Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) – Water and Wastewater Services
Seattle and nearby communities served by Seattle Public Utilities
Population reference
Seattle Public Utilities' official water-system page says its regional supply provides safe drinking water to approximately 1.6 million people in Seattle and nearby communities. The retail utility also bills Seattle water, sewer, drainage, and solid-waste customers; the 1.6-million figure is the regional drinking-water population rather than a claim that every person receives an SPU retail bill.
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
- Residential customers who choose paper bills are billed every other month (bi-monthly). Customers using electronic billing can manage the City account online and make recurring or one-time payments; the account's service period and due date on the bill control. Commercial and multi-unit account schedules can differ, so the individual invoice should be checked.
- Rate structure
- Seasonal and increasing-block water commodity pricing with a monthly base meter charge. For 2026 inside Seattle, a 3/4-inch-or-smaller meter has a $21.35 monthly base charge; off-peak usage from September 16 through May 15 is $5.82 per CCF. Peak usage from May 16 through September 15 uses a 60-day tier: first 10 CCF at $5.98, next 26 CCF at $7.39, and over 36 CCF at $11.80. Water and sewer are billed separately within the combined utility statement, and drainage charges appear on the property-tax statement rather than on the SPU utility bill.
- Residential cost reference
- For an inside-Seattle 3/4-inch-or-smaller residential meter using 5,000-7,000 gallons in a representative month, a rough water-plus-sewer estimate is about $100-$150 per month before solid-waste, drainage/property-tax charges, taxes, or account-specific adjustments. The range reflects the $21.35 monthly water base charge, seasonal water commodity rates, and the separate sewer rate schedule; actual bills are commonly issued every other month and therefore may show approximately two months of charges at once.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- SPU sewer charges are calculated from metered water consumption under the current wastewater rate schedule; the public residential billing pages do not describe a winter-average sewer calculation for ordinary Seattle accounts. Drainage is a separate service and is charged on the property-tax statement rather than as a percentage of sewer or water intake. Water used outdoors or lost through a leak can still be metered and increase the water charge, while customers may request a leak adjustment or investigate a sewer-abatement-type issue through Utility Account Services.
- Meter reading
- SPU residential meters measure in cubic feet and are read for billing under a regular utility schedule; the public meter page describes the mechanical register and customer leak-check procedure rather than promising a universal hourly AMI feed. Paper residential bills are bi-monthly, and bills can be based on actual or estimated readings depending on access and operational conditions. Customers can monitor account usage through the City Utility Services Website and should call SPU if the bill shows an estimated reading or suspected leak. The reviewed official pages do not state one universal meter-read day for every address.
- New-account deposit
- The current SPU start/stop page does not list a routine residential security-deposit amount, credit-check waiver, or deposit-refund schedule. Service requests are made online through the City Utility Services Website, by phone at 206-684-3000, or in person. The published account-opening/closing fee table lists a $10 account-setup fee for garbage, recycling, and food/yard services and no sewer fee; water lists a $60 meter-reading fee when closing an account, not an ordinary startup deposit. Customers with unusual commercial or development connections should confirm any security requirement directly with SPU.
- Activation or transfer fee
- SPU provides online start/stop service through myutilities.seattle.gov, by phone at 206-684-3000, or at a walk-in center. The current public fee table lists no sewer activation fee and no ordinary water startup charge; it lists a $60 water meter-reading fee when closing an account and a $10 setup fee for solid-waste-related services. A resident transferring utilities should provide the effective date, service address, forwarding details, and meter access information and should confirm any account-specific field or closing charge with Customer Service.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
Washington
51%
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
- Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) – Water and Wastewater Services 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.