Portsmouth Fire and Water District General Manager and Chief Engineer Bill McGlinn was our guest on Friday’s edition of Portsmouth this Week. He discussed several major changes and updates occurring in the water district, including the major Lawton Valley reservoir project. He explained that Portsmouth Water is a quasi-municipal governmental agency, separate from the Town of Portsmouth and that we buy all of our water from Newport Water. Our cost of water has doubled in the last four years, and double-digit increases are expected for the new few years, due in large part to the major upgrades to the Island’s Water Treatment plants and the Advanced Automatic Metering system put in place over the past year. These improvements will greatly improve both the quality of our water and the service provided by the Water District.
A major change will occur to the billing process for Portsmouth residents to make it easier for everyone to absorb the increased costs. Water billing will change from once a year (with this spring’s bill being the last annual bill) to a quarterly billing system that will be phased in over time. There will also be several new ways for residents to pay their water bills at no cost to the customer. These include automated checking payments, and credit and debit cards online from the Portsmouth Water website.
McGlinn also discussed the value of the Code Red system for notifying residents of water system issues and recommended that everyone sign up for Code Red notifications through the PFWD website.
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Watch the show at http://youtu.be/Slrq6XdfBCk
Portsmouth this Week, the “Voice of Portsmouth Town Hall” is a weekly public TV program sponsored by Town Administrator John Klimm to provide a forum for issues of concern to the Portsmouth Community. These programs are aired on Cox Channel 18 at various times and are posted on Youtube for viewing anytime. Links to past editions can be accessed from the Town’s website.
