The cost of water will go up soon for residents of the Iowa Quad Cities and Clinton. Today the Iowa American Water Company filed a request with the Iowa Utilities Board to raise rates 19.4 per cent. Company president Randy Moore says Iowa-American has spent 26 million dollars during the past two years upgrading its water systems.
"Fuel and chemical costs have gone up. The expense to operate and to run our facilities to provide safe reliable water for our customers have all increased."
Upgrades include a floodwall around the River Drive Treatement Plant in Davenport, new I-T systems, and numerous new water mains, meters, and hydrants.
Moore says, if approved, the rate hike would boost the bill of an average residential customer by $6.13 per month, to $37.72.
The Iowa Utilities Board has ten months to make a final decision. In the meantime, the company will implement an interim rate hike on May 10th of 8.4 per cent, or $2.65 per month. Early last year, Iowa-American received permission to raise its rates by 8.7 per cent.