Philadelphia Launches Online Storm Water Billing Application

Azavea, a GIS software design and development firm, announced the launch of PhillyStormwater.org, a public online storm water billing application for the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD). The application supports the city of Philadelphia’s new parcel-based storm water billing program.

On July 1 the city of Philadelphia launched a new approach to assessing storm water management fees that has been under development for over 15 years. A new billing system is now in place. Under the new billing method, which will be phased in gradually over the next three years, non-residential property owners will be charged for storm water based on the total area of their property and the amount of impervious surfaces it contains, rather than on the amount of water they use. The Phillystormwater.org system, enables property owners to understand how PWD calculates their storm water charges, detailing how each component of the storm water charge was calculated, how it will be phased in over time and what steps the property owner can take to reduce their charges through a credits program for each onsite water management practice they implement. The application enables property owners to visualize their properties in a high-resolution aerial photograph and display the following data:

• Impervious area of the property; • Gross area of the property; • PWD account information; • Credits associated with the account; and • Charge summary from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2014.

Customers who want to dispute the gross area or impervious area of their parcel can submit appeals, which are researched and managed by PDW staff members through the PhillyStormwater.org application.

The Philadelphia Water Department decided to implement a billing system that encourages property owners to use onsite green management practices such as retention basins, trees, green roofs and porous pavement in order to both reduce the amount of impervious pavement and use soil and vegetation to filter the water. It hopes the new approach will be more environmentally friendly, lower cost and easier to manage. In addition, PWD created a program of credits that give owners incentives to retrofit their properties with onsite storm water management practices, thus reducing their storm water fees.

By 2029, PWD plans to replace at least one-third of the city's impervious surfaces with green storm water infrastructure. Already a national leader in the design and construction of green roofs and other urban sustainability practices, the new program is part of Philadelphia’s Greenworks Program, an ambitious plan to transform Philadelphia into the greenest city in the U.S. By committing the city to managing storm water with green infrastructure, PWD also aims to increase recreational opportunities, provide jobs and improve air quality.

Source: PRWeb