Harford County Maryland - Department of Public works

Harford County, Maryland

Department of Public Works

212 South Bond Street, Bel Air, MD 21014

410.638.3285 / 410.879.2000

News From Harford County Water and Sewer

WHO WE ARE
Harford County's water and sewer employees are proud to serve you with quality drinking water and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment solutions. We are committed to excellence in response, efficiency and environmental protection. To help us communicate better with our customers, we have	developed an info-mailer program to be included in your quarterly water/sewer bills. This is the fourth mailer, focusing on water tips and news about the Division. Previous information focused on water conservation and biosolids use. We would like your comments and suggestions to help us serve you better.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS:

BILLING QUESTIONS	410-638-3311
ADMINISTRATION/NEW SERVICE	410-638-3300
METER & WATER PRESSURE PROBLEMS; SEWER BACK-UPS	410-612-1612
WATER QUALITY	410-638-3939
TREATMENT-WASTEWATER	410-273-5617

EMERGENCY 24-HOUR NUMBER: 410-612-1612

WATER COSTS

Your water bill reflects your usage of water and production of wastewater (sewage) over a period of three months. The usage is shown in gallons per day at the bottom of the bill. Generally, each individual in the home uses 50-100 gallons of water a day. A family of five will use 250-500 gallons per day, depending on their ability to efficiently conserve usage.

The cost for water in Harford County, about $1.71 per 1,000 gallons, is 15% below the National average and 18% below the Maryland average. Although

our water costs are lower than many utilities, they are higher than Baltimore City and Baltimore County. The main cost saver in the City/County is the much larger population (volume) billed and generally cheaper costs to treat and distribute larger volumes of water.

All utility water meets Safe Drinking Water Act requirements for quality, and is much less expensive than bottled water which is $1-$2 per GALLON or 1,000 times more expensive than County water.

WINTER'S COMING!!! COLD WEATHER TIPS

1. Find the master shutoff. It's usually where the water line comes into your house. If a pipe bursts anywhere in the house - kitchen, bath, basement or crawl space - this valve turns it off. Find it now and paint it a bright color or hang a tag on it. Show your family how it works.

2. Disconnect and drain outdoor hoses. Find the shut-off valve for outdoor faucets and turn them off. Follow the same procedure for identifying the valves. Disconnect the hose and open faucet to allow water to drain from the pipe.

3. Insulate pipes and faucets in unheated areas. If you have pipelines in an unheated garage or cold crawl

space under the house, wrap the water pipe before cold weather arrives. Check pipes that may be behind finished basement walls and make sure they are protected properly.

4. During extreme cold spells, it's best to leave a faucet in the house running. Leave a pencil-thin stream of water flowing from a bathroom faucet.

5. What if it's too late? Despite precautions, pipes can freeze during an extended cold spell. If you think you know where the freeze-up occurred and want to thaw it yourself, never use a torch! Use a hair dryer, waving it back and forth along the pipe. Be prepared to close the master shut off valve if the frozen pipe begins to leak.

QUALITY PERSONNEL EQUALS QUALITY SERVICE
Our Abingdon Water Plant personnel recently won the second annual "Top Operators Challenge". The "Challenge" focuses on knowing water quality/treatment techniques via "Jeopardy" game format. Operators Talad Said, Roger Wagoner and Allen Webb beat several large utilities in securing their SECOND CONSECUTIVE WIN.	Our Industrial Monitoring Section won the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Second Place Award for Excellence at a presentation made in Dallas. There are over 1,400 programs in the United States. Ed Williams heads up our program.