Water Conservation
Amidst miles of sandy beaches, it can be easy for West Michiganders to take Lake Michigan for granted. Holland is situated beautifully on the shores of one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. That same lake also provides Holland BPW customers with clean drinking water. Holland BPW strives to be an exemplary steward of the resources entrusted to it, and to operate in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. We are committed to working alongside our community to promote best management practices for our natural resources here in West Michigan. To that end, we have implemented new measures to encourage water conservation and educate our customers.
Holland Water Demand
While water use is stable for much of the year, our Water Treatment Plant sees a steep rise in demand through the summer months. This increase in demand for water comes from community lawn irrigation. Such a sharp rise from the average (over twice the usual 13-14 million gallons per day) puts pressure on the capacity of our infrastructure and treatment plant. Conserving water by reducing summer irrigation not only conserves our precious water source, but it also protects the life of critical water infrastructure and can prevent the need for a costly treatment plant expansion.
Tiered Rate System
To encourage responsible water use, Holland BPW introduced a new tiered rate structure for residential water services. The tiered rate structure charges a higher rate per CCF for any amount used above 4 CCF. For comparison, a typical household uses less than that volume for cooking, cleaning and washing. The tiered rate structure helps encourage unnecessary water irrigation without penalizing essential household uses.
Additionally, our conservation teams will create expanded programs and promotions to incentivize wise water use for residents and businesses. We look forward to introducing these measures in the coming months.
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