How To Interpret Your Bill for Surcharges & Monitoring Charges

On the front of your bill you will find the following information:

Meter Readings: The last (previous) reading and the current (present) reading is shown on your bill.

Used: The difference between the previous and present readings. The consumption is in cubic feet. To convert cubic feet to gallons multiply by 7.5. Remember to add all water meters together if you have more than one account.

Billing Information:

Note: Sewer charges and surcharges are based on the water consumption (amount of water used) unless a sewer flume meter and account have been set up.

Sewer Surcharges
The City charges sewer surcharge fees for discharges containing high strength waste. The concentration of BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) and TSS (Total Suspended Solids) are determined through representative sampling of your wastewater discharge. Sewer surcharges are applied in excess of 200 mg/l. If you do not have a rate listed, this means that your concentration was below the 200 mg/l. Your surcharge is listed as pounds on your bill.

BOD Rate:  Cost of treating one thousand pounds of BOD = $ 141.24

SS Rate:  Cost of treating one thousand pounds of SS = $82.50

Calculation:

TSS EXAMPLE:

TSS LBS FROM WATER BILL = 873
WATER IN CUBIC FEET FROM WATER BILL = 25,890

Convert cubic feet to gallons by multiplying by 7.5
(25,890)(7.5) = 194,175 gallons

Convert gallons to Million Gallons by Dividing gallons by 1,000,000
194,175/1,000,000 = 0.194175 Million Gallons

THIS IS THE SAME CALCULATION AS ABOVE SINCE THE FORMULA IS BASED ON FLOW

Your bill no longer has the concentration for BOD & TSS. The Industrial Waste Control Section supplies this information on your quarterly monitoring report.

Your BOD & TSS concentration will remain the same for three months. The water consumption will change each month, which results in a different poundage.

Sewer Surcharges are multiplied by 1.5 if your property is outside the city limits.

Monitoring Charges
SM indicates City Monitoring Charges

Any outside laboratory analyses shall be charged at the actual analytical cost. If you have questions concerning these charges, please call the Industrial Waste Control Section at 765-0134.