Tarentum water rate increase aims to help restore failing distribution system, bring East Deer’s bulk costs in line

A failing water distribution system in Tarentum coupled with an impractical contract for wholesale water costs to East Deer will spur a rate increase this spring for people in both municipalities.

Costs will climb by $1.30 per 1,000 gallons — about an 11% increase in Tarentum and about a 29% increase for East Deer.

In Tarentum, residents pay about $12 for 1,000 gallons. Average use is 3,000 gallons a month.

East Deer currently pays $4.50 for 1,000 gallons. The township buys in bulk and sells it to its customers.

“Tarentum is subsidizing East Deer’s water rates,” Manager Dwight Boddorf said. “It should be making us money, not losing money.”

The increase takes effect March 1.

It costs Tarentum $4.10 to produce 1,000 gallons of water. That doesn’t include costs for maintaining the water plant and upgrading equipment.

Boddorf said the increase is necessary to help salvage Tarentum’s aged water system that, according to a state Department of Environmental Protection report, requires about $15 million in work.

Tarentum has sustained multiple water main breaks in the past three months. About 90% the pipes are 100 years old.

“The increase specifically generates enough revenue to help us fix the water distribution (pipes), but another plan will need to be implemented to upgrade the water plant where some of the equipment dates (to the early 1900s),” Boddorf said.

The rate hike also helps make up for a 1970s-era contract with East Deer that prohibits cost increases of more than 3 cents a year under most stipulations.

“Previous managers and solicitors have looked into it,” Boddorf said. “There’s only so many things we can legally do.”

The contract is auto-renewed every 15 years. For reasons unclear to anyone on council, it has been re-upped every time without modification. The borough’s contract with East Deer lasts through 2032.

The only loophole is to raise the rates in both municipalities by the same amount.

East Deer Commissioner Tony Taliani wasn’t too happy with the news, saying it’s the sixth time in recent years that prices have gone up.

The board will consider its options after the first of the year, he said.

“We’re going to have to do something,” Taliani said. “The increases don’t let us build any stability.”

About 90% of East Deer’s water is purchased by two industrial properties — Pittsburgh Brewing and Air Products & Chemicals.

A spokesperson for Pittsburgh Brewing said she couldn’t share the amount of water purchased by the facility.

Boddorf said borough records don’t yet reflect the annual amount of water under full operation by the brewery, which opened in late 2022.

The brewery changed its consumption when it ramped up production recently and opened a distillery last month.

Tarentum Council applied for $5 million in grants to help with costs related to water plant upgrades but hasn’t yet been awarded any of the money.

“Water is a critical service,” Boddorf said. “Our plant is unsustainable. We need to replace so many linear feet of pipe every year. The prudent thing to do is slightly raise rates and replace mechanical and electrical equipment.

“We are not ignorant to the fact that people have fixed incomes, but, with a failing water system, we have to do something.”

Taliani said commissioners in East Deer might have to chart a new course.

“We still have to make a profit to be able to maintain our system,” Taliani said.