About Newport Water

The original water works in Newport started in 1876. The Newport Water Works Company was incorporated in 1881, and was succeeded by the Newport Water Corporation in 1929. Since 1936, the City of Newport has owned and operated the system. The City's legal authority to own and operate the system is stated in the City Charter and was established through RIGL 46-13-12.1.

The Newport Water Division is a division of the City of Newport's Department of Utilities and is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the system. The NWD operates as an enterprise fund and is responsible for its own financial accounting independent of the overall City budget. Newport Water is regulated by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission.

Newport Water draws its water supply from nine surface reservoirs. The raw water is treated at one of the two water treatment facilities - Station 1 Plant in Newport or Lawton Valley Plant in Portsmouth. Newport Water maintains a distribution system which services Newport, Middletown and a small section of Portsmouth. In addition, Newport Water provides water wholesale to the Portsmouth Water & Fire District and Naval Station Newport.

Newport Water is required to conform with all requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Rhode Island Department of Health and the USEPA ensure that we comply with the SDWA so that the water we supply is safe. We at Newport Water work around the clock to provide top quality drinking water to our customers.

General Water Rate Filing- Docket # 4025

On December 9, 2008 the Newport Water Division filed with the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (RIPUC) an application to increase rates charged to our customers. For a typical residential customer, the impact of the requested rate increase results in an increase of $92.84 per year. The current water rates were established per the order for Docket #3818 effective September 1, 2007.

The current rate for water is $4.54 per 1000 gallons and the requested rate is $5.85 per 1000 gallons or a 28.8% increase. The proposed rates are requested to be effective beginning July 1, 2009. The following links provide the official notice of the filing and the documents filed with the RIPUC to support our application.

The Public Utilities Commission has set a schedule of hearings on the City's rate filing. A Public Hearing with the Commission was originally scheduled for February 10, 2009. Please note that the Commission has re-scheduled the hearing to March 26, 2009 at 7:00pm in the Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of Newport City Hall, 43 Broadway, Newport, Rhode Island. Evidentiary hearings on the rate filing are scheduled for May 27, 2009 at 9:30 am at the Public Utilities Commission, 89 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, Rhode Island

The Newport Water Division works very hard to provide a safe and sufficient water supply to all our customers. We are aware that any rate increase is a concern to our customers. However, the Newport Water Division requests the rate increase in order to continue our work with ongoing system maintenance and capital improvements so that we can assure a safe drinking water supply not only now but into the future.