BIRMINGHAM, AL (January 5, 2022) - Businesses across the globe are experiencing operational challenges due to the now nearly two-year lasting COVID pandemic. As the latest variant, Omicron, has caused a major spike in positive cases in America, Birmingham Water Works is currently experiencing a temporary reduction in staff due to some employees quarantining- that includes our meter reading department.
Because of these staffing challenges, some customers will receive an estimated bill with the next mailing. This estimation is based off previous water consumption. As our meter readers begin to catch up on readings within the next few weeks, customers who receive an estimated bill will then receive a corrected bill to make up for the overage or underage charges from that previous estimation. If estimated bills are calculated to the correct usage for that billing cycle, these customers will see no impact on the next bill.
As a reminder, the Birmingham Water Works Board approved an Operating & Maintenance (O&M) Budget of $115.3 million and a Capital Budget of $77 million for fiscal year 2022 in November of 2021. Approval of the budgets results in a 3.9% rate increase effective January 1, 2022 for Birmingham Water Works residential customers, in accordance with its currently adopted Rate Stabilization and Equalization (RSE) model. The rate increase is below the national average of 4.6%. Customers may see increased charges due to these rate increases, and they are not related to any estimations that may be applied at this time.
Customers calling our Customer Service Call Center can expect longer wait times as the virus has impacted staffing in this area as well. We will work with each customer individually to assist with their needs, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we all work to navigate through this unusual time.
ABOUT BIRMINGHAM WATER WORKS: Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Water Works Board serves 770,000 people in Jefferson, Shelby, Blount, St. Clair, and Walker counties. The BWWB operates four filtration plants, a certified testing laboratory, and has more than 4,000 miles of pipe in its distribution network. For more information about the Birmingham Water Works Board, media inquiries, or tours of our museum, please call 205-244-4225 or visit www.bwwb.org.
