New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) Water and Wastewater Services

Provider briefing

How this utility’s billing works

New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) Water and Wastewater Services operates as a public water authority serving New Braunfels and the NBU water/wastewater service area in Comal, Guadalupe, and surrounding regional communities. 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 Increasing tiered residential usage rates with a fixed 5/8-inch base, a water-supply fee on higher tiers, landscape/irrigation rates, and drought-stage surcharges. FY2026 projected residential water rates list a $17.64 base, $2.36 per 1,000 gallons for 0-3,000, $5.71 for 3,001-6,000, $8.79 for 6,001-12,000, and $13.46 over 12,000, with a $2.43 per-1,000 water-supply fee in tiers 3 and 4. NBU's rate calculator identifies essential use as up to 6,000 gallons without irrigation; Stage III and Stage IV drought surcharges apply above defined thresholds.. Bills are generated monthly. nbu's ordinance requires service consumption to be determined and billed no less frequently than monthly; bills can reflect actual, averaged, estimated, or annualized service under the service conditions policy., and a typical residential cost reference is NBU's published average profile uses up to 6,000 gallons of residential water and 4,600 gallons of wastewater. Using FY2026 projected rates, a 5/8-inch account at 5,000 gallons is approximately $17.64 base plus tiered water usage (about $20-$25 depending on the exact tier interpretation and supply-fee treatment), plus wastewater availability of $36.19 and about $8.51 per 1,000 gallons for a 4,600-gallon average, or roughly $95-$105 for water and wastewater before electric, City garbage/recycling, and other charges. A 7,000-gallon month is higher because it enters the 6,001-12,000 water tier; wastewater remains based on the rolling average and is capped at $194.44 for Residential 1.. 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

For NBU Residential 1, FY2026 wastewater has a $36.19 monthly service-availability charge, $8.51 per 1,000 gallons, and a $194.44 maximum monthly charge. The customer's wastewater volume is calculated from the three lowest months of water use in the preceding rolling 12-month period; NBU's rate calculator says the average customer is 4,600 gallons. Customers without a full usage history can be handled under NBU's service rules. Residential wastewater-only service is separately priced at $103.03, and multifamily/general-service classes use different availability, unit, and volume charges.

Meter and infrastructure notes

NBU implemented Advanced Metering Infrastructure meters for the electric and water systems beginning in 2016. NBU's Dynamic Customer Information and current tools expose consumption data, usage reports, and rapid leak awareness; the utility's rate calculator uses rolling 12-month water history for wastewater averaging. The public pages do not identify the current meter manufacturer or guarantee an hourly transmission interval, but NBU's AMI system supports remote readings and customer usage insight.