State College Borough Water Authority
State College Borough and portions of Benner, College, Harris, Halfmoon, Patton and Ferguson Townships
Population reference
Approximately 72,000 people in the queue estimate; SCBWA reports more than 15,000 metered services and approximately 270 miles of water mains across its service territory.
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
- Quarterly for ordinary customers; locations with pit or vault meters and other designated accounts may be billed monthly. Quarterly bills are due 20 days after mailing; monthly bills receive the same 20-day penalty trigger.
- Rate structure
- Uniform metered rate plus meter-capacity charge. Effective with bills dated on or after January 1, 2026, water is $7.15 per 1,000 gallons. The 5/8-, 3/4- and 1-inch meter capacity charge is $9.30 per month; quarterly customers have a minimum of three months of capacity charge plus 2,000 gallons.
- Residential cost reference
- At 6,000 gallons per month, the water commodity is approximately $42.90 monthly plus a 5/8-inch capacity charge of $9.30, or about $52.20 per month for water. Sewer rental is billed separately by the Borough and is not included in SCBWA's water-rate schedule; the combined estimate therefore requires the Borough's quarterly sewer rate.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- State College Borough, rather than SCBWA, bills residents quarterly for sewer rentals. SCBWA's water bill is based on actual metered water usage, with estimated bills only when the radio-read device cannot communicate; the reviewed Authority schedule does not state a sewer winter-average formula or a sewer rate.
- Meter reading
- SCBWA uses Sensus drive-by radio reading and is transitioning toward FLEX NET AMI. Current drive-by collection takes approximately 3-4 days for a section; planned AMI towers on water tanks will collect transmitter readings daily and support leak monitoring. Bills are based on actual usage unless the radio-read device cannot communicate.
- New-account deposit
- No universal residential startup deposit or credit-check waiver was published on the reviewed 2026 rate/payment pages. Account-specific service and meter requirements are governed by SCBWA rules and regulations.
- Activation or transfer fee
- SCBWA does not publish a general activation fee in the reviewed water-rate schedule. Final-reading requests for property closings that are postponed or rescheduled after the initial read add $45 for each additional reading; the Authority requires a final reading request and buyer contact information.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
Pennsylvania
37%
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
- State College Borough Water Authority 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.