Milwaukee Water Works

Provider briefing

How this utility’s billing works

Milwaukee Water Works operates as a municipal department serving Milwaukee, Greenfield, Hales Corners, St. Francis, and West Milwaukee. 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 Uniform residential volumetric water pricing plus a fixed meter-size water-service charge and a fixed public-fire-protection fee. For City of Milwaukee residential 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch meters, the 2026 document lists a $21.22 quarterly water service charge, $9.00 quarterly fire-protection fee, and $30.22 combined fixed water charges. Milwaukee residential consumption is $2.53 per Ccf (748 gallons); commercial customers use declining blocks. Retail communities have their own fixed and volumetric schedules.. Bills are generated residential and smaller commercial customers are generally billed quarterly; most commercial and industrial accounts are billed monthly. the city of milwaukee 2026 residential schedule is explicitly quarterly, while retail communities and commercial meter classes can have different billing periods., and a typical residential cost reference is For a Milwaukee 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch residential account using 5,000-7,000 gallons per month, quarterly consumption is approximately 20.1-28.1 Ccf and the water-volume component is approximately $51-$71 per quarter at $2.53/Ccf. Adding the $30.22 quarterly fixed water/fire charges, MMSD treatment, local sewer, stormwater, solid-waste, street-lighting, and other municipal charges produces a practical combined municipal-service bill commonly well above the water-only amount; the precise 2026 total depends on the winter-quarter sewer basis and property charges.. 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

The municipal services bill combines Milwaukee Water Works water charges, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District treatment, and City local sewer charges. MMSD treatment is $2.27/Ccf and has a $23.83 quarterly residential 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch fixed charge. Residential MMSD and local sewer volume are based on the first calendar-quarter winter water use; if a later quarter's actual use is lower than the winter amount, the bill uses actual use or a 21-Ccf floor for MMSD treatment. The local sewer charge is $1.85/Ccf and follows the same winter-quarter method. Commercial accounts are generally billed on each period's water volume, subject to approved high-volume/non-returned-water treatment.

Meter and infrastructure notes

Milwaukee Water Works uses Automated Meter Reading: a radio device on the meter transmits usage to a receiver in a vehicle passing the property, which transfers the data to the billing/troubleshooting database. Bills are based on actual readings rather than estimates when the AMR responds, and the 2026 bill identifies automatic meter reads separately from estimated or final reads. Residential meters are normally read on a quarterly cycle; commercial accounts are often monthly. Customers can view meter readings, usage, billing, and payment history through the account portal, and a requested interim reading is $35.