San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) – Water Enterprise / Customer Services Bureau
San Francisco retail water and wastewater customers plus wholesale water service to Bay Area counties supplied by the San Francisco Regional Water System
Population reference
Approximately 2,700,000 people for active CWS PWS CA3810001, the San Francisco Regional Water System, according to California DWSRF system data; SFPUC provides retail service in San Francisco and wholesale water to three Bay Area counties
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 for the typical retail water and sewer account. SFPUC payment-plan and bill materials refer to regular monthly bills, monthly fixed charges, and monthly wastewater installments; the exact due date is printed on the customer statement.
- Rate structure
- Two-tier metered water and wastewater rates plus fixed monthly water, wastewater, and stormwater charges. For the SFPUC FY2027 schedule effective July 1, 2026, the proposed/approved public rate table lists a 3/4-inch water service charge of $24.93 per month, residential water at $12.20 per CCF for the first 4 CCF and $13.55 per CCF above 4, wastewater at $20.74 per discharged CCF, a $6.62 monthly wastewater service charge, and a residential stormwater component of $19.66 per month for a typical 1,701–3,300-square-foot parcel. SFPUC describes fixed charges as shared system costs and volumetric charges as usage-based; the 2026–2027 schedule became effective July 1, 2026 after the rate-setting process.
- Residential cost reference
- Approximately $230–$280 per month for a typical San Francisco single-family account using 5,000–7,000 gallons (about 6.7–9.4 CCF) under the FY2027 schedule effective July 1, 2026. A representative calculation combines the 3/4-inch water and wastewater service charges, two-tier water use, wastewater priced on 90% of residential water use, and a typical residential stormwater parcel charge. Actual totals vary with meter size, parcel area, usage, wastewater flow factor, stormwater tier, and CAP enrollment; SFPUC’s bill calculator is the authoritative account-specific estimate.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- SFPUC wastewater is calculated from estimated discharge rather than simply copying all water intake. Single-family residential customers use a default 90% flow factor, so wastewater units are generally 90% of metered water units; multi-family residential uses a 95% default. SFPUC applies a two-tier wastewater rate structure described in the current schedule, plus a monthly wastewater service charge. Customers may appeal for a reduced flow factor when documented irrigation or other conditions mean more water is not entering the sewer; non-residential customers can have pollutant-strength charges based on business type and discharge characteristics. Stormwater is a separate parcel-area component of the sewer bill.
- Meter reading
- SFPUC uses the Aclara Fixed Network AMI STAR system to read water meters for more than 96% of San Francisco water accounts. The network supports electronic usage data, leak alerts, and MyAccount review; the agency is evaluating and upgrading meter transponders after delayed billing caused by transmission failures. Where data is unavailable or unusual, SFPUC may estimate bills and later reconcile them against actual reads. Retail accounts are generally billed monthly, with water and wastewater usage and fixed charges appearing on the account statement.
- New-account deposit
- SFPUC may require a refundable security deposit for an account based on its water-service rules. The current start/stop page states that the deposit plus interest is returned after one year of good payment history. The exact deposit amount and any credit-based waiver depend on the customer’s account and are not stated as one universal residential dollar amount on the public page.
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 Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) – Water Enterprise / Customer Services Bureau public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- myaccount-water.sfpuc.org reference ↗
Public URL preserved in the compiled record. Confirm its publisher, date, and applicability before relying on it.
- EPA SDWIS / ECHO lookup (CA3810001) ↗
Search the federal drinking-water database using public water system ID CA3810001.