San Bernardino Municipal Water Department
City of San Bernardino and the active municipal water-service territory served by the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department
Population reference
214,665 residents in the active California Drinking Water Watch operating-period record for CWS CA3610039, with approximately 41,208 residential and 4,927 commercial metered connections. The system is groundwater-primary and is officially listed as active by the California State Water Resources Control Board.
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
- Monthly. SBMWD says all accounts are billed in monthly intervals and automatic bill payments are drafted approximately 19 days after the billing date.
- Rate structure
- Increasing block residential commodity tiers plus a fixed monthly meter charge, with separate wastewater charges. Effective July 1, 2026, the approved single-family residential water commodity schedule is Tier 1 for 0–13 HCF at $1.71/HCF, Tier 2 for 14–23 HCF at $2.29/HCF, and Tier 3 for 24 HCF and above at $3.10/HCF. The 5/8- or 1/2-inch monthly meter charge is $28.66; the 3/4-inch charge is $39.02. One HCF equals 748 gallons. The July 1, 2026 schedule is part of a five-year water and wastewater rate plan through 2030.
- Residential cost reference
- At 5,000–7,000 gallons per month, about 6.7–9.4 HCF, a typical single-family 5/8-inch meter’s water-only charge under the July 1, 2026 schedule is approximately $40–$45: $28.66 fixed monthly charge plus first-tier usage at $1.71/HCF. The Department’s official combined example is $109.52 per month for a 5/8-inch home using 15 HCF (11,220 gallons) of water, including water and wastewater; a 5,000–7,000-gallon household should generally be below that example, but the exact combined total depends on the wastewater rate, meter size, and other account charges.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- SBMWD bills water and wastewater as separate components under the adopted rate schedule. The current 2026 rate-change example shows a combined single-family monthly bill of $109.52 for a 5/8-inch meter using 15 HCF, but the public summary does not expose one universal residential winter-average formula or fixed percentage tie-in for the wastewater component. Customers should use the Department’s current bill calculator or call 909-384-5095 for the exact sewer charge tied to their meter, class, and usage.
- Meter reading
- Historically, SBMWD states that water use is read monthly by Department meter readers. The Department is upgrading meters to Advanced Metering Infrastructure using a cellular network that sends continuous water-consumption data, enabling faster email, text, or phone alerts for high or unusual usage. The Department says AMI meters measure usage and identify patterns but do not locate leaks or remotely shut off or restrict water flow. Rollout is active in 2026, while exact installation dates and telemetry availability remain address-specific.
- New-account deposit
- The Department’s current FAQ states that deposits are credited after 24 consecutive months of good payment history while the account remains open, or applied to the account balance when service terminates. The delinquency page requires a security deposit equal to four times the average monthly bill after nonpayment disconnection. The public start-service materials do not publish one universal initial residential deposit amount; customers should obtain the account-specific requirement from 909-384-5095 before activation.
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
- Activation or transfer fee
“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
- San Bernardino Municipal Water Department public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- EPA SDWIS / ECHO lookup (CA3610039) ↗
Search the federal drinking-water database using public water system ID CA3610039.