Billing Fees
The City of Columbia charges its customers Base Fees and Volumetric Fees for both water and sewer. Your bill adds the base and volumetric fees together to give you your Water Charges and Sewer Charges separately. Customers inside the City are also charged a Storm Water Utility Fee while customers outside the City are charged Hydrant and Fire Fees in addition to their water and sewer charges.
Your water meter is designed to read cubic feet. You are charged for your water use in units of 100 cubic feet. When Columbia Water staff read your meter, they do not round up. Instead, they drop the two black boxes on your meter from the reading. This means you are only billed for complete units of 100 cubic feet.
The Meter Might Read:
The Bill Reads:
Over time, these partial uses will add up to a complete 100 Ft3 unit that will be added to that month’s bill. For example, if you use on average 750 Ft3 per month, during one month you may only be charged for 700 Ft3 while the next you would be charged for 800 Ft3 (50 from the previous month + 750 from the current month).