FARMINGTON – The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved higher sewer rates and a $1.2 million sewer budget for the coming year. Both votes were 4-1.

While water conservation is a good thing, wastewater clerk Mavis Gensel said, less water consumption means raising sewer rates to maintain the department and cover the debt on a 20-year loan. The sewer rates are based on water consumption.

A family using 1,400 cubic feet of water per quarter will see an increase of about $11.88 per quarter in its sewer bill, to $99.18 from $87.30.

Singles and couples who use less than 500 cubic feet of water can expect a $4.42 increase per quarter in their sewer bills, from $31 to $35.42. The residential rate after 500 cubic feet will be $7.084 per 100 cubic feet, up from $6.20.

Commercial rates increased to $45.20 for the first 500 cubic feet of water used compared to $40.52 in 2007. A cost of $9.04 is charged for each 100 cubic feet of water used thereafter.

Because the department bases sewer rates on water consumption, less water use means less work for the treatment plant. In dollars, that meant a loss of $200,000 last year that couldn’t be billed, Gensel said. Consumption dropped 5.5 percent in 2007 after a 3.79 percent drop in 2006.

Water conservation and new washing machines that use half as much water as older models also figure in the need for rates to rise to meet expenses, she said.

Basing the rate on units rather than water use would hurt many elderly and single people, she added. A $4.42 increase amounts to only an extra $1.48 a month, she said.

The department is also facing a couple of large expenses: sand-covering diffusers that release treated water into the river and a couple of 16-year-old screw pumps that need to be replaced either with another screw pump at $250,000 each or a new system of pumps, plant Superintendent Steve Moore told the board.

Requests for proposals are being sent to engineers to see if there is another method that could be used to compare costs, he said.

In other business, the board voted 4-1 to observe Arbor Day on Tuesday, May 20, with an event at 3 p.m. on Church Street. A tour of the work done on the street will include the celebration of eight new trees planted along the street. The trees were donated by Richard Bjorn will replace some that were cut for the Church Street project, Town Manager Richard Davis said. The public is welcome to attend the event.

Fire Chief Terry Bell met with the board to discuss options for disposal of the 1982 Mack pumper. His options included putting the truck out to bid or donating it to the firefighting class at the Foster Regional Applied Technology Center and making it available for local departments to use, as well.

The board decided to put the truck up for bid on eBay and other Internet sites to see what results they could get before making a decision.