Sewer, Stormwater, and Trash Charges on Your Water Bill, Explained

One bill, several services

A “water bill” is often a city services bill. Dallas is a good example. Its bill guide explains separate charges for water, wastewater, sanitation, and stormwater on a single statement. Each charge pays for a different service and is calculated differently.

This matters when a bill goes up. If the stormwater fee or the trash fee rose, using less water won’t change it. Before you try to cut costs or dispute a charge, sort the lines on your bill into the four groups below.

Sewer (wastewater) charges

Homes rarely have a meter on the sewer line, so utilities estimate how much wastewater you send down the drain. Most use your water meter readings. Many residential sewer charges have both a fixed part and a usage part.

Because some water goes on lawns and gardens rather than into the sewer, many utilities limit how much summer water counts as sewage. Dallas says wastewater volume is based on actual water use or the winter average, whichever is less. Oklahoma City uses average water use in December, January, and February to set a cap on residential sewer charges starting in April. Seattle uses actual winter water use for single-family homes in a similar way.

This has a side effect. A leak or a full house during the winter averaging months can raise your sewer charge for the rest of the year. Our guide on winter averaging explains how to check this.

Stormwater charges

Stormwater fees pay for drains, pipes, and programs that handle rain running off roofs, driveways, and streets. They usually have nothing to do with how much water you use. EPA’s guide to stormwater funding says impervious area, meaning hard surfaces that don’t soak up rain, is the most important factor in these fees.

EPA says the most common method, used by more than 80 percent of stormwater utilities, is the equivalent residential unit, or ERU. The utility measures the hard surface on a typical single-family lot and calls that one ERU. Homes are often billed a flat one-ERU rate. Larger properties are billed for multiple ERUs based on their own impervious area.

Two real stormwater examples

DC Water’s Impervious Area Charge uses ERUs with residential tiers. For fiscal year 2026, which began October 1, 2025, the rate is $24.23 per ERU per month. A home with 700 to 2,099 square feet of impervious area is billed one ERU, or $24.23 a month. A home with 100 to 699 square feet is billed 0.6 ERU, or $14.54. Homes with more hard surface pay more, up to 13.5 ERUs for 11,100 square feet or more.

Philadelphia takes a flatter approach for homes. The Philadelphia Water Department charges residential customers a uniform monthly stormwater fee based on the city’s average residential property, which has 2,110 square feet of total area and 1,050 square feet of impervious area. Non-residential properties are billed on their own gross and impervious area. Philadelphia says the charge is not based on water use.

Trash, recycling, and other city fees

Some cities put solid waste charges on the utility bill because it is an efficient way to collect them. Dallas lists a monthly sanitation fee on its utility bill and, as of October 1, 2026, a $3.00 monthly environmental cleanup fee. These fees are usually flat and depend on the service, such as cart size or the number of carts, not on water use.

Your bill might also include other items, such as a fire hydrant or fire protection charge, a tax, a franchise fee, or a surcharge for a specific project. Read each label and look it up on the utility’s rate page.

Which charges can you lower?

You have the most control over usage-based water charges and some control over sewer charges. Stormwater and trash charges are mostly fixed, but there may be options.

• Water usage: fix leaks, adjust irrigation, and use efficient fixtures.
• Sewer: keep use low during the winter averaging months if your utility uses them, and fix leaks quickly.
• Stormwater: ask whether your utility offers credits for things like rain gardens, cisterns, or removing pavement, and whether your impervious area is measured correctly.
• Trash: ask whether a smaller cart or a different service level is available.
• Everything: check for a past-due balance or late fee that is inflating the total.

How to question a charge

First, find out who sets it. One office may print the bill while a different department or agency sets the sewer or stormwater rate. The billing office can explain the charge, but the rate schedule or ordinance that created it is the authority.

For a stormwater fee, ask what impervious area is on record for your property and how it was measured. If your property has changed, for example a patio was removed, ask whether the record reflects it. For a sewer charge, ask which months formed your average and whether any reads were estimated. Write down the answer and the rule it is based on. Our guide to building a dispute packet shows how to organize your evidence.