WATER DEPARTMENT

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter art. V, ch. 8

in effect

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 5-800 Functions.

§ 5-800. Functions. The Water Department shall have the power and its duty shall be to perform the following functions: (a) Water. It shall operate the City's water supply system, and shall either itself, or by contract, construct, maintain, repair and improve City water supply facilities, including fire and drinking hydrants and water meters. It shall make investigations and prepare plans and estimates looking towards the acquisition by the City of new and better sources of water supply, and shall, with the approval of the Managing Director, make its recommendations to the Mayor for transmission to the Council. It shall also investigate and adopt methods for improving the quality of the water supply. (b) Sewage and Sewage Disposal. The Department shall operate, and itself, or by contract, maintain, repair and improve the City's sewage system and sewage disposal plants. When authorized by the Council, it shall acquire, design and construct additional sewage disposal plants and sewage facilities. ANNOTATION Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article VI, Section 3, as amended. Purposes: 1. Under the Charter of 1919 the functions vested in the Water Department were performed chiefly by the Department of Public Works. These were but some of the many functions which overburdened that Department. A separate department to deal with the water problem is established by this Charter because of its urgency and because a separate department might facilitate a more immediate and adequate solution. 2. The principal function of the Water Department is to furnish the City with an adequate water supply of improved quality. 3. Because City sewage systems and sewage disposal facilities are closely related functionally to the water system of the City, their operation and maintenance are also vested in the Water Department. 4. The acquisition, design and construction of sewage disposal plants and sewage facilities are major capital improvements and for this reason authorization by the Council is required before they can be undertaken.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 5-801 Rates and Charges.

§ 5-801. Rates and Charges. In accordance with such standards as the Council may from time to time ordain, the Water Department shall fix and regulate rates and charges for supplying water, including charges to be made in connection with water meters, and for supplying sewage disposal services; provided however, that City Council may by ordinance, establish an independent rate-making body to be responsible for fixing and regulating rates and charges for water and sewer services; and provided further that City Council may by ordinance, establish open and transparent processes and procedures for fixing and regulating said rates and charges. The standards pursuant to which rates and charges shall be fixed shall be such as to yield to the City at least an amount equal to operating expenses and interest and sinking fund charges on any debt incurred or about to be incurred for water supply, sewage and sewage disposal purposes. In computing operating expenses, there shall be included proportionate charges for all services performed for the Department by all officers, departments, boards or commissions of the City. ANNOTATION Sources: No specific source. Purposes: The Water Department is to fix and regulate rates and charges for supplying water and sewage disposal services so that this function will not be subject to the political pressures that have been brought to bear upon Council when it has undertaken to perform this task. Rate-making for utility services has long been regarded as being primarily an administrative function subject to legislative standards and this section follows this practice. Council is to ordain the standards pursuant to which rates are to be fixed, a proper function of the legislative branch, and the Department is to fix rates within such standards, an appropriate function of the administrative branch. However, it is required that the standards fixed by the Council shall at least be sufficient to recoup current operating expenses and interest and sinking fund charges on debt incurred or about to be incurred for water and sewage purposes, standards which usually must be met by any utility. This requirement does not go as far as rate standards do in the case of privately operated utilities; for example, it is not required that the standards make allowance for depreciation. To require the same formula as is permitted in the case of private utilities might result in the cost of water being prohibitive because of the financial history of this utility in the City. Moreover, a City utility is not necessarily operated on the assumption that the cost of the service which it furnishes must be recouped. Separate accounting is required for operating expenses in order that it might be possible to show the cost of furnishing the utility services, a factor important in determining rates and charges. Notes 214 | Amended by approval of the voters at the election held on November 6, 2012, and certified on December 3, 2012. See Bill No. 120177 (approved May 23, 2012); Resolution No. 120188 (adopted May 10, 2012).

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 5-802 Users Outside the City.

§ 5-802. Users Outside the City. When authorized by the Council, the Water Department may enter into contracts for supplying the services of City water and sewer and sewage disposal facilities to users outside the limits of the City. ANNOTATION Sources: No specific source. Purposes: Small municipalities on the fringe of the city limits might not at times be in a position to furnish their residents with water and sewage disposal services. Thus, the Water Department is authorized pursuant to Councilmanic ordinance, to furnish such services to users outside the City.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 5-803 Authority or Private Operator.

§ 5-803. Authority or Private Operator. This Chapter shall not be construed to prevent the City from creating an authority under any applicable statute or from contracting with a private operator to perform any or all of the operations and to render any or all of the services provided for herein and from contracting with any such authority or private operator to supply such services to the City. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this charter, the Council may, by ordinance, abolish the Water Department if all of its functions shall be turned over to an authority or to a private operator. If some but not all of its functions are so turned over, the Council may, by ordinance, assign the functions which remain to another department and abolish the Water Department, if the Council shall determine that the continuation of a separate Water Department is not warranted. ANNOTATION Sources: No specific source. Purposes: While a Water Department is created by the Charter to deal with the water problem, it is not intended to preclude the City from creating, pursuant to an appropriate statute, an authority to take over any or all of the services of the Department or from contracting with a private operator to do so, if either course of action would be of advantage to the City and beneficial to its citizens. _______________

Source: City of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Code and Home Rule Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/philadelphia/latest/philadelphia_pa/0-0-0-265059Fetched: 10/27/2026