national multiple family submetering and allocation billing program ...

CHAPTER 5 ANALYSI S OF WATER USE AND BILLING METHODS
The data collected for the National Multiple Family Submetering and Allocation Billing
Program Study provides a wealth of information about how submetering and allocation affect
water use, property owners, and residents. Drawn from these data are insights into this
developing industry, including the quantitative aspects of separate billing. The data are also
useful for examining the impacts of the 1992 Energy Policy Act plumbing standards and other
factors that may influence water use. It is anticipated that the database of submetered and
allocated data developed for this study will be a resource for researchers and planners to explore
for years to come, particularly if it is maintained and updated through additional research
projects.
This chapter presents the fundamental water use findings of the data collection from the
selected properties and analysis portion of the study. These findings include comparisons of
matched allocated, submetered, and in-rent properties, as well as a before and after comparison
of impact properties. Water use data are taken from the 2001 and 2002 billing databases of the
participating utilities. The largest sample is from properties described by respondents to the
postcard survey, followed by the medium-sized sample of the properties described in the
manager survey, and then smaller subsets including the matched pair respondents. Keep in mind
that this study did not set out to estimate national "averages" of impact property water use, and
the selected properties were not selected to be representative of the entire United States. Rather
the primary goal was to determine the impacts of different billing programs.
No analysis and presentation of these water use data could hope to answer all of the
questions that readers may have. For specific questions or analyses not presented here, the
database assembled for this study is available from the researchers. For details about the
database and how to obtain a copy contact Aquacraft, Inc. (www.aquacraft.com).
ESTIMATED WATER USE BY DIFFERENT BILLING METHODOLOGIES
One of the central purposes of this research study was to determine whether there is any
validity to the commonly asserted premise that individual billing for water and wastewater
services reduces water consumption by residents of multi-family properties. This notion seems
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