Cal Water Alerts

How do I read my bill?

Cal Water’s bills feature an easy-to-read account summary, usage history graph to help customers keep track of consumption, detailed description of charges, a place for important messages, and meter information.

A sample bill is below.
Sample bill page 1

1Account number: Your 10-digit account number, which you will keep even if you move to another location within our service areas (if you receive more than one bill from Cal Water, you will have more than one account number—contact our Customer Center at the phone number on your bill if you would like your bills combined)
2Billing date: Date your bill was printed
3Contact information: Your local Cal Water Customer Center
4Customer messages: Where important messages will appear
5Summary of your account information
6Prior balance: Previous balance; includes any unpaid balance; due upon receipt
7Payment received: Payments applied to your account since your last bill
8Current charges: Amount due from current billing period (flat or metered as applicable)
9Total amount due: Amount that you owe, including any unpaid previous balance (all bills due upon receipt and past due after 19 days)
10Additional customer messages
11Summary: Overview of your current bill, including the amount due
12Automatic Payment Service: Instructions for signing up to have your bill automatically paid each month from your checking account
13Portion of bill to return your payment (unless enrolled in automatic payment)
14Billing address: Address to which your bill is sent (this may be different than the service address)
How to read your water bill
Sample bill page 3
Customer messages: Where additional important messages will appear
16Service address: Address of service location
17Service dates: Beginning and end of the billing period for water service
18Service charge: Monthly charge based upon the size of your water meter (if applicable)
19Quantity charges: Measured in Ccf (hundred cubic feet) and separated by tier (if applicable)
20WRAM charges or credits: The Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanism (WRAM), used to ensure that Cal Water does not over- or under-collect fixed costs needed to operate the water system
21CPUC Fee: The California Public Utilities Commission’s fee to cover its oversight.
22Other charges and credits
23Public Purpose Program fees
24Subtotal for this service
25Drought water budget: Summary of your current usage as it compares to your water budget
26Water services detail: Graph of your consumption history for the past 13 months
27Meter and reading information: Details of when your meter was read and what the reading was
28Additional services detail: Insurance and other optional services, or city services
How to read your water bill continued