By SETH SLABAUGH
seths@muncie.gannett.com
Cities and towns across the country are facing hundreds of billions of dollars in costs to repair and replace aging water and sewer lines that are wearing out.
And who do you think will be footing the bill? That’s right: you.
“We will be seeing a ramping up of rates,” said Alan DeBoy, vice president of operations at Indiana-American Water Co., during a community forum last week.
“The increases will be gradual, but there is no question we will have to have periodic rate increases,” added Tom Bennington, president of the Muncie Sanitary District Board of Commissioners.
Because sewer and water lines are buried in the ground, clean water is an “out of sight, out of mind,” liquid asset that people take “totally for granted” when they shower and drink coffee every morning, moderator Al Rent said during the forum at Minnetrista recently.
Asked by Rent what citizens can do to help keep their water clean, Bennington answered, “Pay your bill.”
Eight thousand of the city sanitary district’s 27,000 customers are delinquent in paying their bills, he said.
Indiana-American is currently seeking a 38-percent increase in Muncie water rates, and “There is more to come,” DeBoy said.
Muncie has 368 miles of water lines and some 600 miles of sewer lines, many of which were constructed 75 to 95 years ago, Bennington said.
On May 12, a 16-inch water main beneath Wheeling and Centennial avenues split because of age and corrosion, closing the intersection and disrupting service to 50 customers.
That will become more common in the future, DeBoy said.
Muncie already averages nearly 50 water main breaks a year.
In 2008, the city sanitary district increased sewage rates 8 percent effective this year, 8 percent more taking effect in 2010, and 8 percent more effective in 2011. The district must spend $72 million over the next 20 years separating sanitary and storm sewers to prevent untreated sewage from entering White River during wet weather.
Muncie is one of more than 100 Indiana cities and towns that have combined sewers that overflow into waterways during wet weather, which is why it’s wise not to use waterways for recreation for 72 hours after it rains.
The average American uses 100 gallons of water a day.
“We all need to pay for what we get,” DeBoy said. “You get what you pay for.”
Water is still cheaper than gas, electricity, cable television and cell phones, officials at the forum said.
“I could do without a cell phone if it comes down to it,” said Bruno Pigot, assistant commissioner of the office of water quality at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. “The water we drink is far more important than which phone we use. I could use a land line.”
Previous generations have invested in pipes and treatment plants, the latter funded by federal government grants. But the federal government is now offering only loans instead of grants.
The mayor of Atlanta, which is investing nearly $4 billion in sewage improvements in less than 10 years, is known as “the sewage mayor.” In a documentary broadcast during the forum, Mayor Shirley Franklin said clean water was necessary for disease prevention, recreation and economic development.
“We are taxing ourselves,” Franklin said, “so our children and our children’s children will have clean water.”
— Contact reporter Seth Slabaugh at 213-5834.

A water main break at Wheeling and Centennial in May. (The Star Press)