Apr 30, 2013 1 min read

Pennsylvania American Water filed a request Tuesday to raise rates for customers in Washington and Allegheny counties in order to pay for $731 million in infrastructure improvement projects.

The utility company filed the request with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to raise monthly rates by $6.12 for a typical residential consumer. A household using 3,960 gallons would have a monthly bill of $58.63.

The company seeks $58.6 million in increased yearly revenue to help cover the costs of the infrastructure projects. If the PUC grants the request, customers would likely see the increase in their monthly bill sometime between June 2013 and January 2014.

A news release from Pennsylvania American Water said the company was in the process of replacing about 300 miles of pipe, valves, service lines and hydrants along a roughly 10,000-mile network of water and sewage lines. The company said it was also upgrading treatment plants, storage tanks, wells and pumping stations.

There are roughly 390 communities in Pennsylvania served by the utility company, the largest in the state.

The release cited a March report by the American Society of Civil Engineers that listed both the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructures as receiving “D” grades as examples of why the renovation projects were necessary.