Water is precious commodity in our high-desert region, dependent on unpredictable snowpack for our supply. In December of 2001, the TMWA Board of Directors adopted a policy to accelerate the water meter retrofit program to address this issue. (Download the policy.)
On December 13, 2007, the TMWA Board of Directors voted to convert all customers who have a meter installed to the metered rate. The implementation will be January, 2010. The Board's intention of the two-year time-frame is to give customers time to work through their landscaping and water-use issues. For more information on this issue, click here or view the water meters and conversion topic paper.
TMWA customers who move into a home previously billed on a flat water rate will be converted to a metered rate. This policy will be initiated when a customer calls with a change of address, or begins new service. Currently, all commercial businesses are metered. More than 95% of TMWA's customers are also metered, including all homes built after June 1988; however, about 15% of our customers are still being billed on the flat-rate, even though the majority have a meter installed. The average 3/4 inch flat rate customer uses 265,000 gallons of water per year. In comparison, the average metered customer uses only 137,000 gallons per year.
TMWA serves more than 93,000 homes and businesses in Reno, Sparks and Washoe County, making it the largest water purveyor in the area. The vast majority of customers served by other local water purveyors are already billed on a metered rate.
Metered Rates for Water use on a monthly basis:
- Tier 1 - 0 to 6,000 Gallons per Billing Period - $1.58
- Tier 2 - 6,001 to 28,000 Gallons per Billing Period - $2.50
- Tier 3 - Greater than 28,000 Gallons per Billing Period - $2.91
Most metered customers find that on an annual basis, they end up paying the same or less for their water use. Metered customers usually pay less in the winter months, when outside watering is minimal and more in the summer months, depending on lot size, type of landscape and method of irrigation.
We are fortunate to have a system with state-of-the art water purification facilities. The result is the enjoyment of clean, pure water that meets the same strict standards as bottled water every time we turn on our taps.
If you have a question, or would like to volunteer for a meter at your current residence, please call 775-834-8080, option 2. Email inquiries are also accepted at conservation@tmwa.net
