DeLand water and wastewater customers will pay more over the next five years as the city prepares to remove PFAS “forever chemicals” from its water system and pay for hundreds of millions of dollars in needed improvements.
The DeLand City Commission voted unanimously Sept. 21 to approve a multiyear rate plan recommended by a utility-rate study. The first increase — 8% on usage rates — takes effect Oct. 1.
Additional increases are planned for the following four years:
- 8% on Oct. 1, 2027
- 6% on Oct. 1, 2028
- 6% on Oct. 1, 2029
- 4% on Oct. 1, 2030
What customers will pay
The city estimates that a typical residential customer using 5,000 gallons of water per month will see a monthly bill increase from $85.51 to $115.99 by 2031 — an increase of about $30.48 per month.
The total cost for water and sewer service would rise from about 1.8 cents per gallon to 2.3 cents per gallon over that period.
The city also plans to eliminate its current monthly account-maintenance fee and replace it with a monthly base charge.
PFAS cleanup is a major cost
One reason for the increases is the need to comply with federal standards for PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These chemicals are often called “forever chemicals” because they break down very slowly in the environment.
Recent testing found PFAS levels above the Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking-water standards at several city facilities, according to a July study by engineering and planning firm McKim & Creed.
The city must comply with the EPA’s PFAS requirements by April 2029.
The study recommended installing a PFAS-selective ion-exchange system at six water-treatment plants. The system would use a special resin to capture the chemicals as water passes through treatment vessels.
The estimated cost is approximately $59 million to build the system, plus about $20.1 million in operating and maintenance costs over 20 years.
Aging system also needs upgrades
DeLand’s water and wastewater system serves more than 27,000 retail and wholesale customers across about 99 square miles of West Volusia.
The system includes infrastructure dating back to the 1920s, along with about 19 active groundwater wells and 11 water-treatment plants. It supplies an average of roughly 5.6 million gallons of water per day.
A separate study by consultant GovRates identified about $250 million in improvements needed through 2032. Projects include:
- Expanding treatment capacity from 6 million gallons per day to 8 million gallons per day
- Replacing or refurbishing aging infrastructure
- Expanding the reclaimed-water system
- Building new water and wastewater mains to serve growth
The utility system operates as an enterprise fund, meaning customer fees primarily pay for operations and improvements rather than property-tax dollars.
Assistant City Manager Mike Grebosz said the gradual increases are intended to help the city qualify for affordable financing, pay existing debt and avoid a larger sudden increase later.
“In the long-term, these rates ensure a clean, safe, reliable drinking-water system,” Grebosz said. “For us to maintain that system and for the public to turn that faucet on and get clean, safe, reliable water, these are the costs that it takes to do that.”
The rate plan is expected to fund improvements while keeping increases more predictable for customers. City officials say the approach is designed to support a safe and reliable water system without waiting for infrastructure needs to force a much larger rate hike.