Reading Your Water Bill, Your Account Information

Start Water and Sewer Service

You can request water and sewer service online or over the phone. Online service requests will be reviewed within 5 business days upon submission. A Customer Service Representative will contact you to complete the request.

• Request online: Start Water and Sewer Service for Residential Customers.
• Request online: Start Water and Sewer Service for Commercial Customers.
• Call Customer Services at 415-551-3000, Monday – Friday, except on City holidays.

Call Customer Services at 415-551-3000 or visit the Customer Services Counter located on the 1st Floor of 525 Golden Gate Avenue, Monday to Friday, excluding legal holidays.

Review our Start Water and Sewer Service page for more details.

Visit the Customer Services Counter located on the 1st Floor of 525 Golden Gate Avenue, Monday to Friday, excluding legal holidays or reach us via email customerservice@sfwater.org or by phone at 415-551-3000. For a faster response to questions specific to your bill, complete this billing inquiry form.  We will respond within 2 business days.

You can find your account number and customer class (i.e. Single-Family Residential, Multi-Family Residential, or Non-Residential) on your billing statement. Your account number is located at the top of your bill.

For further assistance on your water or sewer bill, please contact Customer Service by email at customerservice@sfwater.org or by phone at 415-551-3000, Monday through Friday, except City holidays.

Your account information may be updated by mail, email, phone, or MyAccount:

• Mail – Use the back of your bill stub to provide updated information
• Email – Contact customerservice@sfwater.org with your updated information
• Phone – Call Customer Services at 415-551-3000
• MyAccount – Log-in to MyAccount and click on the “My Account” tab to select “Update Account”. Once the changes are entered, select “Update My Account” to save your changes. Sign up for MyAccount by visiting myaccount.sfwater.org.

Utility bills are issued on a monthly basis. The service period is approximately one month and you will receive your billing statement at the end of that billing period.

Yes! MyAccount allows you to view and make payments online, reduce paper waste, and provides water usage data as well as conservation targets. Sign up for MyAccount by visiting myaccount.sfwater.org. View your water/sewer payment options.

If you are experiencing a water, sewer, power, or streetlight emergency or service problem, dial 3-1-1 or log on at sf311.org. Emergency or service problems include:

• No water service
• Low water pressure
• Issues with taste, odor, or color of your water
• Sewer backups
• Clogged catch basins
• Flooding
• Wastewater odors
• Electrical power outages
• Streetlight issues

On the water side of the bill there are two components:

• Water service charge – this is a fixed charge based on the size of your water meter. We charge a meter service charge because we have to continue to service the meter regardless of whether there is water consumption.
• Water delivery charge – this is the consumption charge for the amount of water used. If a property is not using water, they are not charged for this.

On the sewer side of the bill there are three components:

• Wastewater service charge - this is a fixed charge.
• Wastewater (volumetric) – this is the estimated volume of wastewater discharged into the system. It is based on the amount of water a property uses multiplied by a “flow factor” that estimates how much water goes into the sewers. If a property is not using water, they are not charged this component.
• Stormwater – this is based on property size and the area of paved or “impermeable” surfaces that are unable to absorb excess rain. Even if a property is not using water or it is not raining, this component is still charged because we must operate and maintain the sewer system to collect and maintain stormwater runoff from the property when it does rain.   

Bill Calculator

*We assume that a percentage of the water you use will be returned to the sewers. This percentage is called the “flow factor.” It is 90% for Single-Family Residential and Commercial customers and 95% for Multi-Family Residential customers. We multiply the water you consumed with 90% or 95%, respectively, to calculate your wastewater discharge.

Upon receipt of your water and sewer bill, please review it carefully. A bill will be considered a proper charge unless a protest is made to the Water Department within fifteen days after the bill is produced. If you have a question about your bill or need customer assistance, please call 415-551-3000.

Deposit Bill
Customer Services will require a deposit as a condition for granting, continuing or restoring water service. A deposit must be paid within (15) fifteen days to avoid disconnection of water service.

Bill Due Date
Regular bills are due 15 days from the date of the bill. Closing bills are also due 15 days from the date of the bill.

If you do not agree with the charges on your bill, payment should be made "under protest" to avoid delinquency collection action. Please make your payment and use the comment section on the back of the bill stub to make a statement regarding the disputed charges or call Customer Services at 415-551-3000. The Bureau will then investigate the charges and will work with you to resolve the situation. Pending resolution, any overpayment will be credited to your account.

Past Due Bill
Any charge or fee not paid within 30 days shall be subject to a late payment penalty equal to one-half of one percent (1/2%) for each 30 days or fraction thereof on the amount owed.  This late payment penalty shall also apply to wholesale customers.

WHERE WATER SERVICE IS TO BE DISCONTINUED DUE TO NON-PAYMENT, a 48-Hour notice is first posted on the premises. WHERE WATER SERVICE IS DISCONTINUED, full payment of amount due must be made in person between 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday at SF Water, Power and Sewer Customer Services located at 525 Golden Gate Avenue (at Polk Street) prior to the restoration of water service. WATER SERVICE IS NOT GUARANTEED TO BE RESTORED ON THE SAME DAY.

WHERE A LIEN IS TO BE ASSESSED AGAINST A PROPERTY, lien warning notices are sent to the customer and property owner, and a lien hearing is held once a month. WHEN A LIEN IS RECORDED, an administrative fee is charged and interest accrues. Removal of the lien requires payment of the administrative fee and interest charges associated with the lien as well as the overdue water and sewer charges. Liens not paid during the fiscal year in which they were created are transferred to the Tax Collector for collection. To pay a lien that has not yet been transferred to the Tax Collector, call Customer Services at 415-551-3000 to determine the full amount due.

High Bill Allowance
The customer is solely responsible for all water use that occurs beyond the Department's meter. In order to encourage prompt repair of leaking pipes and fixtures, the Department may grant an allowance for a portion of an excessively high bill resulting from leaks beyond the meter. Such allowance will be granted only when the problem is reported by the customer in a timely manner, evidence clearly shows that the high bill was caused by a leak, and repairs have been promptly made and reported to the Department. To appeal for high bill allowance due to leak, please call 415-551-4780.

In San Francisco, we have a two-tiered rate structure for water which encourages water conservation. We also have a two-tiered rate structure for wastewater. For our Single-Family Residential customers, the Tier 1 rate applies to the first four CCF (4 CCF = 2,992 gallons) used per month. The Tier 2 rate applies to any additional CCF, or part thereof, used per month. To view and calculate your rates, see the Rates Schedules and Fees for Water Power Sewer Service.

The water meter helps us measure the volume of water used by residential and commercial buildings. Water meters also helps detect water leaks and identify well, pump, or irrigation systems issues.

The majority of our Single-Family Residential customers have a meter size of 5/8. This water service charge is a combination of customer service charges, such as meter reading, billing and collection, and meter maintenance costs. You can find your meter size on your billing statement. To view and calculate your rates, see the Rates Schedules and Fees for Water Power Sewer Service.

A CCF stands for “centum cubic feet” which represents 100 cubic feet of water. This is the most common unit used by water utilities for billing purposes; however, you may be more familiar with the gallon. One CCF is equal to 748 gallons.

For less than three pennies per gallon, you are investing in the water you use. Your water and sewer fees support not only the water you use, but also the treatment of wastewater, around-the-clock operations and maintenance, and essential investments in our infrastructure. To view and calculate your rates, see the Rates Schedules and Fees for Water Power Sewer Service.

The cost of wastewater is based on the collection, transporting, treating, and disposing each unit of wastewater discharged into the sewer system. The complex biological systems used to treat wastewater are costly to build and operate a necessity to protect public health and environmental quality.

Flow Factor

Water utilities assume that a given percentage of the water you use will be returned to the sewers. This percentage is called the flow factor. For Single-Family Residential and Commercial customers, that percentage is 90%. For Multi-Family Residential, that percentage is 95%.

Flow Factor Appeal

Residential users may be eligible for a reduced flow factor if they are using large amounts of water to irrigate a lawn or garden and believe their annualized irrigation consumption is greater than 10%. Customers may request that their flow factor be reviewed by filing an appeal for a reduction of their sewer service charge.

Submit your appeal to:

San Francisco Water, Power and Sewer
Customer Services, High Consumption Unit
525 Golden Gate Avenue, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102

Each appeal form must contain the name and address of the residential user and a statement that substantiates the percentage of incoming water discharged to the sewer. All customers will be notified in writing of the department’s decision. For questions regarding residential appeals, please contact the High Consumption Unit at 415-551-4780.

Non-Residential Appeals

Non-residential customers who want to appeal their sewer service charge should contact the Collection System Division of the SFPUC at 415-695-7310. Business hours are 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, excluding legal holidays.

Have you received a water bill that seems abnormally high? If you suspect your excessive water use may be the cause of a leaking pipe or plumbing fixture, you may qualify for our leak allowance program.

Credit for High Water Bills
To encourage customers to make repairs to leaking plumbing fixtures, we will provide an allowance credit on high water bills. The leak allowance program is open to all single-family residential, multifamily residential and non-residential accounts. We shall be the sole judge in determining the excess delivery due to leakage.

Allowance Credit
An allowance credit is applied to the customer’s bill. The amount of the allowance is equal to the amount over the account’s normal consumption, and depends on the type of leak that caused the high bill.

Apply for a Credit
Leak allowance credits are reviewed and processed by our High Consumption Unit. We shall be the sole judge in determining the excess delivery due to leakage.

If you are a customer with a low income, you may qualify for our new and improved Customer Assistance Program (CAP), which provides 25%-40% off your water/sewer bill or 30% off your Hetch Hetchy Power bill. To learn more, visit our Customer Assistance Program page.

Yes! You can compare your current water consumption this billing period with the same billing period from the previous year. This chart can be found on your paper billing statement. You can also get this information by signing up for MyAccount at myaccount.sfwater.org.

We use Aclara Fixed Network AMI STAR® System to read water meters for more than 96% of San Francisco’s water accounts. The Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) technology uses a wireless network to transmit hourly water consumption data to our billing system. Not only can you monitor your daily water usage, you can also detect leaks faster than with manually-read meters. To register and view your daily and monthly usage, sign up at myaccount.sfwater.org.

The Aclara Fixed Network AMI STAR® System transmits only the water meter readings, meter ID number, and diagnostic information – personal information is not transmitted.

Customers who want to dispute their sewer services charges for unmetered properties should complete the online Appeal of Sewer Service Charges Attributable to Stormwater Runoff for Unmetered Properties form.

For inquiries about stormwater credits, customers with installed equipment that prevents runoff from reaching our combined water/sewer system can email the Stormwater Credit Program at stormwatercredits@sfwater.org.