Canaan — A water conservation measure adopted by Canaan about five years ago apparently worked too well, and homes and businesses on town water and sewer lines likely will see their bills increase as a result.

The Selectboard voted at its June 26 meeting to raise combined sewer and water rates by 15 percent to make up for a projected revenue shortfall.

The new fee will be 1.67 cents per gallon of water used per quarter. That amounts to an additional $88 per year for an average household using 10,000 gallons of water a quarter, according to town estimates.

Town Administrator Mike Samson said the need to increase fees can be traced back about five years, when Canaan began using both well and surface water in its system. At the time, officials also adopted a water conservation plan that combined water and sewer rates into a simple per-gallon fee, he said.

“People saved a lot of money by conserving water,” Samson said.

But as residents began to save money, the town lost somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of its annual revenue, he said.

For a short time, that money was substituted by accepting leachate from the Lakeview Codominium fields in neighboring Enfield, Samson said. However, that stopped about a year ago.

Officials calculated it will cost roughly $156,000 to cover the costs of operating the sewer and water system this year, and they were on track to bring in $125,400.

Samson said that left officials with a potential rate increase of about 22 percent for users, but the town also was able to take steps to bring that number down.

“We try to balance out costs by looking for savings in other areas,” he said, adding an increase in fees often is a last resort.

Samson said the air system was changed at the town’s sewage lagoons, saving money on electricity. New pumps also were installed at its pump station, allowing the pump to run less frequently.

Together, Samson hopes those fixes will reduce costs by $10,000.

“Our biggest problem is we don’t have that many users,” Samson said.

The water and sewer system is concentrated around Canaan Village and serves about 200 households, he said, meaning the cost of paying for the system is shared among a comparatively small group of people.

For Roxie Lemieux, owner of Dishin’ It Out!, the increase likely won’t hit profits too hard. The restaurant is only open for part of the day and uses only enough water for patrons, a dishwasher and ice machine.

“I find that my water bill here isn’t as bad as Enfield’s would be,” she said, referring to the neighboring town where fees also were increased this year.

Samson said the change will take effect in the next billing period.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.