Automatic Sprinkler Abatement

When several developments in town started utilizing automatic sprinkler systems, a number of residents asked the Commission to establish an automatic abatement process for residents with lawn sprinklers.  After a lengthy study period and review of other community practices the LSDC established the automatic sprinkler abatement program. 

The program enables a resident to petition the Commission one time and have an abatement calculated automatically for all future billing cycles.

Only residents with an automatic sprinkler system are allowed by the Commission to be considered for the program.  The automatic sprinkler, or irrigation, system must be a hard plumbed system consisting of fixed irrigation zones connected to watering heads and controlled by an automated timer system.  The sprinkler system must be on a regular watering cycle that is scheduled and predictable.

All other requests are on a case-by-case basis.  Typical outdoor watering is no eligible for this program.

Requests for abatements above and beyond the automatic sprinkler abatement are also considered on a case-by-case basis.  To be considered for an abatement please submit a Usage Abatement Request Form.

Calculation
The Commissions methodology considers that by determining what the winter use at a household is, the real summer use can be reasonably quantified.  For example, if a property on average uses 4,000 CF on average for each winter quarter, when there was no outside water use, then it can be reasonably assumed that this was is the average household wastewater use year round.  In summer months, it is assumed that any excess use above the winter average was outside water use.

So, the calculation for establishing automatic abatements is simply the calculated using the difference between the winter average use and the actual summer quarter metered readings. 

For example, with a property with a summer quarter reading of 5,000 CF, and winter average of 4,000 CF, the abatement would be for the 1,000CF difference and the customer would only be billed for only the 4,000 CF.

Minimum Average Winter Use
When the Commission first debated the use of the automatic abatement process concern was expressed over how the winter average use would be established.  It was noted that a number of residences in the district were vacated for extended periods in the winter months thus skewing the real winter use average. 

This issue made the true quantification of actual winter use impossible.  As a result, the Commission decided to set a “minimum average winter use” for calculation purposes, which would be used in lieu of a calculated average in those circumstances where the calculated average dropped below what is considered average household water use. 

The LSDC reviewed the use of established standards in use in Massachusetts.  The current iteration of Title 5, which is the basis for establishing design flows, uses a 330 gallon per day minimum as the standard for domestic household wastewater use.  This average would create a minimum use of 3,970 CF per quarter. 

Instead, the Commission opted to use the lesser 270 gallons per day per household which is a standard used nationally for wastewater design.  This average creates a minimum winter use of 3,248, which is 722CF less than Massachusetts Title 5 for the quarter average.

Calculations Utilizing the Minimum Average Winter Use
If a property has an average winter use that is greater than the Minimum Average, the real calculated winter use is used for abatement calculation purposes.

So again, for a property with a summer quarter reading of 5,000 CF, and winter average of 4,000 CF, the abatement would be for the 1,000CF difference and the customer would only be billed for the 4,000 CF.

However, for those properties that have their calculated average winter use drop below the minimum use, the minimum use is instead used.

So for a property with a summer quarter reading of 5,000 CF, and winter average of 2,000 CF, the abatement would be the difference between the minimum winter use and the actual summer metered reading.  In this case it would be 5000-3248 = 1752CF

Meter Reading Cycles
It should be noted that bills are calculated based on meter readings provided to the LSDC by the Lancaster Water Department.  These meter readings are completed on a quarterly basis.  However, due to operational constraints, the meters are typically not read on the last day of any given quarter.  Instead, meters are read at some point during the last month of a quarter. 

As a result, several customers may find that the dates of some summer quarter readings may include two or three weeks of winter usage readings.  Also some winter quarter readings contain some use that actually occurred within summer months.  As a result, total metered flow and and the quarterly averages balance out.

The LSDC does NOT adjust abatements for variation in reading dates.  Customers who have serious concerns about these discrepancies can opt out of the automatic sprinkler abatement program and file abatements on a case-by-case basis.