The cost of water for an average Milpitas household is about to jump from $69 to $83 for a two-month supply.
The rate hike starts July 1, after Milpitas city leaders last year approved a price increase necessary to cover Milpitas' cost of upgrades to the Hetch Hetchy Water System.
The system provides water to 2.4 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area, including two-thirds of Milpitas residents. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which operates the water system, is in the middle of a $4.6 million retrofit to make sure old pipes don't rupture or are otherwise damaged in an earthquake. The pipes carry water from the Sierra Nevada, including Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park, to Bay Area customers.
Want to save money? Conserve! Water rates are set on a tiered system, meaning the less you use, the less you pay per hundred cubic feet. An average house uses about 23 hcf every two months.
For information read the attached PDF or contact the Milpitas Public Works Department at 408-586-3348 or hsalamanca@ci.milpitas.ca.gov.
