How accurate is your water bill? We asked the city of Raleigh about meter reading, charges

If you live in Raleigh or select other towns in Wake County, you likely receive your water from the city — and pay your corresponding water bill each month.

Years ago, you may have noticed city employees coming around to manually read analog meters at your home, but chances are you haven’t seen that lately, or at least within the last 15 years.

So, how does the city read your meter now and know how much water you’ve used each month? And once they read the meter, how do they calculate how much money you owe? Are the readings accurate or are estimates used?

A colleague was curious about this topic, so we set out to find answers for The News & Observer’s Asked & Answered series, which answers questions we receive from readers, the community or as in this case, our own newsroom.

Want to know how the city of Raleigh reads your water meter? Here’s what we learned from Ed Buchan, senior communications analyst with Raleigh Water.

How does the city of Raleigh read water meters?

Prior to about 15 years ago, the city of Raleigh used analog water meters, which required city employees to visit meters in-person to record the meter readings.

But between 2006 and 2008, Buchan told The N&O by email, the city switched all of its analog meters out for meters that use “automatic meter reading” (AMR) technology. That technology, still in place on city meters today, allows employees to read meters “simply driving by in a vehicle,” Buchan said.

Buchan further explained that each meter box has a silver disc on its lid, which functions as an antenna that “sends a signal from the meter” to a handheld receiver, which meter technicians use while driving by the meter to pick up the reading. The technicians drive by slowly, Buchan said, and have to be within about 50 feet of the meter to pick up an accurate reading on their receivers.

The city currently employees two meter technicians to read meters, covering almost 200,000 accounts per month, Buchan said.

In the future, Buchan said, the method Raleigh Water uses to read meters will likely change again — allowing meters to be read remotely, without the need to drive by meters.

Raleigh Water is “in the process” of installing “smart meters,” Buchan said, which “still offer AMR capability, but they are also capable of using Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) technology, which will eventually allow us to read meters remotely.” The technology will also allow water leaks to be detected more quickly, and water service will be able to be started or stopped remotely.

Buchan said Raleigh Water is pilot testing the AMI technology in Zebulon, and the city could fully transition to smart meters within the next two years or so. The AMI technology could then be fully implemented within the next eight to 10 years, depending on other infrastructure needs, he said.

How does the city of Raleigh calculate water bills?

Now that you know how Raleigh Water gets the reading from your water meter, you may be wondering how, exactly, the reading is used to calculate your water bill each month.

Buchan pointed out that Raleigh utility bills includes both water and sewer charges, as well as stormwater and solid waste charges.

For water and sewer charges, specifically, your bill is comprised of fixed charges based on the size of your meter and volumetric charges based on the amount of water used in a month.

▪ “The fixed charges include a meter charge, watershed protection fee and infrastructure replacement charges,” Buchan said.

▪ The volumetric charges for residential water use have a tiered structure. Tiers are based on water consumption in “CCF” units, which are equal to about 748 gallons of water. Within city limits, the first four CCFs — Tier One — consumed are billed at $2.67. Tier Two, for between five to 10 CCFs, is billed at $4.45. Tier Three, for 11 or more CCFs, is billed at $5.93.

For example, if you use five CCFs of water in one month, the first four CCFs are billed at the Tier One rate, while the fifth CCF would be charged at the Tier Two rate.

“In short, the more water you use, the more expensive it becomes per unit after you exceed certain amounts,” Buchan said.

Sewer charges are assessed based on the amount of water a customer uses, and the rates are flat — meaning the rate is the same, regardless of the amount of water used, and is not tiered, Buchan said. The flat rate is $4.67 per CCF.

More information about water billing rates and calculations is available at raleighnc.gov/doing-business/utility-rates-deposits-other-charges.

Does the city of Raleigh estimate water usage or bills?

As covered above, your water bill is based on your usage and consumption, as read from your meter. But what happens if your meter can’t be read for some reason? Does that ever happen, or does the city ever estimate your usage?

Yes, but it’s pretty rare, Buchan said.

He provided the following examples of when an estimated reading might need to be used:

▪ The meter’s antenna is blocked or malfunctions. Antenna issues “can occur if somehow a meter lid is severely damaged, a meter gets buried by enough landscaping materials which can disrupt the signal or if the antenna battery fail,” Buchan said.

Out of about 2.5 million meter readings completed last year, Buchan said, the antenna caused an issue about 1,200 times, “so it is very, very uncommon.”

▪ Someone has installed a “jumper” to “circumvent the meter illegally.”

▪ For some commercial fire hydrant meters.

Estimated readings are calculated based on historical consumption, Buchan said.

“If it was necessary for your reading to be estimated, it will be indicated on your bill with an ‘E’ printed next to the meter reading” on your bill, the city website states.

Additional information about Raleigh Water

Have more questions or want more information about water meters or billing in the city of Raleigh? Visit raleighnc.gov/water.

This story was originally published April 25, 2023 at 12:00 AM.

Korie Dean

The News & Observer

919-335-8507

Korie Dean covers higher education in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer, where she is also part of the state government and politics team. She is a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC-Chapel Hill and a lifelong North Carolinian.