LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Water Company (LWC) is raising the cost of your drinking water. The Board of Water Works approved the water company’s 2023 budget and inflation is taking a toll. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Louisville Water Company will rate water rates in Jan, 2023

  • The average monthly bill for customers will increase by $1.10

  • A customer that uses 4,000 gallons per month will pay $26.88

  • The money will pay for infrastructure and new technology

The price change goes into effect Jan. 1, 2023. To get a sense of how this translates to real-world conditions, consider a household that consumes 4,000 per month. They can expect to pay $26.88. According to LWC, this is the volume used by the average residential customer.

LWC said the motivation for the cost increase is inflation. For example, the utility cited various raw materials and equipment costs going up. These include water treatment chemicals that have spiked 33%, and water main construction metals such as ductile iron (up 30%), along with copper tubing (up 51%).

“As an anchor in this community for public health, we cannot compromise the quality and reliability of our drinking water, “ said Spencer Bruce, President and CEO of Louisville Water. “Like many other businesses, we’re managing through inflationary pressures, but we’ve worked to minimize the impact on the cost of our water.”

LWC acknowledged that any increased costs could hit customers negatively. It pointed out that it created a consumer assistance program called Drops of Kindness. LWC said the project provides, “more than $340,000 of direct bill relief annually to thousands of customers”. 

Related Stories