Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Department Water Business Office
Athens-Clarke County
Population reference
125,000
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 billing; the County’s sample bill shows a monthly service period and monthly customer-service and meter-replacement fees.
- Rate structure
- Increasing four-tier residential structure based on annual average (AA) use. For July 1, 2026-June 30, 2027, Tier 1 is AA use at $7.02 per 1,000 gallons, Tier 2 is up to 50% over AA at $8.79, Tier 3 is 51%-99% over AA at $10.54, and Tier 4 is more than 100% over AA at $17.58. The minimum AA is 3,000 gallons/month; new customers use a two-person, 50-gallons-per-person-per-day calculation until history is available.
- Residential cost reference
- Approximately $93.11 for 5,000 gallons under the July 2026 residential schedule using the published 3,000-gallon minimum AA: about $39.52 water, $43.15 sewer, $4.95 water service, $4.95 sewer service, and $0.54 for a typical 5/8- or 3/4-inch meter replacement fee. The exact bill varies with the account’s AA and billing-cycle days.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- Residential sewer is billed at 100% of water consumption at $8.63 per 1,000 gallons for July 2026-June 2027, plus a $4.95 monthly sewer customer-service fee. Water through a separate irrigation meter is not charged sewer; indoor and irrigation readings may be combined when calculating annual average water use.
- Meter reading
- The County bills from meter readings converted from cubic feet to gallons and provides customers with current and prior 12-month usage history. The reviewed 2026 pages do not identify a universal AMI/AMR transmission interval.
- New-account deposit
- A deposit is required in some startup cases; the County instructs applicants to call 706-613-3500 to determine the account-specific amount. The reviewed current page does not publish a universal residential amount or credit-check waiver/refund schedule.
- Activation or transfer fee
- A $10 service fee is added to the first bill for a transfer. Same-day start is available for an additional $15 when notification reaches the Water Business Office before 4:00 p.m. A good payment history requires no nonpayment disconnects, no more than two late payments in 24 months, and no returned checks.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
Georgia
45%
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
- Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Department Water Business Office public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System ↗
Federal background on public water-system records and their limitations.