California Water Service Company - Chico System
Chico and Hamilton City, plus vicinity in Butte and Glenn Counties
Population reference
114,925 people; 26,808 residential service connections, 3,566 commercial connections, and 22 industrial connections according to California Drinking Water Watch for active system CA0410002.
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
- Generally monthly billing, with the bill showing the service period, meter read dates, current charges, due date, and prior balance. The exact read and due-date calendar is premise-specific.
- Rate structure
- CPUC-regulated metered increasing-block residential structure for the Chico tariff area: a fixed monthly service charge plus usage priced in successive CCF blocks, with separate non-residential and other service schedules. One CCF equals 100 cubic feet, approximately 748 gallons. Cal Water's current Chico page identifies a Residential Metered Service CH (North Valley Region) schedule effective July 1, 2026, but the live page did not expose the 2026 dollar table during review. The last fully rendered Chico tariff schedule available in the official rate archive used 1-6, 7-18, 19-29, and over-29 CCF blocks.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- California Water Service bills the Chico potable-water charge. Sewer or wastewater service is generally a separate city or agency charge rather than a Cal Water Chico tariff item. The sewer agency may use actual metered water consumption, a winter average, a residential cap, or a fixed equivalent-unit charge; no single Cal Water formula applies to every Chico and Hamilton City premise. Customers should compare the water meter usage with the separate sewer bill and ask the applicable city or sewer agency for its current base, usage, winter-average, and adjustment rules.
- Meter reading
- The Chico system uses customer water meters and Cal Water's periodic billing reads. The district page does not publish a fixed local AMI deployment percentage or route day; Cal Water company materials describe AMR/AMI pilots in selected districts but do not establish that every Chico account has an advanced meter. Customers should use the bill's read dates and current/previous reads, review usage history in the portal, and ask Cal Water to confirm the exact meter technology and leak-alert capability for the premise. The Chico supply infrastructure is primarily groundwater: the district reports 68 wells, approximately 27 million gallons per day, 373 miles of pipeline, eight storage tanks, and nine booster pumps.
- New-account deposit
- Cal Water Rule 6 permits a cash deposit or other approved credit security when an applicant does not establish credit; the exact amount is account- and credit-specific rather than a universal Chico flat amount. Under the reviewed Rule 7 terms, after 12 consecutive months in which at least 10 bills were paid within 15 days after presentation and service was not discontinued for nonpayment, the deposit is automatically refunded as an account credit with applicable interest. A customer re-establishing service after delinquency may need to pay the balance, reconnection charges, and a deposit.
- Activation or transfer fee
- No single universal 2026 routine name-transfer fee is stated on the reviewed Chico district or payment pages. New-service connections, meters, deposits, construction, inspections, and special facilities are governed separately by Cal Water rules and tariffs. Obtain a premise-specific activation, connection, or deposit quote from the Chico District instead of assuming every transfer is free.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
86%
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
6 of 7 fields in this section contain provider-specific public detail in dataset August 1, 2026.
Documented
86%
Details not confirmed in the reviewed public material
- Residential cost reference
“Not confirmed” means the directory did not identify a dependable public statement. It does not mean the provider has no policy or option.
Primary verification routes
- California Water Service Company - Chico System public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- EPA SDWIS / ECHO lookup (CA0410002) ↗
Search the federal drinking-water database using public water system ID CA0410002.