CRANBERRY TWP — The West View Water Authority is about to break ground on a new treatment and water intake plant in Beaver County, a project that the company says will hike rates for its nearly 200,000 customers in Western Pennsylvania.

Rates could increase by as much as 26 percent to help fund the project. The authority borrowed $88 million in bonds to pay for the project.

West View provides water service to several municipalities in southern Butler County including Adams and Cranberry townships and Seven Fields.

Joe Dinkel, executive director of operations at West View’s plant on Neville Island in Allegheny County, said the company has been looking at building a new facility for 10 years.

Crews are expected to start construction in June or July, which is about the same time customers will see a rate increase.

“The proposed rate increase might seem monumental,” Dinkel said, “but it comes out to (an additional) 24 cents per day for water with impeccable quality.”

Cranberry manager Jerry Andree said he talked with West View officials Tuesday afternoon about the rate increase. Andree said the increase for customers will be closer to 35 percent instead of the 26 percent indicated by the company.

But even with that kind of an increase, Andree said, Cranberry residents shouldn’t see more than an additional $10 on their monthly bills for the average consumer.

“I don’t think they’ve raised rates this significantly for many, many years,” Andree said. “But they’re building a brand new plant, and I understand that. It’s a good thing for all of us to ensure our water capacity well into the future. We just have to get past the initial jolt.”

Andree said the average household in Cranberry uses 5,000 gallons of water a month, with an average residential bill just under $30.

The average bill is set to increase by about $10 a month with the rate increase, Andree said, meaning the average resident will pay around $40 a month.

Matthew Cranmer, manager of the Municipal Water Authority of Adams Township, said all of his customers — nearly 3,800 homes and businesses — will at some point have an increase as a result of the West View upgrades.

“We will evaluate it,” Cranmer said.

Cranmer said because he just received notification last week of West View’s 26 percent increase, there is no set timeline for an Adams authority increase.

Adams authority’s residential customers currently pay a base rate of $15 per month, and $6.65 per 1,000 gallons of water used. With a 26 percent increase, the base rate would rise by $3.90 to $18.90 per month.

The Adams authority’s commercial customers also pay $6.65 per 1,000 gallons of water, but their base rates differ depending on the size of the meter required. Cranmer said most restaurants use a one- or two-inch meter.

He said the average commercial meter size is one inch, which has a base rate of $37.65.

In a 26 percent increase, that base rate would rise by $9.79 to a total of $47.44.

While the West View increase was expected, Cranmer did not think it would be immediate. He said West View’s 2014 report to the Adams authority indicated the increase from the upgrades would be spread over four years.

“I’m a little bit surprised that they raised it all at once,” Cranmer said.

Because the Adams authority directors have not yet decided how or when to implement their increase, Cranmer could not say how much Adams bills would be going up.