Independent U.S. water utility directory · 2026 edition
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Delinquency and service protection

Understand the shut-off process before it reaches your door

The safest time to ask about a past-due balance, payment arrangement, or hardship protection is before the final notice. This page translates the provider’s published rules into a practical checklist.

Notice and timing

How delinquency is handled

Grace period after the due date

15 days after the due-by date printed on the utility statement before the account becomes delinquent under the rate ordinance.

Late-fee calculation

ABCWUA may impose a penalty of 1.5% per month on any delinquent amount owed. The 2026 ordinance also permits the Executive Director to waive, credit, or remove penalty and other fees to expedite satisfaction of a delinquent account. Card, debit, and digital-wallet convenience fees are separate transaction charges rather than late penalties.

Disconnection timeline

The ordinance permits discontinuance when any charge remains unpaid for 30 days from the statement's due-by date. A written notice must be sent at least 10 calendar days before termination, and the customer can submit a written request for an administrative hearing by the termination date. A timely hearing request pauses termination until the hearing decision. ABCWUA's public restoration instructions require a debit/credit payment followed by a call to (505) 842-9287 to submit the turn-on request; same-day restoration requests must be submitted before 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time, otherwise restoration is the next business day.

Statutory warning protocol

What notice should you expect?

The Authority's current ordinance requires written notice at least 10 calendar days before a proposed termination and notice of the right to protest at an administrative hearing. The public customer-service site separately labels turn-off notices and turn-off warnings and tells customers whose service was shut off for nonpayment to pay online, call Customer Service, agree to the restoration disclaimer, and confirm that the turn-on request was submitted. No official current page reviewed specifies a guaranteed automated call, text sequence, colored mailer, or door hanger.

If a notice seems wrong

Document the account balance, payment confirmation, notice date, and any household medical or accessibility concern. Then call the provider using the contact information on its official bill or profile before the stated deadline.

Restoring service

Reconnection costs and timing

A dedicated this detail was not publicly posted. For a published regular-hours versus after-hours residential reconnection fee. ABCWUA's official public instructions state that payment and a call before 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time can support same-day restoration; after the cutoff, service is restored the next business day. The 2026 ordinance lists a $45/$60 turn-off fee by meter size for requested service shutoff and a $50 administrative hearing fee, but it does not publish a separate after-hours delinquency-reconnection surcharge.

Need a payment arrangement?

Ask before the shut-off date

Tell the customer-service representative that you are responding to a delinquency notice and ask specifically about installment plans, hardship protection, charity referrals, and the amount required to stop the disconnection order.

Customer protection guide

What to do when a bill becomes urgent

A delinquency notice from Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) should be treated as a time-sensitive account document. Read the exact due date, amount required, notice method, and contact instructions on the notice, then compare them with the provider details in this guide.

If you have already paid, gather the confirmation number and posting date. If you cannot pay the full amount, call before the stated shut-off date and ask about arrangements, hardship protections, agency referrals, and the minimum amount needed to pause action.

Keep the conversation specific: ask what will stop the order, when the payment must post, whether a reconnection fee applies, and whether the utility requires a separate request for medical, accessibility, or household-protection status.

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