Ever wonder how the sewer charge on your monthly utility statement is computed? Since most household sewer lines do not have meters to measure how much waste water enters your sewer line every month, most places base the monthly sewer service charges on the amount of water the household uses (there is a meter on your incoming water line). Seems like a reasonable approach to me since most water that is used inside the house ends up going into the sewer either via the drains in the house or the toilets.

One approach might be to use the water usage from the previous month to calculate the sewer charge for the next month. In Prescott, they use the average water usage for the winter months of November through April, then use that water rate to calculate the monthly sewer charges for the next 12 months. Again, the November thru April time frame seems reasonable to me since outdoor water use for irrigation etc. is probably lowest during the winter months so that most of the water coming into the water meters ends up in the sewer.

The calculations work something like this (I’ll use utility bills for my own house to illustrate):

1. My water consumption looks something like this:

November 2017 - 2270 gal.
December 2017 - 1950 gal.
January 2018 - 1760 gal.
February 2018 - 2170 gal.
March 2018 - 1570 gal.
April 2018 - 1670 gal.

Giving me an average monthly usage for the six months of 1898 gallons.

2. My sewer charge starting in May 2018 and through the most recent billing period has looked like this:

May 2018 - $31.95
June 2018 - $31.95
July 2018 - $31.95
August 2018 - $31.95
September 2018 - $31.95
October 2018 - $31.95
November 2018 - $31.95

So, my average water consumption rate of 1898 gal. per month from November 2017 through April 2018 establishes my sewer charge of $31.95 from May 2018 through April 2019. So, I am being charged approximately $1.68 per 100 gallons of water used for my sewer charge.

So, the average amount of water I use from November through April establishes my monthly sewer charge for the next 12 months.

If I want to reduce my monthly sewer charge, I should keep my water consumption rate as low as possible from November through April.

   Close   

or click the blue title bar at the top of the page