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"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. Why are water savings so important? Water providers are keenly interested in identifying effective approaches to reducing water demand, as new supplies become increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain. National and state agencies are interested in improving water efficiency and promoting proven methods for achieving savings. The utility billing industry has promoted the practice of charging multi-family customers for water and wastewater services not only as a way to improve property owners’ net operating income, but also as a way to effect water conservation. Water savings could provide justification for encouraging, promoting, and expanding billing programs and could unite water providers, regulators, and billing companies in a common goal. As a result there has been intense interest in this question. To reach a conclusion regarding how water use differs between billing types, seven main analyses were conducted. The number of properties included in each analysis is included in Table ES.1.2. The results of each analysis are discussed in the sections that follow. Table ES.1.2 Number of properties included in each analysis, by billing type Description of Number of Properties by Billing Method Analysis In-Rent Sub. RUBS HWH Total Postcard Survey 6493 273 595 41 7402 Manager Survey 858 118 177 22 1175 Statistical Model #1 705 101 150 - 956 Statistical Model #2 703 100 150 - 953 Statistical Model #3 531 79 136 - 746 Matched Pair 29 21* 14 - 64 Pre-Post Conversion - 6 39 1 46 *7 HWHs were grouped with the submetered for this analysis Submetering Submetering was found to achieve statistically significant water savings of 15.3 percent (21.8 gal/day/unit) compared with traditional in-rent properties after correcting for factors such as year of construction (before 1995, 1995 or later), average number of bedrooms per unit, presence of play areas, presence of cooling towers, utility’s average commodity charge for water and wastewater, whether a property was a rental or individually owned, and classification of the 3 See Chapter 3 for details. xxii
property as a retirement community. Not all submetered properties used less water and the statistical model that demonstrated these savings predicted only about 25% of the variability in water use in the observed properties. Summarized water use analysis comparing submetered and in-rent properties is shown in Table ES.1.3. Statistically significant savings from submetering was found in every single comparison and analysis conducted in this study. Water savings ranged from –5.55 to –17.5 kgal per unit per year, or –15.20 to –47.94 gallons per unit per day (gpd) which is between -11% to -26%. Based on an evaluation of the different data sets, analyses, and models, the researchers concluded that multivariate model #2, highlighted in blue, provides the “best estimate” of expected water use and savings at submetered properties 4 . The number of properties used in each analysis can be seen in Table ES.1.2. Data source or Analysis Table ES.1.3 Summarized water use analysis results, submetering Annual Indoor Water Use per Unit kgal (gpd) In-Rent (or pre-conversion) Estimated Difference in Water Use (± 95% confidence interval) Statistically Significant at 95% confidence level? Submetering Postcard Survey 53.21 (145.8) 44.87 (122.9) -15.7% ± 6.2% yes Manager Survey 51.61 (141.4) 46.07 (126.2) -10.7% ± 9.3% yes Model #1 52.33 (143.4) 43.73 (119.8) -16.4% ± 9.3% yes Model #2 52.19 (143.0) 44.23 (121.2) -15.3% ± 9.3% yes Model #3 53.19 (145.7) 43.14 (118.2) -18.9% ± 10.3% yes Matched Pair 57.59 (157.8) 47.61 (130.4) -17.3% ± 17.0% yes Pre-Post Conversion 68.21 (186.9) 50.71 (138.9) -25.7% ± 27.2% yes* Conclusion 52.19 (143.0) 44.23 (121.2) -15.3% ± 9.3% yes * Test was significant at the 94% confidence level. RUBS This study found no evidence that Ratio Utility Billing Systems (RUBS) reduced water use by a statistically significant amount compared with traditional in-rent arrangements, and the data showed that the difference between water use in RUBS and in-rent properties was not statistically different from zero. While some RUBS properties used less water on average than 4 Submetered properties were identified by manager survey responses. Through the site visits, it was found that 3 out of 20 properties visited (15%) had indicated on the manager survey that they were submetered, but were found to only be metering the the hot water. Thus, the submetered sample is likely to contain some hot water hybrids. xxiii
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 20 and 21: 3. Owner/postcard survey: To identi
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
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
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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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Page 156 and 157:
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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
Page 328 and 329:
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARC
Page 330 and 331:
Fixed rates - Part of a master mete
Page 332 and 333:
Total-capture submetering - a type
Page 334 and 335:
282
Page 336 and 337:
Corral, L.R. 1997. Price and Non-Pr
Page 338 and 339:
McClelland, L. 1980. Encouraging En
Page 340:
Young, C.E., K.R. Kinsley and W.E.
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