Understanding Your Backflow Prevention Assembly
Backflow is a term the District uses to describe the undesirable reversal of flow of water or mixtures of water and other substances back into the public drinking water system, which may occur due to back pressure of back siphonage. A backflow prevention assembly in a drinking water system is a testable and repairable in-line assembly that is used to keep undesirable water from entering the drinking water system during a backflow event. In layman's terms, it's essentially a device that stops water from flowing backward in your pipes and into the public water supply.
These devices are essential to protecting our potable water system from contamination or pollution due to backflow, and must be tested annually, so please make sure they are easily accessible and free of obstruction.
New 5G cell tower proposal
Thank you to all who participated in our first public hearing on this issue in January. For those of you who were unable to attend this meeting, the Board has scheduled a second public hearing at 9:30a on March 16, 2024 at the Community Center to solicit additional comments and answer questions that were not answered during the first public hearing. In addition to this newsletter, we will post plenty of notice around town and on our new website: stinsonwater.org to ensure that everyone has another opportunity to participate.
Why is there a processing fee when paying my bill?
There have been a few recent inquiries regarding processing fees associated with our new online bill pay option. As a reminder, when companies accept credit cards as an available payment option, they work alongside a frontend merchant processor organization that can process that credit card information, account for the payment data, and ensure it transfers into the appropriate bank account. This provider’s job is to ensure that the data is secured and encrypted, processed anonymously, and recognized by banks as quickly as possible.
As you can imagine, these merchant processors operate in a highly regulated environment due to the fact that they are a single checkpoint for the flow of cash across all transactions. As such, they are required by the government to provide what is known as a merchant audit. This audit analyzes EVERY SINGLE TRANSACTION accepted every month to ensure that there are no reportable abnormalities.
Munibilling is charging processing fees to offset the service cost of conducting these audit reports and ensuring all transactions are correct, accurate, and not fraudulent so they can continue offering this payment option for Stinson Water. Fees charged by Munibilling are based on the transaction type and the total amount of the amount processed, as indicated in the table below and as posted on our new website at stinsonwater.org.
Options for paying your bill
If you do not want to sign up for online bill pay, or just want to continue paying by check through the mail to avoid processing fees, please use the detachable stub at the bottom of your bill and the enclosed return envelope. You will notice that the delivery address printed on your bill stub is:
STINSON WATER
PO BOX 889328
LOS ANGELES, CA 90088-9328
If you have any questions, or have difficulty setting up an online account, please contact Munibilling customer support directly at stinsonwater@munibilling.com, or call (877) 621-8781.
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