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Irvington Mayor Urges Water Conservation To Avoid High Prices

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. -- Irvington Mayor Brian Smith explains the pricing of water in Irvington and how to avoid excessive use resulting in high costs. 

Irvington Mayor Brian Smith.

Irvington Mayor Brian Smith.

Photo Credit: File

Pretty soon, many of you that have lawns will be running your sprinkler to keep them looking lush and green.  But, did you know that there is a high price to pay for excessive use of water?  Before I was elected to the Board of Trustees, I was not aware of how the pricing of water worked in Irvington.  In case you were as naïve as I was, here is a brief explanation:  The Village buys its water from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the owner of the upstate reservoirs and aqueducts that supply New York City and surrounding areas with water. As one of the “upstate customers”, the Village is allotted a specific amount of water each month that we can purchase at a wholesale rate. We then pump that water through our water system to you, our customers. However, if we exceed our monthly allotment, NYC sells us the excess water at a full retail rate which is approximately 3 times the wholesale rate. Because of excessive use of water by our customers, especially in the summer, we routinely exceed our monthly allotment. In order to compensate for this excessive usage, we have structured our water rates to impose an “excess rate” on our customers that use the most water. When a customer uses more than 100 units of water (74,800 gallons) in a quarterly billing period, the amount over 100 units is billed at a rate that is approximately 3 times the regular rate.   I have a simple way for you to avoid or minimize these excess charges: Conserve Water!  For some, this may be easier said than done, but as I mentioned before, there is a large financial benefit if you keep your usage below 100 units each quarter.  We have published some water conservation tips on our web site and I’ll pass along more as the summer approaches. Visit www.irvingtonny.gov/savewater.

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