Water company manager responds

In response to your article on Nov. 29 (“Water company hoses fire department”), I wanted to update you and your Anthem readers on the status of the Daisy Mountain Fire Department’s water meter installation. Today, Nov. 29, the water meter for the new Daisy Mountain Fire Department’s Anthem facility was installed. The installation of the water meter should not cause delay to the opening of the new Anthem fire facility.

As the local water company, we are required by state regulators to treat all our customers in a fair and honest manner. All new customers, schools, churches, and public offices are required to pay fees for installation of new water meters which is a set amount based on the size of the meter. As a commercial customer, there are fees based on the size of the parcel of land. The information in your recent story did not explain that the issue between the fire department and the water company is the surcharge that was implemented in August of this year. The amount of the surcharge was $7,500 and was based on a 1‑inch meter. We cannot arbitrarily waive fees for any specific customer, doing so would be unfair to all of our customers.

Our Anthem customers enjoy the benefit of a sustainable, surface‑water supply. Unlike many other water and waste water systems in Arizona, the Anthem system is state‑of‑the‑art and already meets or exceeds the U.S. EPA standards in the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, provides fire flows to Uniform Fire Code standards, and delivers reclaimed water to area golf courses. Fees on new customer hookups are one way these facilities are paid for.

Brad Cole

General Manager

Arizona American Water