What is sewer charge

Projects and Programs to reduce sewer overflows, address sewer backups, keep our sewers in good condition, prvide round-the-clock customer service, and develop innovative solutions to today's environmental challenges.

For more information on how your ratepayer dollars are spent, please visit our Budget page and the Project Groundwork website. How is Your Sewer Bill Calculated? Minimum base charge - a service fee applied to all residential, commercial and industrial customers based on the size of the property's water meter.

Includes the first 3 CCF of water used each month. Commodity charge - a charge applied to residential, commercial and industrial customers who use more than 3 CCF of water per month. Surcharge - an additional charge applied to commercial and industrial customers that discharge high-strength sewage to a MSD treatment plant.

Contact Us. Rules and Regulations. Sewer Service Charge information pamphlet. Panfleto informativo sobre su Tarifa del Servicio de Alcantarillado. Residential Sub-meter Information Packet. What We Do. Solid Resources. Clean Water. Watershed Protection. Education and Sustainability. Earth Day LA. One Water LA. Clean Water Education. The Japanese Garden. Discovery Cube Los Angeles. Plant Tours. In rolling terrain, sewer lines must sometimes be built to cut through hills deep beneath the ground and well into hard rock.

Trench excavation — especially in rock - is the largest part of the cost of building a pipeline. The deeper the pipe, the higher the cost of construction.

Another cost factor lies in where the two types of pipelines can be built. Since sewers rely on gravity to cause flow, they must be built where grade can be maintained or pump stations are required to lift the wastewater so it can flow by gravity again.

The District has 19 such pump stations to keep the wastewater moving to our plant. In addition, right-of-way may be acquired and cleared for both pipelines and pump stations adding to overall costs.

The geographical sizes of drinking water distribution and waste water collection systems also affect costs. Ordinarily, and because of fire protection requirements, a community will serve more of its citizens with public water than with sewer service.

For non-residential and multifamily residential customers, sewer bills are based on actual water usage at all times of the year. Seattle's charges are similar to those charged by other neighboring utilities that utilize King County treatment facilities.

However, Seattle is the only jurisdiction in the region whose rate structure is entirely consumption-based. Therefore, Seattle customers can reduce their sewer bill more markedly than customers in other cities by reducing their water consumption.