Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority

Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority of Warrington, PA is the current owner of the Upper Dublin Township Sewer System.

Contact for routine billing and service calls:

Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority
1275 Almshouse Road
Warrington, PA 18976
(215) 343-2538.

These Emergency ONLY phone numbers will direct you to the BCW&SA 24 hour SCADA operations center.

• (215) 343-3946
• (215) 343-3025
• (215) 343-3026

In case of water and sewer emergencies please tune into WNPV 1440 AM.

HISTORY

Sanitary Sewer System Sold

Upper Dublin Township was very deliberate in its consideration of the future of the sanitary sewer system. The sale of the system was advertised in January 2001. The Township received expressions of interest from twelve potential bidders and issued contract documents to those firms and public agencies on February 12, 2001. A pre-proposal conference was held on February 26, 2001 and seven of the twelve entities formally registered to participate in the bid process. These seven firms exercised their opportunity to inspect the Township's facilities and review the records of the system. Ultimately, two entities submitted complete qualifications statements as required by the Instructions to Bidders. Suburban Wastewater Company of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania (an affiliate of Philadelphia Suburban Water Company) and Bucks County Water & Sewer Authority of Warrington, Pennsylvania were properly qualified and offered proposals on April 17, 2001. The Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the sale of the system at a pubic meeting on October 9, 2001 after three public meetings at which public comments were taken on the proposed sale and the sale contract documents were finalized. The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority approved the final contract on October 23, 2001. Settlement was on April 25, 2002.

The Auction Process

The auction was held on April 17, 2001 as described in the Instructions to Bidders dated February 12, 2001. The bidders provided the bid security described in the Instructions. The Township then opened the auction process and accepted proposals from the qualified bidders. Bids from Bucks County Water & Sewer Authority and Suburban Wastewater Company were opened and read publicly. The initial bid from Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority was higher than the maximum price that Suburban Wastewater was willing to offer. As a result, there were no additional bids beyond those offered in the first round of the auction. Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority offered to purchase the system for $20 million.

Public Input

Three special public hearings were incorporated into the Commissioner's deliberations. The third and final meeting was held on June 13, 2001. At each of these meetings, the Commissioners raised concerns about future rates, protection for current employees of the Township, customer service standards, and environmental performance. Members of the public in attendance at these meetings raised an additional question concerning extensions of the system to serve properties with failing on-lot disposal systems. Many of these issues were addressed in the Contract Documents as originally issued by the Township. In addition, Bucks County Water & Sewer Authority responded to each of these issues and offered to incorporate all of their representations in the sale contract.

Proceeds of the Sale

The proceeds of the sale were used first to defease the debt on the system at the time of closing. This left a net of roughly $16 million. The Commissioners have used these funds to establish a Township capital improvement fund. The interest from the fund can be used to address future capital improvement needs of the Township.

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