Did you know December is the first month of the winter quarter averaging? Why is this important? Because each year in March, the Town of Westlake, like our neighboring communities, calculates resident’s sewer volume utilizing the Winter Quarter Average (WQA) rate method.
This is determined by averaging the usage of water in December, January, and February of each calendar year. This average then sets the billing volume of sewer usage for the following 12 months. These months are used because water usage is usually at its lowest. It’s much lower than the summer months, usually due to outside activities such as watering lawns, washing cars, filling pools, etc.
So why not just use meters? Unfortunately, the Town does not have meters that tell us how much sewer a residential customer uses. Placing meters in each home and business would be extremely costly. The WQA method has proven to be one of the most effective ways to calculate usage when meters aren’t present.
Successful conservation is the key to managing each customers’ own water and sewer bill, as well as managing our water and sewer rates. WQA is very important as it allows residents to manage their wastewater bill and save money by monitoring water usage during these winter months. The best way to do this is by signing up for our EyeOnWater program. It
allows you to see how much water is used each month, then you can decide how and where cost-saving cuts can be made based on your family’s needs.
According to Public Works Director Jarrod Greenwood, customers can see in real-time the impact of their water usage. "When you make an adjustment, you can see the immediate change you’ve made based on the data provided by the EyeOnWater tool. You are not waiting for your bill to come in the mail. You can simply pull up the app or go online and see your total hour by hour water usage right then and there,” says Greenwood.
You can sign up for the EyeOnWater program by visiting http://www.westlake-tx.org/index.aspx?nid=543