Wastewater Bill Shenanigans

2,234 Views | 11 Replies | Last: 4 mo ago by Hornbeck
Ranger1743
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10:31p, 8/14/25
AG
We moved to south CS (Creek Meadows new build, 2300 sqft) from San Antonio in late June and just got our sewer bill - $49.70 sewer charge, *plus* 20.25 trash, *plus* 7.25 drainage and $10 roadway maintenance charge, plus tax, for a total of $89. This is separate from electric, water, and gas, which also seem high here.

I thought the sewer seemed high, so I checked the rates online. Turns out if you live outside the city water service area, you are automatically charged for the max (>10,000 gallon) sewer usage, unless you can establish that you use less. I assume we are outside of the service area since the cap is what we got charged - $49.70, even though our water use was 5,000 gallons including irrigation.

Anybody dealt with this? Do I have to show the city my water bill to get a lower sewer rate? Why do they assume max usage?
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hopeandrealchange
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In reply to Ranger1743 • 5:59a, 8/15/25
Ranger1743 said:
We moved to south CS (Creek Meadows new build, 2300 sqft) from San Antonio in late June and just got our sewer bill - $49.70 sewer charge, *plus* 20.25 trash, *plus* 7.25 drainage and $10 roadway maintenance charge, plus tax, for a total of $89. This is separate from electric, water, and gas, which also seem high here.

I thought the sewer seemed high, so I checked the rates online. Turns out if you live outside the city water service area, you are automatically charged for the max (>10,000 gallon) sewer usage, unless you can establish that you use less. I assume we are outside of the service area since the cap is what we got charged - $49.70, even though our water use was 5,000 gallons including irrigation.

Anybody dealt with this? Do I have to show the city my water bill to get a lower sewer rate? Why do they assume max usage?


Welcome to Aggieland.
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UmustBKidding
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7:39a, 8/15/25
This is a known money grab, and you can get it reduced. I believe you have to have several months of bills.
I personally dont have the issue since when the annexed me they decided not to provide sewer services.
I brought this issue up at one of their pre annex presentations and the water person in attendance said since water is provided by wellborn sud they were unable to do anything and had to assume the maximum. I noticed a wellborn sud official was also present and asked the.m if it was true that they would not provide this information to csu. His answer was they had never asked. And they won't, there are likely thousands and more with every new build that are giving they more slush to play with.
Also most water entities exclude summer months from the sewer rate calculation since large portion of usage is outdoor watering that does not end up in sewer but csu employee indicated on this site they did not exclude these months.
Waterchick may be along to bring mor light to the csu perspective.

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waterchick
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8:56a, 8/15/25
Thanks, UMustBKidding. Ranger1743, welcome to College Station, and I'm sorry you're starting off with a negative experience.

Creek Meadows is served by Wellborn Special Utility District for water. For customers served by College Station for both water and wastewater, we bill wastewater based on water usage, up to 10,000 gallons. For customers where we don't have access to water meter readings, you start out at the 10,000 gallon rate. Once you have, I believe, six months of bills, you can bring that to Utility Customer Service and they will adjust your bill down. The process is the same for other areas not served by College Station for water, such as Mission Ranch and the Barracks.

Some utilities do wintertime averaging, where the monthly water use for November - February is averaged and wastewater bills are based on that. My understanding is College Station doesn't do that because a chunk of our population is gone for some of those months. That could always be changed in the future, but that would be a Council-level decision.
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MyNameIsJeff
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In reply to waterchick • 1:47p, 8/15/25
AG
This. Former creek meadows resident. Very easy to do. Wellborn SUD will know exactly what you need. One of the few things I've ever done with a municipality that I thought was easy.
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woodiewood1
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In reply to waterchick • 1:59p, 8/15/25
waterchick said:
Thanks, UMustBKidding. Ranger1743, welcome to College Station, and I'm sorry you're starting off with a negative experience.

Creek Meadows is served by Wellborn Special Utility District for water. For customers served by College Station for both water and wastewater, we bill wastewater based on water usage, up to 10,000 gallons. For customers where we don't have access to water meter readings, you start out at the 10,000 gallon rate. Once you have, I believe, six months of bills, you can bring that to Utility Customer Service and they will adjust your bill down. The process is the same for other areas not served by College Station for water, such as Mission Ranch and the Barracks.

Some utilities do wintertime averaging, where the monthly water use for November - February is averaged and wastewater bills are based on that. My understanding is College Station doesn't do that because a chunk of our population is gone for some of those months. That could always be changed in the future, but that would be a Council-level decision.

What College Station does, if you want them to, is to get a 12 month average utility bill and you pay the average. I got a notice last week that my average bill will go up $10. I have been doing that for years as my winter bills are 1/2 of the summer hot months,
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Ranger1743
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2:08p, 8/15/25
AG
Thanks y'all, the information is much appreciated. I guess I am stuck paying the max sewer bill for at least 6 months while I establish a history.

Any chance they will back-date the lower usage, or am I out the ~$25/month extra until I can show 6 months of billing?
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waterchick
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In reply to woodiewood1 • 3:46p, 8/15/25
If your average bill is going to go up, you should probably log in to your account and see if you had a spike in energy or water consumption. I know customers love Budget Billing, but the one downside is that if you have a leak, you may not notice it until the averaging period ends.
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woodiewood1
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In reply to waterchick • 4:39p, 8/15/25
waterchick said:
If your average bill is going to go up, you should probably log in to your account and see if you had a spike in energy or water consumption. I know customers love Budget Billing, but the one downside is that if you have a leak, you may not notice it until the averaging period ends.

That's true, but I do get an email of each months bill and can see the KWH used and the gallons of water consumer. I micro-manage all my bills, Every charge to my credit card over $10 is texted to me. All my bills and most every purchase are paid by my SWA card and get points that I use for travel. We are able to go on two vacations a year to the Carribean with free air travel.
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to waterchick • 6:12p, 8/15/25
Council won't consider anything that results in less money for their pet projects.
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agcot12
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In reply to Ranger1743 • 10:30p, 8/15/25
AG
I went through this exact scenario last year with Welborn water and CoCS sewer. Just save 6 months of consecutive water bills during the winter months when you are not watering your grass (lower water consumption) and email them to CoCS. They will back date your sewer bill to when you bought the house and give you a credit, so basically you won't have to pay your CoCS bill for a few months until the credit is used up.

Your new sewer rate will be locked in for as long as you own the home so it is important to capture the 6 consecutive months of your lowest water use, which for most people is in the winter.
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Hornbeck
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12:19p, 8/16/25
AG
Wait until you find out they transfer utility money to the general fund as a "shadow tax".

Welcome to College Station, where city officials see you as a dollar sign.
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