OCR Text |
Show consumption up to a specified amount. Successive blocks of water above the specified amount are covered by a price schedule that is based on a certain price per thousand gallons during that period. This study indicates that if the price for water per 1,000 gallons were increased by 1 cent, per capita consumption would decrease by about 11.8 gallons per day: In the case of Salt Lake City, this would be a decrease from 215 gallons per day to about 203 gallons per day per capita. The 1970 population of Salt Lake County was ^ 58,607 people. If this reduction in municipal water use were applied to the county, about 6,000 acre- feet of water for every $ 0.01/ 1,000 gallon increase in water price would be saved each year in Salt Lake County. Generally, the reduced amount of water use does not result from reduced household use, but rather from reduced sprinkling of lawns and gardens. In the Vernal, Utah, area municipal water charges were almost doubled in the spring of 1972; but this, raise did not reduce the quantity of water used in the area. It is difficult to determine the amount of reduction in municipal water consumption in the Bonneville Unit area which would result from increased water charges. Studies already conducted indicate that many variables affect this reduction. These, studies indicate that a significant increase in water charges would cause a reduction in uses to a point. Beyond this point, continued increases in cost wouldn't reduce uses very much. Some studies indicate that this reduced use would only be temporary, and use would tend to return to old levels after a short 1 An period of adjustment to the new prices.- 1- ( d) Recycling and Reuse of Sewage Effluents i In most cases in the Bonneville Unit area, the effluent from the secondary treatment plants is returned to the streams. These treatment plants are located low on the drainages along the Wasatch Front, and the outflows are either used downstream for' such purposes as irrigation, heavy industries, and cooling water or they are released to marshy areas for waterfowl habitat. Flows not consumed for these purposes generally enter the Great Salt Lake and help maintain its level. Therefore, recycling may not be a viable alternative source of water unless necessary adjustments to water rights are made. 531 |