Additional FAQs

For our residential customers, wastewater charges are based on the amount of water consumed, up to a threshold of 10,000 gallons. Beyond this point, the billing for sanitary sewer services is capped. Therefore, variations in consumption can also affect your sanitary sewer billing.

Water consumption is the volume of water used by a household or business. This includes all water used for various purposes, including drinking, bathing, cooking, cleaning, and irrigation.  

A register sits on top of the meter and shows the reading for the water that has flowed through the meter. It’s either digital or analog. It works similar to a car’s odometer.  

Transmitting data involves sending water consumption information directly from your water meter to the Water Business Office. This is primarily done through a system known as Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Advanced meter systems allow for more accurate and faster collection of water usage readings.  

A water meter can be read electronically or manually. 

Electronic readings are transmitted directly from your water meter to the Water Business Office. This is primarily done through a system known as Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Advanced meter systems allow for more accurate and faster collection of water usage readings. 

Manual readings are taken at the meter when the electronic reading is not transmitted electronically to the Water Business Office. A third-party meter reader visits each address to visually verify and record the water reading.  

Water meters, like any mechanical device, can malfunction. This could be due to age, wear and tear, or defective parts. A malfunctioning meter might not accurately register water usage, leading to incorrect readings.  

Mistakes can also stem from human error in the manual meter reading process. These issues may arise when the human meter reader mistakenly misinterprets the digits, transposes numbers, or incorrectly inputs the data into the billing system. 

For the majority of the meters earmarked for replacement, the issue is not with the physical meter itself, which accurately registers, but with the transmitter atop the meter failing to send readings to our Water Business Office. Consequently, we must take manual readings to capture consumption data. 

Our Water Business Office team is equipped to conduct rechecks upon request and will adjust your bill if any discrepancies are identified in the manual reading. 

Incorrect water meter readings can significantly impact water billing in a few ways. First, when a meter reader makes an error, such as underreading the meter manually, it can result in a lower bill for that time period. However, once the meter is read again or by someone different, the customer will receive a higher bill, due to the consumption being caught up, which will include payment for the previously unbilled water usage, leading to a higher charge. 

Secondly, if the meter reader transposes numbers, misreads the meter, or enters the information into the reading device inaccurately, it can lead to incorrect billing. This means the homeowner could be charged too much or too little for their water use. 

For our residential customers, wastewater (sewer) charges are based on the amount of water consumed, up to a threshold of 10,000 gallons. Beyond this point, the billing for sanitary sewer services is capped. Therefore, variations in consumption can also affect your wastewater (sewer) billing.  

Yes. We understand concerns about billing accuracy and uphold the right for customers to request a re-check of their meter readings. If upon reevaluation, we discover any inaccuracies, we will make the necessary adjustments to your bill.   

To adjust a bill, we follow the City ordinance and estimate the usage based on the customer's or the location's average for the three months around the current month of the previous year. 

Customers can request a free recheck of their meter reading once every 12 months and the Water Business Office will adjust your bill if the reading needs to be corrected.  

We do not receive notifications of a potential high consumption issue unless an account’s consumption reaches 100,000 gallons or more for residential customers and 300,000 for commercial customers.