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“goose egg,” with no discernible relationship or pattern between the predicted and residual values. Adjusted means of the dependent variable can be calculated for subgroups of one of the independent variables, e.g., average annual water use per unit by billing method, adjusted for the other variables included in the model. This was done by applying the average values across the entire sample for each of the independent variables. Matched pair and pre-post analyses. A dependent t-test is used to compare the mean difference score between paired measurements, as in a repeated measures (like the pre- and postconversion analysis) or matched pair design. Like an independent t-test, a p-value is calculated. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA COLLECTION Supplemental data were used to provide additional information about each study site, utility, and various others affected by separate billing. Some of these data were used in the model estimation process and to qualify end use measurements. Weather Data So that the relationship between weather and water use could be explored during the data analysis and the water use model development, weather data was obtained for each study site. Average seasonal temperatures and measured precipitation were obtained from a representative weather station at each participating study site. The data was available over the Internet. If a study site did not have a weather station (as was the case for Irvine, CA and EBMUD, CA), geographically similar locations were used as representative stations. Utility Water and Wastewater Rates Water and wastewater rates were collected for each participating utility. In addition, information on rate structures was obtained. Many of these data were available over the Internet and were supplemented by utility personnel. Survey of Potential Regulators The Study included a survey that was sent to potential regulators across the nation to find out how they are addressing submetering and allocation issues. The survey was sent to: State safe drinking water administrators 60
State PUC officials – water commissioners, asst. water commissioners State bureau of weights and measures officials – meters division Utility managers – 100 largest utilities (and 3 additional sponsor utilities): general manager, engineering staff, or metering manager Edward R. Osann of Potomac Resources implemented the survey and the results are included in Chapter 5 of this report. The survey can be seen in Appendix A. Read and Bill Company Survey The Study included a survey that was sent out to companies directly involved in submetering and allocation billing across the nation. These Read and Bill Companies were surveyed to better understand the business practices and policies associated with submetering and allocation. The survey sought general information about the companies’ client base as well as about their bills, fees, and customer service. There were questions specific to submetering including meter reading and testing practices, and to allocation including common area subtraction practices. The survey can be seen in Appendix A. Thirty-six Read and Bill Companies were surveyed in two waves, yielding responses from 18 companies (50 percent). Tenant Advocacy Groups The Study included an investigation of the prevalence of utility billing issues in tenant organizations. The investigation aimed to find out if tenant organizations had any stance on submetering and RUBS, and whether or not they were taking any action because of it. Over 60 tenant organizations across the country were contacted by phone or email. This effort yielded responses from 20 organizations. Respondents ranged from those who were barely aware of submetering and RUBS to others who were actively involved with these billing systems. Some of the stances and concerns from these groups are included in Chapter 4. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL The research team took care during every step of the project to ensure that the data collected, assembled, and analyzed for this study were as accurate as possible. To ensure a high level of quality and accuracy, a number of quality assurance and quality control measures and tests were developed and implemented at various stages of the study. Below are some of the tests that were conducted to assure quality control: 61
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NATIONAL MULTIPLE FAMILY SUBMETERIN
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CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES............
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Matched-Pair Analysis .............
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LIST OF TABLES Table ES.1.1 Breakdo
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Table 6.6 Elasticity values, analys
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Figure 4.30 RUBS water bill #6 ....
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investigated local water savings as
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We are grateful to the members of a
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quantitative aspects of separate bi
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3. Owner/postcard survey: To identi
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"averages" of impact property water
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in-rent properties, others used the
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of these models included the billin
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70 Average Annual Water Use Per Uni
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COSTS AND BENEFITS Beyond quantifyi
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service charge, then the resident w
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Billing Method Efficient Fixtures?
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70 Avg. Water Use per MF Unit (kgal
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REGULATORY FRAMEWORK REVIEW The fra
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Table ES.1.12 NSUAA Summary of Stat
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above, the researchers offer the fo
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service is preferable, and would he
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practices (BMPs) should be implemen
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infrastructure of the building and
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multi-family housing. The transfer
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODU CTION More and mo
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In 1998, 15.0%, or 15.4 million, of
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TERMINOLOGY AND DEFINITIONS OF BILL
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submetering. With utility-submeteri
Page 61 and 62: all the two bedroom units for $20 p
Page 63 and 64: HOW TO USE THIS REPORT This report
Page 67 and 68: CHAPTER 2 LITERAT URE REVIEW As the
Page 69 and 70: A review of the literature unearthe
Page 71 and 72: The price elasticity of water deman
Page 73 and 74: expected. Additionally, McClelland
Page 75 and 76: submetered and five control (in-ren
Page 77 and 78: Another study might want to target
Page 81 and 82: CHAPTER 3 RESEARC H METHODS, APPROA
Page 83 and 84: 1. Selection of participating study
Page 85 and 86: STUDY SITE SELECTION The Study aime
Page 87 and 88: Figure 3.2 National Multiple Family
Page 89 and 90: Matched pair protocol/survey - conf
Page 91 and 92: information given the available bud
Page 93 and 94: survey. Service companies that prov
Page 95 and 96: in “business to business” calli
Page 97 and 98: MATCHED PAIR SAMPLE The purpose of
Page 99 and 100: The second part of the visit requir
Page 101 and 102: epresentative of a known population
Page 103 and 104: 51 Table 3.7 Postcard survey statis
Page 105 and 106: Table 3.8 Comparison of annual wate
Page 107 and 108: postcard survey. Nevertheless, exam
Page 109 and 110: confidence interval ranged from 49.
Page 111: particular property (e.g., the mont
Page 115: 10. The PROPID number appearing on
Page 118 and 119: These costs represent the commodity
Page 120 and 121: The postcard survey provided inform
Page 122 and 123: Table 4.4 Average number of units f
Page 124 and 125: Two-thirds of the properties that r
Page 126 and 127: Percent of Surveyed Properties with
Page 128 and 129: $700 Average Rent Per Bedroom ($) $
Page 130 and 131: Percent of Surveyed Properties with
Page 132 and 133: Impact properties were also more li
Page 134 and 135: Table 4.8 Issues considered before
Page 136 and 137: Percent of Surveyed Impact Properti
Page 138 and 139: 60% Percent of Surveyed Properties
Page 140 and 141: From the visits, it was found that
Page 142 and 143: 100% Percent of Surveyed Residents
Page 144 and 145: Roughly similar proportions of resi
Page 146 and 147: inserts for toilets (21%) or low-fl
Page 148 and 149: proportion were unsure, 37% from su
Page 150 and 151: Table 4.18 Ownership and rental rat
Page 152 and 153: Figure 4.17 Submeter water bill #1
Page 158 and 159: wastewater rates are not shown so t
Page 160 and 161: Figure 4.23 Hot water hybrid water
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RUBS Sample Bills Seven sample RUBS
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wastewater rates are not shown so t
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Figure 4.28 RUBS water bill #4 from
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Figure 4.30 RUBS water bill #6 RUBS
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directly to and then paid by the th
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never subtracting for common area w
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Late Fees At the start of water bil
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124
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intuitively clear, and matches comm
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Indoor water use was normalized on
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Table 5.3 Summarized water use anal
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easonable assumption since there is
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Figure 5.1 shows the frequency dist
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40 Difference in Annual Water Use p
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after 1995. By including only those
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Table 5.11 Statistical tests compar
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Factors that Influence Water Use Th
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Table 5.12 Association of categoric
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Indoor Water Use per Unit in 2001 I
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Table 5.13 Continuous factors from
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Multivariate Models to Determine Im
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properties built before 1995 were c
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A = Beta coefficient for “Propert
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substantially reduces the sample si
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Table 5.17 Model #2 coefficients an
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0.00 indicating that whatever fit d
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commodity charge for water and wast
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properties having generally lower w
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110 Average Annual Water Use Per Un
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analysis, intended to control best
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Table 5.27 Paired samples test, all
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Table 5.30 Estimated water use befo
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Table 5.33 Comparison of water savi
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180
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sector only reduced usage by 18% (A
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Table 6.1 Avoided costs from submet
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submetered. Complete responses of c
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included in this cost/benefit analy
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Table 6.3 Cost and benefit for owne
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Perceived Concerns In the resident
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With a service fee, residents could
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Table 6.4 Economic return for a res
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ANALYSIS OF PRICE ELASTICITIES Econ
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concluded that if a single elastici
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esults from this analysis point to
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over which they have control than d
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According to the basic consumer cho
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The consumer choice problem can be
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210
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water systems from compliance with
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and methods of practice. NIST publi
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Table 7.1 NSUAA Summary of State Re
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New Surveys of State Agencies and W
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the AWWA WaterStats 1999 database.
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Measures, which dispatches a public
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Mississippi, Missouri, Pennsylvania
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226 Table 7.6 Summary of utility re
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DISCUSSION - KEY EXAMPLES OF STATE
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ill. Condominium associations are g
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under construction after January 1,
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Weights and Measures Regulation In
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from the submetering. Meter testing
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clean and decent housing or the lac
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240
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NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE F
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complaints in all 50 states and app
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- Meters must demonstrate in testin
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- Plumbing systems are space constr
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(2) Twisted or kinked flex supply l
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252
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Estimated Water Use By Different Bi
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there are clear benefits to these s
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study site. These values were then
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immediately strengthens the owner's
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among the nation's key strategies f
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all repair and replacement decision
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These findings underscore the obser
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varies with volume of use) for mult
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Recommendation 6 - Efficient plumbi
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financially responsible for their o
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individual unit, the volume allocat
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARC
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Fixed rates - Part of a master mete
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Total-capture submetering - a type
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282
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Corral, L.R. 1997. Price and Non-Pr
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McClelland, L. 1980. Encouraging En
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Young, C.E., K.R. Kinsley and W.E.
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