City of Baltimore Department of Public Works – Bureau of Water and Wastewater
Baltimore City and the Baltimore City Department of Public Works regional water-service area
Population reference
1,600,000 people (EPA SDWIS PWS ID MD0300002; active community water system record; Baltimore DPW describes the broader system as serving more than 1.8 million customers across Baltimore City and surrounding counties)
Billing detail
Partial 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 standard metered water and wastewater accounts. Baltimore’s current extended-bill materials describe the current month, monthly account-management fee, monthly bill, and meter-reading details; the City Code requires accessible meters to be read at least once each month.
- Rate structure
- Metered water and sewer volumetric rates plus fixed account-management, infrastructure, stormwater, and Bay Restoration charges. FY2026 rates effective July 1, 2025 include a $5.31 account-management fee per bill; for a 5/8-inch meter, $16.07 monthly water infrastructure and $15.15 monthly sewer infrastructure charges; water volume at $4.46 per CCF; sewer volume at $13.18 per CCF; stormwater charges by residential ERU tier; and a $5.00 Bay Restoration Fee. FY2027 rates effective July 1, 2026 rise to $5.79 account management, $17.52/$16.51 infrastructure, $4.86 water volume, $14.37 sewer volume, stormwater tier charges up to $15.25, and the same $5.00 Bay Restoration Fee. The rate package uses uniform volumetric consumption rates rather than increasing-use blocks.
- Residential cost reference
- Approximately $155 per month for a 5/8-inch account using 6 CCF per month under FY2026 rates, before any assistance or arrears. Baltimore’s official rate sheet models a monthly FY2026 total of $154.82, consisting of $5.31 account management, $16.07 water infrastructure, $26.76 water volume, $15.15 sewer infrastructure, $79.08 sewer volume, $7.45 stormwater, and $5.00 Bay Restoration. A 5,000–7,000-gallon household typically falls near 6–9 CCF monthly, so actual combined bills can be higher or lower based on usage, meter size, stormwater ERU, and assistance status.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- Baltimore bills sewer on a separate volumetric CCF charge plus a meter-size sewer infrastructure charge and adds stormwater and Bay Restoration components to the utility bill. FY2026’s common 5/8-inch example uses a $15.15 monthly sewer infrastructure charge and $13.18 per CCF sewer volume rate. The City Code requires an allowance for water not discharged to the sewer when wastewater flow is computed, but the public residential rate sheet does not state a universal winter-average formula. Water-for-All calculations use the household’s projected annual water and wastewater bill, including volumetric charges, account-management fees, and infrastructure charges, when setting the affordability discount.
- Meter reading
- Baltimore requires accessible meters to be actively read and accurately recorded at least monthly. The City’s self-service water portal and newer bill materials support electronic meter data, usage history, alerts, and account review; the City has used AMR/remote-reading equipment and has pursued higher-resolution water-use visibility. When a meter cannot be accessed, is defective, or produces an inconsistent reading, DPW may estimate usage and the customer should request a meter appointment. The current public pages do not claim that every Baltimore meter is a fully two-way AMI device, so the 2026 system should be treated as mixed AMR/AMI and field-read infrastructure.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
71%
overview fields with research notes
Maryland
63%
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
Partial public detail found
5 of 7 fields in this section contain provider-specific public detail in dataset August 1, 2026.
Documented
71%
Details not confirmed in the reviewed public material
- New-account deposit
- 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
- City of Baltimore Department of Public Works – Bureau of Water and Wastewater public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- EPA SDWIS / ECHO lookup (MD0300002) ↗
Search the federal drinking-water database using public water system ID MD0300002.