Alameda County Water District (ACWD)
Fremont, Newark, and Union City
Population reference
344,000 people served by active CWS PWS CA0110001 in the current EPA SDWIS record; ACWD’s current fact sheet reports approximately 351,000 residents and 88,450 customer accounts across its 105-square-mile Tri-City service area.
Billing detail
Broad public detail found
Official destination
Open provider website ↗Provider-specific findings
Billing and account research from public material
Provider-specific research notes are displayed separately from fields that contain only an unavailable-information marker. Read qualifiers in each note and verify current account terms with the provider.
- Billing frequency
- Bimonthly, six bills per year. Each statement combines a fixed meter service charge with a commodity charge based on the number of 100-cubic-foot units used during the two-month period. The typical 5/8- or 3/4-inch residential service charge is $68.95 per bimonthly bill as of March 1, 2026, in addition to the consumption charge.
- Rate structure
- Uniform commodity rate per 100 cubic feet (748 gallons) plus a bimonthly meter-size service charge. Effective March 1, 2026, the residential 5/8- or 3/4-inch service charge is $68.95 per bill and the typical inside-District commodity charge is $5.38 per unit; outside-District commodity service is $6.15 per unit. ACWD removed its drought surcharge in April 2023. A private fire-service line adds a separate bimonthly meter-size charge.
- Residential cost reference
- ACWD’s current rate page states that an average single-family customer uses about 16 units per two-month bill and pays an average bimonthly bill of $155.03. That is approximately $77.52 per month for water alone, before any local sewer charge. For a 5,000–7,000-gallon monthly usage pattern (about 13.4–18.7 units per bimonthly bill), the inside-District water estimate is roughly $65–$84 per month including the fixed service charge; actual use, outside-District status, meter size, and property charges control the statement.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- ACWD is a potable-water wholesaler/retail district and does not operate a unified sanitary-sewer billing system for Fremont, Newark, and Union City. Sewer or wastewater charges are administered separately by the applicable municipal or regional sanitation agency and may appear on a separate bill or property-tax assessment. ACWD’s water statement contains the bimonthly meter service and commodity charges only; customers must identify their local sewer agency for winter averaging, flat residential charges, or commercial-strength calculations.
- Meter reading
- ACWD has installed Advanced Metering Infrastructure that reads meters remotely and sends possible-leak alerts through My Smart Water Connect. The customer portal supports 15-minute, daily, bill-cycle, seasonal, CCF, and gallon usage views; ACWD’s 2026 leak guidance identifies continuous-use thresholds such as residential use above 7.5 gallons for 22 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period. The District’s bimonthly billing cycle is the published schedule, while the public pages do not disclose a route-day calendar or AMI vendor. ACWD also reports that smart-meter installation began in 2021 to provide conservation insights and improve operational efficiency.
- New-account deposit
- The current ACWD customer-service and rate materials do not publish a standard residential credit-check deposit or a deposit-return schedule. New customers and customers moving within the District are assessed a $13.00 Account Establishment Fee on the first bill; an existing service account is opened with the required identifying information and at least one business-day notice. Physical construction or special service requests may require a separate cost deposit or field charge, but that is not a standard residential startup deposit.
- Activation or transfer fee
- All new customers and customers moving from one location to another within the District are assessed a $13.00 Account Establishment Fee on the first bill. ACWD requires at least one business day’s notice before the start or stop date, with requests submitted by 5:00 p.m. The requested information includes service date, daytime phone, driver’s-license number, email, last four Social Security digits or business tax ID, mailing address, and service address. A $50 field charge applies when a requested service or on-site notification requires a field visit; after-hours connection is $150.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
California
67%
records with any overview detail
National index
50%
records with any overview detail
Coverage measures what this directory documented. It does not measure service quality, affordability, or regulatory compliance.
Research record
Broad public detail found
7 of 7 fields in this section contain provider-specific public detail in dataset August 1, 2026.
Documented
100%
Primary verification routes
- Alameda County Water District (ACWD) public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- portal.acwd.org reference ↗
Public URL preserved in the compiled record. Confirm its publisher, date, and applicability before relying on it.
- csd.ca.gov reference ↗
Public URL preserved in the compiled record. Confirm its publisher, date, and applicability before relying on it.
- EPA SDWIS / ECHO lookup (CA0110001) ↗
Search the federal drinking-water database using public water system ID CA0110001.