Veolia Water New York gives every household the same starting water allowance—whether two people or eight people share one water meter.

Larger households naturally use more water for ordinary daily needs such as cooking, bathing, laundry, cleaning, and sanitation. Because the same starting allowance applies regardless of household size, larger and multigenerational households can reach higher-priced tiers sooner—not because they are wasting water, but because more people live in the home.

A Fair, Practical Solution

WaterRatesNY is asking New York State legislators to support legislation and encourage regulatory action to establish an optional household-size adjustment.

Under this proposal:

• Participation would be entirely voluntary.
• Participating households could request an adjusted starting water allowance based on the number of permanent residents in the home.
• Households that do not participate would keep their current starting water allowance.
• Verification could be completed through a secure process with appropriate privacy protections.
• Higher-priced conservation tiers would remain in place for water used beyond the adjusted starting allowance.
• New York regulators and utilities would establish the exact eligibility, documentation, privacy, renewal, and implementation rules.

Comparable water utilities already operate household-occupancy adjustment programs while preserving conservation-oriented pricing. Their experience shows that household-size adjustments, reasonable verification, privacy protections, practical administration, and continued conservation incentives can work together.

Send a letter to your New York State Senator and Assemblymember asking them to support this optional adjustment.

Households should not pay higher water rates simply because more people share one water meter.

Fair water rates should encourage conservation—not penalize household size.