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15 <br />correlations between water use and tax value (r = O.S71), finished area (r = 0.485), and lot size (r <br />= 0.267). Although the correlation was somewhat stronger between water use and tax value than <br />between water use and fmished area, subsequent fee structure analyses were based on fmished <br />area, because this parameter was thought to represent a more defensible utility-based indicator of <br />water consumption than tax value. The general fmdings of the analyses are presented in Exhibit <br />1 and discussed below. <br />GENERAL METHOD FOR CALCULATING AVAILABILITY FEES <br />Tiered availability fees were calculated with the same factors used in a recently completed <br />OWASA rate study to adjust water and sewer use estimates for lost water, infiltration and inflow, <br />and maximum day demands (1). The general form of the calculation is expressed in Equations 1 <br />and 2: <br />Water = [Average Use] x [Loss Factor] g [Peak Factor] g [Unit Value] (eq.1) <br />Sewer = [Average Use] g [Sewer Use Factor] z [I/i Factor] g <br />[Combined Use and UI Peak Factor] x [i7nit Value] (eq. 2) <br />Adjustment factors for water and sewer use and capacity unit values are presented in Exhibit <br />2. The sources and derivations of these factors are described in Exhibits 3 and 4. <br />The OWASA staff analysis separated customer accounts into three user classes: (1) single <br />family detached homes; (2) multi-family individually metered apartments, townhouses, <br />condominiums; and (3) a combined non-residential customer class that included rnaster- <br />metered apartment complexes plus all other commercial and institutional (CTniversity) <br />accounts. The use of these three classes is justified by their distinctive consumption patterns <br />summarized in Exhibit 3. <br />OWASA's former rate structure treated all single family residential accounts as one customer <br />class and based availability fees on an average water consumption of 208 gallons per day . <br />(gpd) for all S/8-inch meter accounts; which typically represent single family residences and <br />small businesses. By contrast, the present analysis separated consumption records for all S/8- <br />inch accounts into the three classes described above and found the daily averages for the 24 <br />months of FY 1996-97 to be 193 gpd, 127 gpd, and 322 gpd, respectively, for single family <br />detached, multi-family individually metered, and non-residential S/8-inch meter accounts <br />(see Exhibit 3). <br />These consumption rates, along with the modified adjustment factors, are the basis for the <br />tiered availability fees that were subsequently adopted as shown in Exhibit S. <br />Average Water Use <br />Water consumption data for the calculation of availability fees is described below and in <br />Exhibits 1 through 3. Data reported for all classes represents the same time base of two <br />3 <br />