Sec. 34-1252. - Conversion benefit—Existing customers.
(a) If a SAWS existing customer contracts to purchase recycled water from SAWS in lieu of using Edwards Aquifer water, then the existing customer may be entitled to financial assistance for the cost of infrastructure improvements determined by SAWS to be necessary and appropriate for converting to recycled water.
(b) The financial assistance shall be extended only to the extent available and will initially be made available only to existing customers and Edwards exchange customers. If additional funds for financial assistance remain available after existing customers and Edwards exchange customers have had an opportunity to utilize financial assistance, financial assistance may be made available, at the discretion of SAWS, to other customers.
(c) SAWS will credit the existing customer a one-time conversion benefit for approved onsite and/or distribution main recycled water system improvements equal to the sum of nine hundred dollars ($900.00) per acre foot of water per year that the existing customer contracts with SAWS to take. The conversion benefit shall be computed utilizing the average acre feet of water the existing customer contracts to purchase during the initial five (5) years of the recycled water purchase contract, not to exceed the customer's peak historic use, as the multiplier of the nine-hundred-dollar figure.
(d) The conversion benefit may be used only by an existing customer to pay for the existing customer's offsite and onsite improvements for use of recycled water, including but not limited to distribution mains; meters and appurtenances thereto; connection of the recycled water system from the meter to the common distribution points of recycled water on the existing customer's property; retrofit of irrigation and other water systems to take water from the separate recycled water source rather than from the existing Edwards water source; costs of modifying equipment to use the recycled water (e.g., pressure adjustments); storage facilities for recycled water to be stored onsite for use during peak demand periods when there is determined by SAWS to be a benefit to the entire recycled water system from such storage; and switchover equipment allowing the existing customer to switch from the recycled water source to a substitute water source should recycled water not be available. The conversion benefit shall be used to pay first for the cost of a distribution main to be built at the existing customer's expense and secondly, to the extent of any conversion benefit remaining, for the cost of the existing customer's onsite improvements. Conversion benefit may be used to pay for both design and construction costs.
(e) SAWS may approve use of the conversion benefit funds for specialized recycled water equipment based on existing customer's needs. Such additional authorized uses for the funds may include onsite testing facilities for recycled water quality or water quality improvement facilities. Conversion benefit funds may be used only for construction and equipping such specialized recycled water facilities, but specifically not to reimburse the existing customer's operating and maintenance costs for the water quality and/or recycled water monitoring procedures.
(Ord. No. 87597, § 1, 3-26-98)