national multiple family submetering and allocation billing program ...

Matched pair protocol/survey – confirm information from the manager survey as well
as directly observe additional property characteristics such as percent of landscaping devoted to
turf and actual volume/flow rates of dwelling unit fixtures
Resident survey – obtain resident opinions and experiences with different billing
methods and obtain copies of actual bills
Read and bill company survey – obtain information about billing practices and policies
Survey of Potential Regulators – obtain information on current regulations on billing
methods from a variety of agencies including:
State safe drinking water administrators
State PUC officials – water commissioners and assistant water commissioners
State bureau of weights and measures officials – meter division
100 of the largest utilities (and 3 additional sponsor utilities) – general manager,
engineering staff, or metering manager
The project team developed each survey questionnaire through an iterative review
process that included field pre-testing and review by the project manager and advisory
committee. The surveys were designed so that the respondents had only to complete the
questionnaire, and either fold it in half or place it in an envelope (depending on the survey), both
of which were already addressed and stamped, and drop it in the mail. Respondents were only
asked to identify themselves on the manager survey and on the regulatory surveys, in case more
information or clarification was needed.
National Research Center (NRC) was responsible for implementation of the postcard,
manager, and resident surveys, the three largest in the study. NRC printed, mailed, and tabulated
the surveys. Each survey was printed with the utility logo and/or some introduction by an
official in order to improve response rates. NRC printed the mailing labels using the address
information provided by the utility customer database. To facilitate respondent needs, a phone
number for a NRC staff person was made available to answer questions and provide assistance.
Returned surveys were collected by each utility and sent to NRC directly or via Aquacraft
for entry into a Microsoft Access database table. Upon completion of the database entry work,
the participating utility was informed of the final response rate and survey response details.
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