Municipal Department
City of Merced Finance Department – Utility Billing / Public Works Water Division
Serving City of Merced
Population served
98,030 people in the City’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan service-area population table; the Water Division also describes service to more than 89,000 citizens, more than 25,000 water meters, and more than 25,000 service connections.
State system code
FIPS 06
Billing frequency
Monthly. The City states that approximately 20,000 utility customers are billed monthly for water, sewer, and garbage services.
Provider briefing
How this utility’s billing works
City of Merced Finance Department – Utility Billing / Public Works Water Division operates as a municipal department serving City of Merced. Customers should use the provider’s current account-specific bill and official customer-service instructions as the final authority for deadlines, balances, and service requests.
The published water-rate framework is described as Both metered and flat water rate structures are authorized in the Merced Municipal Code: Title 15 section 15.36.070 contains metered-water rates and section 15.36.050 contains flat-water rates. The public utility-billing page references those code sections but does not render the current 2026 dollar table; no separate public drought-tier table was exposed in the accessible pages.. Bills are generated monthly. the city states that approximately 20,000 utility customers are billed monthly for water, sewer, and garbage services., and a typical residential cost reference is A dedicated this detail was not publicly posted. The current City billing page directs customers to Merced Municipal Code sections for metered and flat water rates but does not publish the 2026 line-item values in the accessible HTML. A reliable 5,000–7,000-gallon total therefore requires the account’s meter class, sewer class, and current statement; customers should contact Utility Billing at (209) 385-6841.. These descriptions are useful planning benchmarks; actual charges can change with meter size, usage, sewer averaging, local taxes, drought stages, or account-specific fees.
Wastewater and sewer calculation
The City identifies separate single-family, multi-family, and commercial sewer schedules in Municipal Code Title 15 sections 15.12.030, 15.12.040, and 15.12.070. The accessible 2026 billing page does not expose the current rates or state a winter-average, clean-water-percentage, or flat sewer calculation, so the exact residential wastewater formula is not publicly stated pending the code table.
Meter and infrastructure notes
Merced operates approximately 25,000 water meters and provides the Eye On Water customer usage platform through its water-meter information resources; the current accessible page does not expose the hardware vendor or confirm AMR versus two-way AMI. The City’s water system uses real-time SCADA monitoring for system pressure and motor run times, but that SCADA system should not be conflated with residential meter-read technology. Exact meter-read schedule is not publicly stated.
Emergency water support
Report a leak or water emergency
(209) 385-6800 for water leaks and water-system problems during Public Works hours; for after-hours urgent Public Works matters, call police dispatch at (209) 385-6905. The City’s Water Division maintains its production and distribution system continuously and directs water-problem reports to Public Works.
Official starting point
Choose the right next step
Reading this profile
A practical reference for City of Merced
City of Merced Finance Department – Utility Billing / Public Works Water Division is listed here as a municipal department. The profile separates account actions—such as paying a bill or requesting service—from explanatory material about rates, meters, wastewater, leaks, and delinquency.
Because utility rules can vary by account class, meter size, service address, billing date, and local ordinance, treat the published bill and current provider website as the final authority. Use this profile to locate the correct channel and prepare better questions for customer service.
If your issue is urgent, start with the provider’s emergency number or official payment route rather than waiting for an email response. Keep a written record of calls, confirmation numbers, notice dates, and documents you submit.