Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO)

Provider briefing

How this utility’s billing works

Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) operates as a public water authority serving New Orleans and Orleans Parish. 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 Increasing-block monthly water quantity rates plus a meter-size Ready-to-Serve water charge, sewer Ready-to-Serve charge, Safe Drinking Water fee, sewer volume charge, sanitation, and applicable taxes. The current public rate table displays the January 2021 schedule still used on the official rates page: first 3,000 gallons $5.80/1,000 gallons, next 17,000 $9.87/1,000, next 980,000 $7.76/1,000, and over 1,000,000 $6.50/1,000. A 5/8-inch meter has an $8.69 monthly water service charge and $24.87 monthly sewer service charge on that table; customers should verify any approved current tariff change with SWBNO.. Bills are generated monthly. swbno's water quantity charge is calculated on the amount of water used each month, and the bill comparison/estimate pages describe monthly meter readings and monthly service charges, although operational meter-read gaps can create an estimated or combined actual-read bill., and a typical residential cost reference is For a 5/8-inch account using 5,000-7,000 gallons monthly, the water quantity component is about $37-$57 under the published tier schedule, plus the $8.69 water Ready-to-Serve charge, $24.87 sewer Ready-to-Serve charge, sewer volume on 85% of water use, the $1 monthly Safe Drinking Water fee, 2.5% city sales tax on water charges, and any sanitation charges. The practical combined monthly bill varies substantially with sanitation units, meter size, and service status; the rate page's displayed tariff remains the controlling official estimate until SWBNO publishes a newer table.. 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

Residential sewer volume is based on 85% of metered water consumption, allowing 15% for lawn watering and other use that does not enter the sanitary sewer. Commercial and industrial quantity charges use 100% of metered water consumption. A separate sewer Ready-to-Serve charge is billed whenever a meter is installed, even if no water is used; the 5/8-inch table displays $24.87 monthly. Sanitation charges are collected for the City and multiplied by living units served by the meter. If an actual read follows an estimated read and crosses usage tiers, SWBNO spreads the units across the two bills and credits or charges the difference on the later bill.

Meter and infrastructure notes

SWBNO is installing smart meters and its new MyAccount system provides hourly water-use data, customized alerts, and early leak detection once a premise has a smart meter. The utility's older meters may under-record, and newer smart meters detect smaller flows, including leaks. SWBNO normally reads meters monthly; when a read cannot be obtained, it estimates using up to 10 prior readings, including at least two actual readings, and otherwise uses 170 gallons per day. The portal lets customers review consumption, billing history, and payment history, while actual-read bills following an estimate are reconciled across the two periods.