City Council approves 5% hike on Wichita water and sewer bills

Wichita water and sewer bills are expected to climb 5% each year for the next decade to cover at least $1.7 billion in infrastructure costs the city of Wichita has planned by 2030.

Less than a third of that cost is the Northwest Water Treatment Facility, a new plant now estimated to cost at least $553 million, according to city documents. That’s about $29 million more than initially planned.

The Wichita City Council on Tuesday approved a 6.5% rate increase on water and a 3.25% increase on sewer, averaging out to 5.17% when combined. Future increases would also have to be approved by the council.

The new drinking water plant is being funded with low-interest loans from the state and federal government which will be paid back by water customers.

The rest of $1.7 billion will be spent to keep the old plant running, replacing aging infrastructure and bringing the city’s sewage system into compliance with future federal regulations.

The new water treatment plant is expected to replace by 2024 the city’s 80-year-old facility, which provides drinking water for about 500,000 people in and around Wichita and has a “significant risk” of failure, The Eagle has previously reported.

A 2017 survey of the water plant found that 99% of its infrastructure in “poor” or “very poor” condition and 100% of Wichita’s raw water pipes in “very poor” condition, leaving the city to invest millions into the old plant to keep it running while the new plant is being completed.

“What drives the need for rate increases in both the water and sewer utility mostly is our capital needs,” Wichita Director of Public Works and Utilities Alan King said.

“The capital needs are substantial,” King said. “We have some big challenges ahead of us.”

Besides a new water treatment plant, Wichita plans to apply for another federal loan to help fund more than $356 million in sewage treatment upgrades, called the Biological Nutrient Removal project. The project is expected to cut down on the raw-sewage stench that permeates from the existing plants and help clean up the Arkansas River, where the city dumps its treated wastewater.

The city has to upgrade its sewage treatment to comply with upcoming federal environmental regulations. Wichita currently discharges more than three times the amount of nitrogen and four times the amount of phosphorous into the river than will be allowed by 2027.

King said bidding for a final design for the Biological Nutrient Removal Project is expected to begin at the end of 2021. Without federal and state loans for the new drinking water plant, rates could have jumped by as much as 10% this year, King said.

The projected 5% increase each year until 2029 is based on the assumption that the city will receive state and federal funding for its sewage treatment project, King said. If the city can’t get the loans, rates would likely jump much higher.

The latest rake hike will increase water and sewer bills in 2021 based on usage:

Low-use residential (up to 3,750 gallons a month) bills will increases from $49.62 in 2020 to $52.03 in 2021. Mid-use residential (up to 7,500 gallons a month) increases from $73.27 to $76.92. High-use residential (up to 15,000 gallons a month) jumps from $137.44 to $145.27.

King said that would place Wichita as the seventh lowest cost for residential users in the country.

“Water rates continue to be comparatively favorable compared to the other 50 largest cities in the U.S.,” King said.

This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 4:34 PM.