City of St. Louis Water Division

Provider briefing

How this utility’s billing works

City of St. Louis Water Division operates as a municipal department serving City of St. Louis, Missouri. Customers should use the provider’s current account-specific bill and official customer-service instructions as the final authority for deadlines, balances, and service requests.

The published water-rate framework is described as The City uses two distinct residential structures: most legacy residential properties are flat-rate quarterly accounts priced by physical characteristics such as rooms, toilets, baths/showers, and lawn frontage, while metered accounts pay a quarterly readiness-to-serve charge plus CCF volume tiers. Rates effective July 1, 2026 include a 3/4-inch metered readiness charge of $48.63 per quarter and $3.09 per CCF for the first 250 CCF; flat-rate accounts also carry a $3.00 quarterly line-insurance charge, a $1.05 natural-resource charge, and a 4% gross-receipts tax passed directly to customers. Rates receive annual CPI-U inflation treatment when the preceding year's CPI-U is positive.. Bills are generated quarterly. most residential flat-rate accounts are assigned to one of three quarterly billing cycles with fixed bill and due dates. metered water-refuse accounts are billed separately every quarter, with amounts varying by consumption and billing dates fluctuating slightly. payment is due 15 days after the billing date., and a typical residential cost reference is The Water Division's current rate-review comparison gives a representative 3/4-inch metered customer using 8 CCF per month a 2026 water total of approximately $43.97 per month including the readiness charge, $3.00 quarterly line insurance, $1.05 quarterly natural-resource charge, and 4% gross-receipts tax. A representative five-room, two-toilet, two-bath flat-rate home with 30 feet of frontage is shown at about $50.07 per month in the proposed 2026 comparison. These figures are water-only; Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District sewer charges and City refuse fees are separate and may materially increase the combined household bill.. These descriptions are useful planning benchmarks; actual charges can change with meter size, usage, sewer averaging, local taxes, drought stages, or account-specific fees.

Wastewater and sewer calculation

Water and sewer are separate bills because the City Water Division supplies water while the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District manages sewer collection and treatment. MSD uses the City's water-billing data to calculate its residential sewer charge; a customer on the Water Division flat rate is generally also placed on an MSD flat-rate basis, while a metered customer transitions to a volume-based sewer calculation. A property owner who converts from flat to metered water follows the Water Division meter-installation process, after which the Division transmits the meter data to MSD automatically. Customers should contact MSD for its current sewer rate, winter/average rules, and sewer leak treatment rather than assume the City water rate includes wastewater.

Meter and infrastructure notes

The City still bills most residential properties on a quarterly flat rate based on rooms, toilets, baths/showers, and lawn frontage rather than a usage reading. Metered accounts use physical water meters and quarterly consumption in CCF; the current public pages do not claim universal AMR/AMI or hourly customer data. New service connections and certain major rehabilitation projects are required to have an approved meter under Ordinance 72168, effective November 1, 2026, while existing connections are generally not affected unless a triggering project occurs. The Water Division owns and installs the meter after the property owner or plumber prepares the compliant meter pit; meter-reading frequency and any estimated-read procedure are account-specific.