COLA Considers New Rates and Rules for ‘Consumer’ Water Customers

The City of Lebanon Authority (COLA) will likely introduce a new class of water consumers — “consumption customers,” meaning residential, commercial, and industrial customers who use an average of 10,000 gallons of water per day and do not return that amount through the COLA wastewater system.

Currently, wastewater bills are issued based on water meter readings, with the assumption that the amount of water used by the customer returns to the source — in this case, COLA — via the wastewater or sewer system.

But sometimes the water that goes into a home, commercial facility, or manufacturing plant is not equal to the amount of water that comes back in. The water that goes in, for example, may be used to make food products like juices or baked goods and stay in those products instead of being flushed down the drain or sewer system.