Baltimore water bills are about to reflect actual usage (no, that's not how it works now)

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Jake Dean

Baltimore residents should receive more accurate bills for their water usage in the near future.

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Rick Seltzer

Staff reporter- Baltimore Business Journal

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Baltimore City's aged and inaccurate water billing system is getting an upgrade over the next few years — one that measures customers' actual water use instead of relying heavily on estimates.

The city has an $8.4 million contract in place with a Georgia-based company that will update water billing for more than 400,000 customers it serves in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Once the new billing system is in place, customers will receive monthly bills containing a service charge and charge based on water consumption.

That's a change from the current system in which bills include a minimum amount based on water meter size. The current billing system also relies on estimates to generate bills when a customer's meter is not read.

The changes will affect both business and residential customers. Some customers will see higher bills and some will see lower bills in the future and customers will have more of an incentive to watch their water use, Department of Public Works Director Rudolph Chow said.

"By us getting away from minimum billing, we're going to be able to promote conservation," he said.

The system relies on new "BaltiMeter" smart water meters that measure water use and report it wirelessly. The city is in the middle of installing those meters in a pilot program. It has roughly 5,000 in place in the Midtown and Pimlico neighborhoods. And it's placed almost 5,000 more in Baltimore County's Bowleys Quarters neighborhood.

New meter installation is scheduled to be completed throughout the city in April 2016 and in the county in April 2017. The new billing system will come online when the meters are in place.