gram run you just completed (NEWRATES.PRN) should be viewed
and printed before running the program using different assumptions
because the initial results will be replaced in that file by new results.
25
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26
How THE PROGRAM WORKS AND
CALCULATING NEW RATES
MANUALLY
The Lotus 1-2-3 program which calculates your waste water user service charges is
designed to minimize the time and effort required for this task. If you wish to gain a
more complete understanding of the program, the following worksheet describes
how the program calculates the user service charge rates. You can use the step-by-
step worksheet to manually calculate new user rates if you don't have access to an
IBM-compatible computer with Lotus 1-2-3.
If you meter fresh water, fill in items 1 through 4a.
If you don't meter fresh water, enter only items 3 and 4a.
Annual Residential Metered Water Flow (gallons)
Annual Commercial/Institutional Metered Water Flow (gallons)
Annual Industrial Metered Water Flow or Wastewater Flow (gallons)
Total Annual Metered Water Flow (1+2+3)
Total Annual Wastewater Flow
If you don't meter fresh water, fill in Items 5 - 11.
Number of EDUs
Type of Unit Units per unit
Single family residences 1 .00
Apartments (1-2 bedrooms) 0.75
Apartments (3+ bedrooms) 1.00
Commercial/Institutional 2.50
Restaurants and taverns 10.00
Industries
Grand Total EDUs (5+6+7+8+9)
1
2
3
4
4a
Total EDUs
(Units x EDUs per)
5
6
7
8
9
10
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Non-Industrial Wastewater Flow f\ ™T
[Item 4a minus Item 3] _ 11 M f
For both metered and unmetered systems, fill in Items 12 - 19, and 20 - 23 or 26 - 32.
Total Annual Influent BOD (pounds) _ 12
Calculate Normal Annual Influent BOD (pounds)
[Item 4a times .002294 pounds per gallon] _ 13
Calculate Excess BOD
[Item 12 minus Item 13] If Item 12 is less than Item 13, enter 0. _ 14
Percentage Excess BOD
_ 15
Total Annual Influent SS (pounds) _ 16
Calculate Normal Annual Influent SS (pounds)
[Item 4a times .002294 pounds per gallon] _ 17
Calculate Excess SS
[Item It minus Item 17] If Item 16 is less than Item 17, enter 0. _ 18
Percentage Excess SS
[(Item 18 divided by Item 17) times 100] _ 19
If both Items 15 and 19 equal zero, then complete Items 20 through 23 and the
appropriate metered item (24) or unmetered items (25 through 25e).
Total Expenses (see pages 11-16) _ 20
Other Revenue (see pages 17-18) _ 21
Net Expenses [Item 20 minus Item 21] _ 22
1,000s of Gallons Wastewater [Item 4a divided by 1,000] _ 23
Metered Water
Actual Wastewater Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[Item 22 divided by Item 23] _ 24
New User Service Charge Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[Item 24 times (Item 4a divided by Item 4)] _ 24a
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28
Unmetered Water
New User Service Charge Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[Item 22 divided by Item 23] 25
Residential, per month
[((Item 11 divided by 12,000) divided by Item 10)
times Item 25] 25a
Apartments, 1-2 bedroom, per month
[Item 25a times 0.75] 25b
Apartments, 3+ bedrooms, per month)
[Item 25a times 1.00] 25c
Commercial/Institutional, per month
[Item 25a times 2.50] 25d
Restaurants/Taverns, per month
[Item 25a times 10.00] 25e
If either item 15 or 19 is greater than zero, then complete Items 26 through 32 and the
appropriate metered items (33 through 34b) or unmetered items (35 through 36a).
Total Expenses (see pages 11-16) 26
Other Revenue (see pages 17-18) 27
Net Expenses [Item 26 minus Item 27] 28
1,000s of Gallons Wastewater [Item 4a divided by 1,000] 29
Enter Item 15 or 19, whichever is greater % 30
Portion of Treatment Costs Attributable to
Normal Strength Wastewater
[100 divided by (100 plus Item 30)] 31
Portion of Treatment Costs
Attributable to Excess BOD or SS
[Item 30 divided by (100 plus Item 30)] 32
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Metered Water
Actual Wastewater Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[(Item 28 times Item 31) divided by Item 29] 33
New User Service Charge Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[Item 33 times (Item 4a divided by Item 4)] 33a
Actual Industrial Wastewater
Surcharge Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[(Item 28 times Item 32) divided by (Item 3 divided by 1,000)] 34
New Industrial Wastewater
Surcharge Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[Item 34 times (Item 4a divided by Item 4)] 34a
Total New Industrial User Service Charge Rate
(per 1,000 gallons) [Item 33a plus Item 34a] 34b
Unmetered Water
New User Service Charge Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[(Item 28 times Item 31) divided by Item 29] 35
Residential, per month
[((Item 11 divided by 12,000) divided by Item 10)
times Item 35] 35a
Apartments, 1-2 bedroom, per month
[Item 35a times 0.75] 35b
Apartments, 3+ bedrooms, per month
[Item 35a times 1.00] 35c
Commercial/Institutional, per month
[Item 35a times 2.50] 35d
Restaurants/Taverns, per month
[Item 35a times 10.00] 35e
New Industrial Wastewater
Surcharge Rate (per 1,000 gallons)
[(Item 28 times Item 32) divided by (Item 3 divided by 1,000)] 36
Total New Industrial User Service Charge Rate
(per 1,000 gallons) [Item 35 plus Item 36] 36a
29
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This publication and computer program were prepared by Haig
Farmer of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and William J.
Finane, Jr. and Sharon H. Fitzgerald of The University of Tennessee
Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS).
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