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3. Owner/postcard survey: To identify “impact” 2 properties in each utility, owner surveys were developed, tested and implemented to all eligible properties in each utility. This survey was necessary because in most cases there was no independent source of information about what properties use the various billing systems in any utility service area, and the study did not want to rely on information supplied solely from the billing companies, many of whom could not share their client lists in any case. In order to avoid a fatal bias in the study group selection, postcards were sent to all owners of multi-family properties listed in the water providers billing databases. The responses from this survey were used to identify the impact properties. 4. Database development: All data collected in this study including historic water billing records and survey response data were stored in a customized Microsoft Access database. 5. Manager survey: To obtain detailed information about properties identified in the owner/postcard survey, a survey was developed, tested and sent to managers of impacted and in-rent properties. 6. Regulatory and policy review: To evaluate the administrative and regulatory issues surrounding third party billing programs throughout the country, surveys were sent to various potential regulators in all 50 states and to more than 100 of the largest water and wastewater utilities. Additionally a detailed policy literature review was conducted. 7. Matched pair selection and site visits: Study team utilized the results from the manager survey to make statistically similar pair matches for site visits and comparison. A site visit protocol was developed and the study team worked with participating utilities to conduct site visits. 8. Resident survey: To solicit resident opinions and experiences with different billing methods, a survey instrument was developed, tested, and sent to residents using addresses provided on the manager survey. Some residents also provided copies of their water and wastewater bills sent by various read and bill companies or owners. 9. Read and bill company survey: To obtain information about billing practices and policies a survey was sent to 36 third party billing companies. 10. Statistical analysis and modeling: Once the data collection and analysis was complete, the 2 Impact properties – multi-family properties billing separately for water and/or wastewater services using RUBS, submetering, hot water hybrid, or other methods. xx
esearch team used all of the assembled information to develop analytical tools and relationships to quantify potential water savings and explain indoor multi-family residential water use. 11. Final products: The final products of this research project include this final report and the database. RESEARCH FINDINGS Prevalence of Billing for Water and Wastewater at Multi-family Properties RUBS, submetering, or hybrid metering was reported in 13.4% of the 7942 properties that responded to the owner/postcard survey. However, looking at the number of units indicated on the postcard survey, 35.4% of units are billed through RUBS, submetering, or hybrid systems. This represents the best estimate from this study of the prevalence of this practice in the multifamily sector. The postcard survey was sent to the owner of every multi-family property in the billing databases of the participating study sites that fit the initial criteria 3 . Nation-wide the prevalence of separate billing for water and wastewater may be somewhat less because the study sites selected to participate in this study often had a notable concentration of properties receiving water and wastewater bills based on data provided by billing service companies. All respondents Table ES.1.1 Breakdown of each billing method for all properties identified Billing Method In-Rent HWH Sub. RUBS Other * Total Properties 6760 42 311 717 142 7972 % of properties 84.8% 0.5% 3.9% 9.0% 1.8% 100% Units 286,355 3,912 47,547 112,049 10,400 460,263 % of units 62.2% 0.8% 10.3% 24.3% 2.3% 100.0% * Includes “Other” as well as respondents who left the question blank. Estimated Water Use By Different Billing Methods One of the central purposes of this study was to determine the water savings associated with submetered and allocation billing programs in multi-family housing. This research question was the over-arching theme for the entire project and a majority of time and effort was spent collecting and analyzing data to provide information on the potential water savings from submetering and RUBS. Keep in mind that this study did not set out to estimate national xxi
Page 1 and 2: NATIONAL MULTIPLE FAMILY SUBMETERIN
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES............
Page 5 and 6: Matched-Pair Analysis .............
Page 7 and 8: LIST OF TABLES Table ES.1.1 Breakdo
Page 9: Table 6.6 Elasticity values, analys
Page 12 and 13: Figure 4.30 RUBS water bill #6 ....
Page 14 and 15: investigated local water savings as
Page 16 and 17: We are grateful to the members of a
Page 18 and 19: quantitative aspects of separate bi
Page 22 and 23: "averages" of impact property water
Page 24 and 25: in-rent properties, others used the
Page 26 and 27: of these models included the billin
Page 28 and 29: 70 Average Annual Water Use Per Uni
Page 30 and 31: COSTS AND BENEFITS Beyond quantifyi
Page 32 and 33: service charge, then the resident w
Page 34 and 35: Billing Method Efficient Fixtures?
Page 36 and 37: 70 Avg. Water Use per MF Unit (kgal
Page 38 and 39: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK REVIEW The fra
Page 40 and 41: Table ES.1.12 NSUAA Summary of Stat
Page 42 and 43: above, the researchers offer the fo
Page 44 and 45: service is preferable, and would he
Page 46 and 47: practices (BMPs) should be implemen
Page 48 and 49: infrastructure of the building and
Page 50: multi-family housing. The transfer
Page 53 and 54: CHAPTER 1 INTRODU CTION More and mo
Page 55 and 56: In 1998, 15.0%, or 15.4 million, of
Page 57 and 58: TERMINOLOGY AND DEFINITIONS OF BILL
Page 59 and 60: 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
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The price elasticity of water deman
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expected. Additionally, McClelland
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submetered and five control (in-ren
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Another study might want to target
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CHAPTER 3 RESEARC H METHODS, APPROA
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1. Selection of participating study
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STUDY SITE SELECTION The Study aime
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Figure 3.2 National Multiple Family
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Matched pair protocol/survey - conf
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information given the available bud
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survey. Service companies that prov
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in “business to business” calli
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MATCHED PAIR SAMPLE The purpose of
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The second part of the visit requir
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epresentative of a known population
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51 Table 3.7 Postcard survey statis
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Table 3.8 Comparison of annual wate
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postcard survey. Nevertheless, exam
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confidence interval ranged from 49.
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particular property (e.g., the mont
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State PUC officials - water commiss
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10. The PROPID number appearing on
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These costs represent the commodity
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The postcard survey provided inform
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Table 4.4 Average number of units f
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Two-thirds of the properties that r
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Percent of Surveyed Properties with
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$700 Average Rent Per Bedroom ($) $
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Percent of Surveyed Properties with
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Impact properties were also more li
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Table 4.8 Issues considered before
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Percent of Surveyed Impact Properti
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60% Percent of Surveyed Properties
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From the visits, it was found that
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100% Percent of Surveyed Residents
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Roughly similar proportions of resi
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inserts for toilets (21%) or low-fl
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proportion were unsure, 37% from su
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Table 4.18 Ownership and rental rat
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Figure 4.17 Submeter water bill #1
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wastewater rates are not shown so t
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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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70 Average Annual Water Use Per Uni
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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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70 Average Annual Water Use Per Uni
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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
Page 340:
Young, C.E., K.R. Kinsley and W.E.
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