CCWWC Increases Water Rates

 CCWWC Increases Water Rates

The Clarence Cannon Wholesale Water Commission approved the budget for the next fiscal year during the September board of directors meeting which increased the wholesale water rates to the retail distributors. The increase is approximately fifty-five cents per thousand gallons of treated water sent to the twenty-two customers of the Commission starting October first. This wholesale increase will likely result in increased water rates to retail customers in the fourteen counties in Northeast Missouri served by the Commission.

Mark McNally, the General Manager of the Commission, stated that the increase was necessary due to the increased cost of supplying “wholesome water to our customers.” McNally stated that the cost for chemicals used in processing water at the Stoutsville, Missouri processing plant has increased dramatically since 2005. The increased chemical costs are equivalent to the increase in agricultural chemicals seen by area farmers. Also, a great amount of electricity is needed for the many pumps that supply the approximately six million gallons per day through the 325 miles of the water mains of the Commission.

The Commission also anticipates an increase in the amount spent for the intake water used in the water plant, which is paid to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in early February. McNally stated the increase in the water rate was the minimum necessary to “pay the bills, make needed repairs, and anticipate for some additional increase in the cost of chemicals and power.”