Politics & Government

Residents Should See Lower Water Bills Next Month

Gwinnett County spokesman said the higher bills were partially because bills included nearly two months of water usage.

When some Norcross residents opened their new water bills from Gwinnett County recently, they were alarmed to see that their bills had nearly doubled.

But that's probably because the bill was for 45 to 60 days of water usage rather than the usual monthly amount said Peter Frank, Deputy Director of Business Services with Gwinnett County.

"The biggest reason is that Norcross customers were billed for almost two months of consumption," said Frank.

Another contributing factor was probably due to the older meters that were replaced with new ones during the conversion from city to county service.

"Older meters tend to read lower as they age and do not read accurately," said Frank. "Unfortunately the older meters always read lower, not higher." So the customers with older meters were using more water than they were being billed for.

Frank said residents should expect their next bills, due to arrive toward the end of the month to be "closer to half the amount from the last bill."

Another factor was that the city had not increased water rates since 2009 but absorbed the increase from the county rather than passing it along to the customers. Frank said the county increases its water rates each year.

The City of Norcross sold its water and wastewater systems to Gwinnett County earlier this year. The sale affected some 2,200 city water and sewer customers. 

Gwinnett County charges a base rate of $7.50 (for the average household meter) and $5.00 for sewer plus water usage which is is based on what goes through the water meters, said Frank.

The county uses a tiered system based on usage.

Residential customers pay: 

  • $4.69 per 1,000 gallons up to 7,999 gallons
  • $7.03 per 1,000 gallons for 8,000 to 11,999 gallons
  • $9.38 per 1,000 gallons for 12,000 and up
Click here for more on Gwinnett County rates and fees.


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