I am actually able to comment on the metered water for outdoor use concern raised by Robert Brown in his May 6 letter, as I worked for two water meter manufacturers in my career.

In the USA, there are some water providers that offer Sewage Deduction Meters to fairly price water supply where there is outdoor use of water that is consumed but does not exit through to the sewer treatment facility. That said, these are not common in all regions of the USA, as they are most often applied in the hot, arid areas where it is common to have significant outdoor use for swimming pools, water fountains and particularly scheduled, automatic lawn irrigation systems.

I would be surprised if local residences could economically benefit due to only washing cars, watering shrubs and sprinklered lawn watering. In my opinion, PA American’s water rates are relatively inexpensive compared to other areas. Consider also that PA American’s water meters are advanced technology, drive-by read (called AMR in the industry), these meters have electronic registers that enable reading by having meter readers just drive up and down the streets and getting current use from the regular meter.

To enable Sewage Deduction, these meters would also need to be read for accurate billing. These meters typically cost well over $100 each and there are installation costs so that all outdoor use hose bids are connected. I do not know if PA American offers this option.

Ron Koch

Butler