Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA)
Albuquerque and the Bernalillo County metropolitan service area, including contiguous territory served by the Water Authority
Population reference
More than 650,000 water users in Greater Albuquerque and approximately 209,000 water/sewer customer accounts, based on the Authority's current public descriptions and recent account reporting.
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 rate ordinance requires monthly billing and permits estimated annual use divided by 12 when appropriate.
- Rate structure
- Monthly fixed meter-size charges plus a uniform commodity charge per CCF, with a New Mexico conservation charge, a 50% low-usage discount for eligible residential usage above winter average during April–October, seasonal conservation surcharges above conservation-average thresholds, irrigation surcharges, and discretionary drought surcharges.
- Residential cost reference
- At approximately 5,000 gallons (6.68 CCF) for a 5/8 x 3/4-inch residential meter under the July 1, 2026 O-26-1 schedule, water is roughly $33.80 before franchise fees and sewer is roughly $25.80 when the 95% winter-average cap does not reduce the charge. A practical combined water/sewer estimate is about $60–$63 per month before any separately billed refuse charges, low-usage discount, conservation surcharge, or local franchise fee.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- For a 5/8 x 3/4-inch residential account, the July 1, 2026 schedule totals $12.83 in fixed monthly sewer charges plus $2.049 per CCF of wastewater commodity charge. For customers with ABCWUA water service, the sewer commodity volume is 95% of the current metered or estimated water use, or 95% of the account's average December–March winter-month usage, whichever is lower. The Authority averages the four winter months for the winter basis; customers without Authority water service are measured or assigned a statistically reasonable wastewater volume. Income-qualified homeowners may receive a sewer credit equal to the fixed sewer and rehabilitation charges.
- Meter reading
- ABCWUA bills monthly and is replacing manually read meters with automated meter reading and advanced metering infrastructure. HomeConnect allows customers with AMI-equipped meters to see hour-by-hour usage and leak indicators. The Authority's current AMI program is being phased in through multiple project phases; public planning material describes fixed radio-frequency communications, daily or more frequent reads, interval usage, tamper detection, flow profiling, and leak detection, while a 2025 Phase 9 resolution covers replacement of approximately 14,000 aging meters. The system is therefore a mixed AMR/AMI fleet during rollout rather than a claim that every account already has hourly AMI.
- New-account deposit
- ABCWUA is a property-based utility: it does not start, stop, or transfer ordinary residential service in an individual's name, and the owner of record controls the account. The 2026 ordinance allows reasonable deposits for any customer, including tenants, with a maximum duration of six months; the deposit and accrued interest are applied when the account becomes delinquent or at the end of six months. No universal residential deposit amount, credit-check waiver, or standard refund schedule is published. New construction has separate connection, utility-expansion, and water-resource charges; for July 2026, the water-resource charge for a 5/8 x 3/4-inch meter is $4,579 with a $229 minimum cash down payment and the balance financeable over up to 120 months at 7% annual carrying charge.
- Activation or transfer fee
- There is no ordinary personal activation or transfer transaction because ABCWUA bills the property and explicitly does not start, stop, or transfer service for tenants or owners. Property owners may update mailing information and manage the account, while title companies handle final/prorated bills. New construction has separate fees: connection permits are $50 for water services two inches or smaller and $50 for sanitary sewer services, while public hydrants, manholes, fire lines, AirVac pits, and three-inch-or-larger services are $150 per item; a 5/8 x 3/4-inch metered service-line set is $310. These are construction/service-development charges, not a routine resident transfer fee.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
New Mexico
47%
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
- Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) 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.