During Drought, Lots Of Worcester Water Went To Seltzer, Burning Trash

WORCESTER, MA — Massachusetts and Worcester experienced a severe drought over the summer — one that's still having lasting impacts today, with the city's reservoirs only at 60 percent capacity, even with steadier precipitation in recent months.

Water billing data provided by the city show that the 10 biggest consumers used close to 1 billion gallons of water during and leading up to the summer drought. The list of biggest users include local towns that buy city water, hospitals and one of the world's largest seltzer brands.

As recently as this week, officials said Worcester reservoirs are still below the trailing average capacity over the last few decades. Parts of the Worcester are also still in the lowest "abnormally dry" drought level, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

"The reservoir capacity on Nov. 1 was reported as 60.5%, which is significantly below the 24-year average on Nov. 1 reservoir capacity of 77.2%," City Manager Eric Batista wrote in a memo to city council last week. "The reduced rainfall and high summer temperatures resulted in a steady depletion of reservoir storage at a faster than normal rate as the summer progressed."

For much of the summer, Worcester did not have any water restrictions in place. The city entered a stage 1 drought level on Aug. 22, beginning a period of restrictions on sprinkler system use between daytime hours. Restrictions for commercial businesses and institutions included broad advice to fix leaks, cutting back on washing vehicles and not power-washing paved areas in some cases.

Through August, Polar Beverages was the city's largest water customer, according to billing data. The company's plant along Southbridge Street buys millions of gallons of Worcester water — the same stuff you get from your tap — to fill countless cans and bottles, plus for industrial uses around the plant.

Christopher Crowley, a Polar executive vice president, said the company's Worcester plant is the largest among the 10 it operates across the U.S. The company did not do any special water restrictions during the summer drought, but Crowley said the plant is always "miserly" with its water use, recovering wash water for reuse in some cases. He estimated about 70 percent of the plant's water ends up in cans and bottles for sale.

Crowley also characterized the recent drought in Massachusetts as less serious than in other parts of the U.S. As of this week, places like southern California and Kansas were in the most severe category, "exceptional" drought. In late August, a large portion of Massachusetts was in an "extreme" drought, including most of Worcester County, and all of Norfolk, Bristol, Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

"I say wait until December and see how much rain we get," Crowley said. "We fund half the city's budget with our water use; we're not using it frivolously."

Polar paid about $560,000 over the first eight months of 2022 for water, according to billing data. The city's Water Division is expecting to make about $28.5 million in revenue from water in fiscal year 2023.

Over the first eight months of the year, the top 10 users consumed a combined 620 million gallons. Worcester's flat water rate is $3.68 per hundred cubic feet (it rose July 1 from $3.67 HCF), which means the top users combined paid about $3.1 million for water over the first eight months of 2022.

In fiscal year 2023, Worcester is projecting that all consumers will use about 6.6 million HCF — or just under 5 billion gallons.

Lots of Worcester water also flows to nearby towns. Holden, Paxton, Cherry Valley, Rochdale and a water district in Auburn purchase water from Worcester's reservoirs. An Eversource subsidiary called the Aquarion Water Company was also a top customer. Aquarion supplies residential water in Connecticut, but it uses Worcester water to supply the Wheelabrator waste-to-energy plant along Route 20 in Millbury.

Two main Worcester hospitals, St. Vincent and UMass Chan Medical School, were also two of the biggest users. Combined, they used about 142 million gallons over the first eight months of the year.

Businesses with lots of grass like Polar Park, the Worcester Country Club and the Green Hill Park golf course didn't make the top ten list of biggest users. Polar Park used about 1.6 million gallons of water in July and August, about 1 percent of what the Polar Beverages plant used over those same months.

The city-owned Green Hill Park golf course used about 8.2 million gallons, a figure that's handicapped by the course being closed over the winter and early spring months. Bills for the Worcester Country Club from March and June — the only two months with data available — totaled about 748,000 gallons.

Phil Guerin, Worcester's water commissioner, said the city doesn't necessarily require the largest users to adhere to special water conservation programs, but advises all customers to do the same thing: don't waste water.

"There are always certain users that may need to use water. A golf course, for instance, will need to water its greens, or they will fail, and the course will be ruined," he said. "They can, however, cut back in other ways, like fixing leaks and not watering fairways. We do expect everyone to do their part."

Here's how much water the top ten water users in 2022 by total water used through August, and totals for the three summer months. These figures have been converted from hundred cubic feet (HCF) to gallons.

Polar Corporation, 40 Walcott St.*

• 153.7 million gallons, January to August
• 67 million gallons, June to August

Town of Holden DPW*

• 143.2 million gallons, January to August
• 100.7 million gallons, June to August

UMass Chan Medical School, 55 Lake Ave.

• 121.4 million gallons, January to August
• 62.6 million gallons, June to August

Town of Paxton

• 66.7 million gallons, January to August
• 22.7 million gallons, June to August

Aquarion Water Company, 12 Southwest Cutoff

• 41.1 million gallons, January to August
• 38 million gallons, June to August

Cherry Valley-Rochdale Water District

• 38.2 million gallons, January to August
• 14.2 million gallons, June to August

Elm Hill Water District (Auburn)

• 34.5 million gallons (only billed in January, April, July)

St. Vincent Hospital, 123 Summer St.

• 20.9 million gallons (only billed in August, May, February)

*These figures are a combination between two service addresses