Worksheet Grade 8 Social Studies & Civics
Who Runs the Tap? Comparing Water Utility Governance in Thornwood
A grade 8 worksheet comparing municipal, special-district, and investor-owned water utilities using a fictional town's rate and governance data.
Objectives
- Students will compare the governance structures of municipal, special-district, and investor-owned water utilities.
- Students will calculate the dollar and percentage difference between water bills under different governance models.
- Students will evaluate accountability tradeoffs among the three governance models.
Vocabulary
- Special district
- A local government created to do one job, such as delivering water. It has its own board and its own budget, separate from the city or county.
- Investor-owned utility
- A water company owned by private shareholders instead of a city government. State regulators watch over the prices these companies are allowed to charge.
- Public utility commission
- A group of state officials who make sure utility prices are fair. Privately owned water companies must ask this commission for permission before raising rates.
Also: municipal utility
Teacher overview
Every household's tap water comes from a utility that someone governs, and the type of governance varies from one community to the next. Some utilities are run by an elected city government, some by an independently elected special-district board, and some by a private, investor-owned company regulated by a state commission. This worksheet has students compare all three models using general characteristics and a fictional town's rate data, then apply what they learn to real decision-making questions about accountability and cost. A common misconception is that "public" always means cheaper and "private" always means more efficient; the worksheet pairs a small fictional comparison table with questions about accountability, so students weigh cost alongside who answers to residents.
Student Worksheet
Three common types of organizations run US water utilities.
- Municipal utility. A city government owns and runs it. The city council sets rates in open public meetings. Any profit stays in the city budget.
- Special district. This is an independent water agency. It has its own elected or appointed board. It often serves more than one city.
- Investor-owned utility. A private company owns the system. A state commission must approve its rate changes. The company can earn a profit for its investors.
The fictional town of Thornwood now uses an investor-owned utility. The town council is studying two other options. It could buy the system and run it as a municipal utility. It could also join a special district instead. Staff compared Thornwood to two similar towns. These numbers are a fictional benchmark.
| Town | Governance model | Average monthly bill | Who approves rate changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornwood (current) | Investor-owned | $65.00 | State public utility commission |
| Fernbridge | Municipal | $52.00 | Elected city council |
| Milltown | Special district | $58.00 | Elected special-district board |
- Define "special district" in your own words. How is it different from a municipal utility?
- Which governance model lets a company earn a profit for outside investors?
- Find the difference between Thornwood's average bill and Fernbridge's average bill. Show the amount in dollars.
- Write that difference as a percent of Fernbridge's $52.00 bill. Round to the nearest whole percent.
- Suppose Thornwood's bill dropped to match Fernbridge's $52.00. How much would one household save in a full year of 12 months?
- A resident says, "Rate changes at an investor-owned utility go through a state commission, so residents never get a say." Is that claim true? Explain your reasoning.
- A council member wants Thornwood to become a special district, not a full municipal utility. The member says a special district can serve towns outside Thornwood's borders. Explain why that argument makes sense.
- Pick one governance model: municipal, special district, or investor-owned. Name one advantage and one disadvantage it has for holding the utility accountable to residents.
- Suppose Thornwood becomes a municipal utility. Name one water-sector job, other than city council member, the town would still need. Briefly describe that job.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
- Answer: a special district is an independent water agency, not part of a city government.
A special district has its own elected or appointed board dedicated only to running the water system, and it can serve an area that crosses city boundaries, while a municipal utility is a department of one specific city government. - Answer: investor-owned utility.
Only the investor-owned model is a private company that can earn a profit for outside investors; municipal and special-district utilities are public agencies. - Answer: $13.00.
$65.00 − $52.00 = $13.00 more per month. - Answer: 25 percent.
$13.00 ÷ $52.00 = 0.25, or 25%. - Answer: $156.00.
$13.00 per month × 12 months = $156.00 saved per year. - Answer: not fully accurate.
Investor-owned rate changes go through a formal review process before a state public utility commission, and residents can usually submit comments or testify at that commission's hearings, so residents do have a form of say, though it is different from voting directly for a city council. - Answer: a special district is not limited to one city's borders.
Because a special district is an independent agency rather than a department of one city, it can legally extend service and governance across multiple towns, which a strictly municipal utility generally cannot do without a separate agreement. - Answer: answers will vary.
For example, a municipal utility's advantage is that residents can vote out the city council that sets rates, giving direct accountability; its disadvantage is that water-system decisions can get tangled up with unrelated city political disputes. Other reasonable model, advantage, and disadvantage combinations should be accepted if justified. - Answer: answers will vary.
Reasonable answers include a water treatment plant operator, who runs and monitors the treatment process, or a distribution system operator, who maintains pipes and pressure across the town; any real water-sector operational role with an accurate one-sentence description should be accepted.
Differentiation
Support (below grade level)
Provide a simplified three-column comparison card (Municipal / Special district / Investor-owned) with the one key distinguishing fact from each definition highlighted, for students to reference throughout items 1 through 8. Allow items 8 and 9 to be answered as short phrases rather than full sentences.
Extension (above grade level)
Ask students to work out what would happen to Fernbridge's $52.00 average bill if Fernbridge's city council needed to raise a fictional $500,000 for pipe repairs over one year, spread evenly across its fictional 2,000 households, and calculate the new average monthly bill.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "governance," "investor-owned," and "public utility commission" with a simple diagram showing who sets rates in each model: a council, a board, or a commission. Provide sentence starters for items 6 and 8: "This claim is ___ accurate because ___." and "One advantage of this model is ___."