Townships sell off their municipal utilities usually because they need expensive maintenance, or the township needs money for maintenance on something else, typically roads, or unfunded liabilities coming due.

Residents will fight against any small fractional increase in taxes or rates to pay for this maintenance, which usually has been deferred for years and can no longer be ignored; because the concept that things cost money to fix and maintain, even for the government, is a concept your average person just can't handle.

Pressed between a rock and a hard spot for money, townships do the only thing they can besides raise rates/taxes, which is sell off assets.

Residents ultimately end up paying more over time for this because companies like Aqua have a profit motive and will charge the real cost of the system, plus an additional amount to make a profit.

The cost difference for residents between municipal utilities and private ones can be extreme.

Philadelphia bills by the month and combined water and sewer costs for an average household using 500 cubic feet of water are $74, and that's with two rate hikes over the last two years. It would be even cheaper if there weren't so many people in Philly who didn't pay thier bills.

Chester Water Authority is even cheaper, they bill by quarter and thier typical bill is just under $100 which averages out to $33 a month.

Privatized utilities can easily be double the costs of municipal systems, this a well known and observed situation.