City of Atwater
PUBLIC WORKS – WATER DIVISION
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750 Bellevue Road Atwater Ca. 95301 Telephone 209-357-6372 Fax 209-357-6307 www.atwater.org
Basics of Water Metering
City of Atwater
1. Who is going to be metered? All customers with water connections in the City will be
metered by year 2025.
2. Why use meters? State Assembly Bill 2572, signed into law September 2004,
requires water customers be billed based on their consumption. Water metering will
result in conservation with related environmental benefits.
3. Besides Atwater, which other Cities have to be metered? By law, all cities statewide,
have to be metered. However, most other cities in the state, and throughout the country,
have already been metering water customers for years.
4. When will metering occur? All homes and businesses built in 1992 or after will be
part of Phase 1 and are required to be metered by January 1, 2010. All water
connections that have a water meter will also be on a metered rate. Phase 2 will include
the remaining water customers in the City who will be metered before 2025.
5. Who pays for the meter installations? The City will pay the direct cost of the water
meter installations.
6. Where will the meters be located? Your meter/meter box will be (or already is)
located on your property’s public utility easement either in the front yard, driveway, park
strip, or walkway. The meter is inside the meter box below ground level.
7. How will meter installations affect my landscaping? If you already have a meter box
and you’re landscaping is not covering or obstructing the meter box your landscape
should remain in the same condition as found. However, any landscape covering and/or
obstructing access to the meter box will need to be removed by the property owner.
If you do not have a meter box, or your service line to the street needs to be replaced,
some disturbance may occur. All reasonable efforts will be made to restore the site to its
previous condition.
8. How long does a meter installation take? Usually less than 4 hours.
9. How will my meter be read? The City will use an automatic radio-read technology
which allows all meters in the city to be read within a day. In order for the automatic
reading to work, all existing meters in the City will be upgraded with a meter transceiver
unit which will send a radio signal from the meter to the receiving tower. All new meter
installations will be compatible with this technology.
10. What is the difference between flat-rate and metered-rates? Flat rates depend
only on lot size and are independent of the amount of water used. Flat rates cover both
the service charge and water usage. Metered rates include the service charge plus a
charge based on the amount of water used, as recorded by the water meter.
11. How much do residents pay for water on average? A flat rate customer having a lot
with 51 to 100 front feet pays $15.65 monthly.
A 1” water metered customer pays $15.65 for the first twenty thousand (20,000) gallons
of water, and fifty (.50) cents per each thousand (1,000) gallons in excess of twenty
thousand (20,000) gallons.
12. How does Atwater’s water rates compare to other water agency’s rates? The
average water bill in Atwater is lower than most other areas in Merced County. See
graph below.
Comparison of Water Rates with other Cities
$45.00
$40.00
$35.00
$30.00
$25.00
$20.00
$15.00
$10.00
$5.00
$0.00
Atwater Livingston Oakdale Los Banos Turlock
Ceres
Merced
Lodi
Manteca