The city of Los Angeles Department of Public Works Bureau of Sanitation recently sent out information about your sewer service charges to all 500,000 homeowners and 125,000 commercial customers.

Once a year this is sent out along with reference to their Web site, which further confuses the rate payers on exactly what are the sewer service charges. Bottom line is this charge is a hidden tax levied by the city agency to maintain the infrastructure of our sewer system and treatment plants.

Bureau of Sanitation has been collecting from DWP approximately $350 million a year from this hidden tax.

Where has the money gone all of these years? A portion is paid back the city general fund when there is a deficit every year. Most of the money goes for high-salaried seasoned workers who need to be trained to get the job done andsub-contractors outside the agency who over-charge to do the job seasoned workers can't do.

Now $1 billion is needed to fix our sewer system. The sewer service charge rates are going up for the next 5 years. Save your hard earned money by installing a Sub Water Meter. Don't get overcharged by a plumber who does not know what he is doing but smells good. We get more Sub Water Meters than anyone else in the city.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce California Utility Services. We are a service business for LADWP account holders that does it all for you. Our primary objective is to educate the consumer with the knowledge and tools available to save money off their sewer service chargeportion of their water bill. This is an investment in your home and will make you money as long as you live there .

On July 1, 1997, the City implemented a new sewer service charge system, known as the Winter Water Use (WWU) system, where by all residential customers pay sewer service charges based upon their lowest average daily water consumption to their premises during the preceding rainy season (approximately mid-October to end of April) further reduced by a factor to account for winter irrigation.

The SSC rate of $2.85/HCF is the cost the City incurs to treat 100 cubic feet (HCF) of sewage. Sewer rates are going up. The current rate is now $2.85 per HCF (748 gal = 1 HCF). July 1, 2007 increase $3.05, July 1 st 2008 increase $3.27.Rate increases are now being considered for 2008 through 2013.

An alternative approach to the WWU method is the Private Sub-Meter Program in accordance with Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC)Sec.64.41.03(g)3Aii. City Council has made this program available .

The private sub-meter provides the best available data for the flow of domestic tributary water to the sewer. This alternative may be especially beneficial to customers unable to significantly reduce water use during the rainy season to lower their estimated sewer service charges.

In layman terms, by attaching a sub-water meter to the domestic line before the pressure regulator, the actual water that goes into the house and down the drain will be meteredand read by DWP. This water is not an estimated average use, is not the water used for landscape irrigation and is not the pool water that does not go down the drain it evaporates in the air.

The DWP will read two meters. The main meter by the sidewalk for the high-pressure water used for landscape and pool and which is your first tier (water allocation based on zip code and size of lot) and second tier (water used over your allocation 1 st tier) and the new sub-water meter for the house water that goes down the drainwhich is your actual sewer service charges.

The savings on your sewer service charge could be as high as 80 percent . Depending on your water use, this savings could pay for the meter, permit and installation within one year.

California Utility Services is located at14421 Sylvan St., Van Nuys. For more information, call (800) 400-1727, go to www.cautilityservices.com or e-mail:leonard@cautilityservices.com