Dear Customers,
We know that there is some confusion regarding the Service Fee on your bills, so please allow us to clarify. As you know, we are responsible for and committed to providing you with clean, safe, and reliable drinking water, so we must ensure that we are well-prepared and financially equipped to continue providing critical services.
Our important work cannot be fully appreciated in the span of one post, but our everyday tasks include treating, sampling/analyzing, and distributing your water, performing maintenance, and responding to your questions and requests for service calls. The Service Fee goes towards repairing/replacing, maintaining, and installing infrastructure, including hydrants, water mains, service lines, and valves, all of which are critical to ensuring you have water when you turn on your faucet and have hydrants ready to serve in the event of an emergency.
Inflation and economic uncertainty, including the recent discussions surrounding tariffs (which impact raw materials and treatment chemicals coming from other countries), compelled us to raise the Service Fee to $11.00. We continue to bill Residential properties semiannually and to explore other options to lessen the financial burden on our residents.
We apologize for any confusion this may have caused and appreciate your understanding. We will continue to use our page to post updates, so we encourage you to follow us to stay up-to-date (we also post announcements on our website if you prefer not to use Facebook). As you may have seen in a recent post, we again received an annual award in May 2025 from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection for outstanding performance and compliance, a testament to our hard work and dedication to providing you with excellent water quality; we will continue to work diligently to provide you with the water quality and service you deserve.
Please know that our water is drinkable and meets and/or exceeds current drinking water regulations. If our water became undrinkable for any reason, we would notify you via Boil Water or Do Not Drink order.
Please contact our office if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
North Chelmsford Water District