As the calendar tips over into the December chill, and the winter motifs find themselves painted across storefronts, Arlington residents are being nudged by the city's water utilities to take a closer look at their water usage—but not just for the sake of conservation. According to the City of Arlington, monitoring water usage during the colder months could hold the key to saving cash year-round through what's known as Average Winter Consumption (AWC).
The calculation of AWC might seem daunting, but it stands as a straightforward process – every residential customer's water use shown on December through March bills are tallied, and the highest month's figure gets tossed aside to let the remaining three months' average take the spotlight. This trinity of months then paves the path for a cap on wastewater charges for the year that follows, the arithmetic of it all founded on the city's notion that these months better reflect sewer use since outdoor watering is typically minimal, which they believe offers a more genuine gauge of water sliding into the city’s sewers.
There's a slice of silver lining for those who keep their taps tight - if monthly water use dives beneath the AWC benchmark, one's sewer bill mirrors their water use, effectively promising bills that are no steeper than necessary. However, tempt the tap more than your AWC, and fret not, for the sewer side of the bill won't swell, it holds steady at the set ceiling. New kids on the block, with water accounts fresh as the year's first snow, are privy to a unique exception; they're wrapped under a city-wide average until their own AWC can be pinpointed.
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