McAllen Public Utility (MPU) Customer Relations and Utility Billing
City of McAllen and McAllen Public Utility service area, including the City's water, wastewater, sprinkler, reclaimed-water, sanitation, and drainage billing accounts
Population reference
McAllen Public Utility's Water Systems page reports a dynamic population of 182,790 people in 2022, and its FY2025 financial materials report 52,959 water accounts and 46,626 wastewater accounts. The population figure is the utility's published service-population proxy; account totals are the more current operational measure.
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 cycle-based billing. MPU reads meters and bills customers according to assigned geographic cycles; the statement shows the billing date, service-period dates, current read, previous read, days of service, usage, due date, current balance, and any past-due balance. Due dates vary by cycle and cannot be changed by the customer.
- Rate structure
- Increasing block tiers effective October 1, 2025. Residential water has an $18.00 monthly base fee, then $2.25 per 1,000 gallons for 0–4,999 gallons, $2.55 for 5,000–9,999, $2.75 for 10,000–14,999, and $2.95 for 15,000 gallons and above. Residential sewer has a $17.00 base fee, $1.85 per 1,000 gallons through 19,999 gallons, and $2.40 per 1,000 gallons over 20,000. Separate sprinkler and reclaimed-water schedules apply.
- Residential cost reference
- At 5,000 gallons for a standard residential account, the water charge is approximately $29.25 ($18 base plus the first 4,999 gallons at $2.25 and the marginal 5,000th gallon at $2.55) and the sewer charge is approximately $26.25 ($17 base plus 5,000 gallons at $1.85), for a water-and-sewer subtotal of about $55.50 before sanitation, recycling, brush, drainage, sprinkler, or other account charges. At 7,000 gallons, water is approximately $34.35 and sewer approximately $29.95, for about $64.30 before those additional line items. Actual bills also include the flat sanitation and applicable recycle, brush, and drainage fees shown on the statement.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- Residential sewer is tied directly to metered water consumption rather than a published winter average. The current schedule charges a $17.00 base fee, $1.85 per 1,000 gallons of water through 19,999 gallons, and $2.40 per 1,000 gallons above 20,000. The Utility Billing page states that sewer commodity is based on water usage and that the bill separately identifies sanitation, recycling, brush, and drainage charges.
- Meter reading
- McAllen reads traditional meters by physical digits and is transitioning from onsite mechanical reads to remote smart meters. Current MPU FAQ material states that smart meters communicate through a Regional Network Interface combined with Advanced Metering Infrastructure, do not require a site visit for each reading, can detect leaks, and provide online water-usage access. Mechanical meters one inch or smaller require five digits; larger mechanical meters require six, while digital/LED registers require eight. Bills remain organized by assigned cycle, and MPU does not publish a universal hourly-read interval for every account during the phased transition.
- New-account deposit
- MPU's FAQ lists deposits of $100 for residential accounts, $250 for commercial accounts, and $1,000 for restaurant/hotel accounts. The current new-service page says the deposit required by city ordinance must be prepaid, begins in the $100–$1,000 range, and varies by location/account type. The reviewed public material does not publish a credit-check waiver or a fixed refund interval.
- Activation or transfer fee
- The current new-service page sets a $25 connection fee per meter. Applicants may apply at City Hall Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; same-day requests must be made by 1:00 p.m., and email requests can take one to two business days. A completed application, government-issued identification, prepaid ordinance deposit, and in some cases a lease or closing documents are required. The reviewed public pages do not state a separate transfer fee beyond the connection fee or a distinct after-hours activation price.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
Texas
68%
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
- McAllen Public Utility (MPU) Customer Relations and Utility Billing public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- tdhca.texas.gov reference ↗
Public URL preserved in the compiled record. Confirm its publisher, date, and applicability before relying on it.
- EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System ↗
Federal background on public water-system records and their limitations.