![Adams Water Rates Likely To Rise 15 Percent to Meet State Edicts](http://townsquare.media/site/922/files/2019/02/RS12857_2015-05-05-09.28.46.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Adams Water Rates Likely To Rise 15 Percent to Meet State Edicts
The Berkshire Eagle reports with a load of state requirements coming down the line, Adams residents are likely to see a 15 percent increase in their water rates starting July 1.
"This isn't the state saying, `You should do this,' " said John C. Barrett, superintendent of the Water Department of the Adams Fire District. "This is the state saying, `You will do this.' "
Barrett said the "biggest raise for us is having to meet all the DEP [Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection] requirements."
Those requirements involve hiring specialists to compile a number of reports, including an asset management plan ($35,000), a 20-year master plan for the Water Department's infrastructure ($66,500) and an emergency action plan in the event that reservoir damn fails ($24,000).
Additional upgrades include an emergency response plan update in case the chlorination system malfunctions ($15,500), and operation and maintenance manuals for all apparatus used by the Water Department ($21,500).
Then there is the effort to replace every outdated water meter with new ones that can be read remotely at a cost of about $100,000.
Altogether, the cost of these upgrades comes to about $250,000, he said.
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