City of Minneapolis Water Treatment & Distribution Services / Utility Billing
Minneapolis and six wholesale customer cities in the surrounding metropolitan area
Population reference
The City's 2026 infrastructure materials state that Minneapolis Water Treatment & Distribution Services provides drinking water to over 500,000 residents in Minneapolis and six wholesale customer cities, with approximately 100,000 metered accounts; the treatment-and-delivery page also identifies Minneapolis residents, seven suburban wholesale communities, businesses, and institutions as recipients.
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. The utility bill displays a monthly service period, due date, meter readings, and fixed monthly water and sewer charges; actual, customer-provided, prorated, or estimated read codes can affect an individual bill.
- Rate structure
- Uniform volumetric rate rather than consumption tiers: 2026 inside-city water is $3.88 per 100 cubic feet (approximately 748 gallons), plus a meter-size fixed charge each billing period. A typical 5/8-inch meter has an $11.75 monthly water fixed charge. Sewer has a separate $5.92-per-unit usage rate and fixed meter charge; residential sewer uses seasonal winter averaging.
- Residential cost reference
- For a Minneapolis single-family customer with a 5/8-inch meter using 5,000 gallons (about 6.684 units) in a month when sewer is billed from actual consumption, estimated water is $25.93 in usage plus $11.75 fixed, and sewer is $39.57 in usage plus $9.30 fixed, for approximately $86.55 in water and sewer before stormwater, solid-waste, taxes, and other charges. The Minnesota Department of Health safe-drinking-water fee is $15.22 annually per service connection, approximately $1.27 per month if allocated monthly; average residential stormwater is separately listed at $16.35 per month. April–November sewer may be lower when the winter average is below current use.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- One consumption unit equals 100 cubic feet, about 748 gallons. For residential properties with three or fewer dwelling units, December through March sewer usage reflects actual metered water consumption. For April through November, the City calculates average winter consumption from the December–March bills and charges that average, but if actual current-month use is lower than the average it charges the lower actual amount; properties with zero winter use are assigned the average for their property classification. Commercial properties and residential properties with more than three dwelling units are billed on actual water consumption year-round.
- Meter reading
- Every Minneapolis property has an indoor water meter. The City uses a mixed meter fleet: older meters have odometers and a mechanical leak indicator, while newer digital meters read to the thousandth of a cubic foot and can be connected to an automatic meter reader. Bill codes distinguish ACT (City read), CUS (customer-provided reading), PRO (prorated service start), and EST (estimated because the meter stopped, an automatic reader failed, or staff could not access the meter). Customers moving, selling, placing service on a temporary stop, or receiving an EST bill can schedule a meter-reading appointment Monday–Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The public material does not establish citywide hourly AMI transmission for every account; billing remains monthly/near-monthly with automated, customer, manual, or estimated exceptions.
- New-account deposit
- No startup deposit is published for ordinary City water-and-sewer service. The current service-start page requires proof of ownership, such as a deed, closing disclosure, or settlement agreement, or a lease for a renter. Starting service costs nothing as long as the water has not been turned off; if the property has already been shut off, the City lists a $90 turn-on fee. The reviewed 2026 materials do not describe a credit-check waiver, security-deposit alternative, deposit refund period, or deposit interest policy.
- Activation or transfer fee
- Starting water and sewer service has no cost when service has not been turned off. If water was shut off, the published turn-on charge is $90. Transfers within Minneapolis are handled online through the Premium Access account or by calling Customer Service; sewer, garbage, and recycling automatically transfer, the City requires a meter reading before the move, and the current public instructions do not publish a separate transfer or account-name-change fee.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
Minnesota
39%
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
- City of Minneapolis Water Treatment & Distribution Services / Utility Billing 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.