DC Water’s Board of Directors voted unanimously Thursday to reduce a new fee that would have doubled or tripled some customers’ bills.
The new fee will pay for the replacement of water lines across the city to reduce the number of water main breaks and ensure the reliability of the water system.
For more than 90 percent of customers, the fee will be only $6.30. But for those who own a new home with the required fire suppression systems, the fee would have been $41 to $83 per month.
Fire suppression systems use a larger water line, and the new fee was based on the size of the line, not how much water is used.
“Many of those customers actually use less water than those with smaller meters, but they were going to get a larger charge based on the way we had structured it,” DC Water General Manager George Hawkins said.
The board of directors reconsidered the new fee structure after getting complaints from customers.
“People should not be penalized in any way for having fire suppression systems,” Board Chair Matthew Brown said.
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The reduced fee approved Thursday will be capped at $9.67 per month.
