New Water and Sewer Rate Structure Changes

The City/County Utility Commission has adopted a new rate structure, effective July 1, 2009, that includes a 29 percent decrease in the amount that all customers pay for the first 600 cubic feet (4,488 gallons) of water during each bimonthly billing period. As water consumption increases, customers pay an increasing amount for every additional 600 cubic feet of water. This "increasing block rate structure" rewards customers who practice water conservation.

Water bills issued during July and August are being prorated to reflect the change. Charges for water and sewer service through June 30 were calculated with the old rate structure. Charges for service as of July 1 reflect the new rates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page

New Water Rate Structure

The new water rate structure has five tiers. Listed below is the rate structure for customers who live in Winston-Salem. (Rates for other districts, such as residents of other municipalities in Forsyth County, are also tiered. ( See those rates [pdf/21kb/2p].)

The Tier 5 rate was established for commercial and industrial users and reflects a bulk-rate discount.

Under this rate structure a customer who used 900 cubic feet of water during the billing cycle would pay $13.50 for water. Of this, $7.80 is the charge for the first 600 cubic feet, and $5.70 is the charge for the next 300 feet. A customer who used 1,500 cubic feet would pay $25.00: $7.80 for the first 600 cubic feet, $11.40 for the next 600 cubic feet, and $5.80 for the next 300 cubic feet.

Changes to Your Water and Sewer Bill

Water and sewer bills delivered after July 1 include new lines listing base charges for water and sewer service. These base charges cover the administrative costs (meter reading, meter maintenance, billing, etc) of maintaining the account.

Your old bills did not list base charges, because administrative costs were covered by charging all customers for a minimum of 600 cubic feet of water use and 600 cubic feet of sewer use, even if they used less. The new rate structure eliminates these minimum charges.

The base charge for water service inside the City of Winston-Salem is 6.683 cents per day for customers with a 3/4-inch meter connection, which is the connection for most residential bimonthly customers. The base charge for customers inside the City of Winston-Salem for bimonthly sewer service is 5.4 cents per day. The actual base charge listed on your bimonthly bill may vary from one bill to the next, depending on the number of days of service that the bill covers. Each bill lists the number of days of service. (Bimonthly Base Charges for all Districts [pdf/16kb/2p])

(NOTE: On bills dated in July and August, the base charge will apply only to days of service on July 1 and thereafter.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page