Billing Office Location: City Hall Building, 1 Junkins Avenue, Room 304
Billing Office Hours:
Billing Office telephone number: (603) 610-7248 or (603) 610-7237
Services provided by the department includes: changing or installing water meters and turning service on/off at property.
Maintenance Dept. Hours: 7:30am - 3:30pm, Monday through Friday
Maintenance Dept. Location: Public Works Building, 680 Peverly Hill Road
Maintenance Dept. telephone number: (603) 427-1530
Final bills are generated at the request of property owners or their representative. In order to process the final bill request, the City must obtain a visual reading from the meter. The following guidelines have been established to process final bill requests: readings will be completed within 48 hours of the request, access inside the property is necessary between the hours of 8am - 3pm, and authorization by the owner to perform meter maintenance if required. No final readings will be scheduled on Wednesdays.
The Department will not be responsible if we are unable to process a final bill request due to a failure in following the above guidelines. There will be a final bill charge of $40.00 assessed to your account to perform the final bill process. Please contact the Water/Sewer Billing Office at (603) 610-7248 or (603) 610-7237 to schedule a final reading or if you need additional information.
FREQUENCY OF BILLING: The City bills all customers on a monthly billing cycle with readings obtained on the last day of each month.
MINIMUM METER SERVICE CHARGE: The minimum meter service charge is for costs associated with making water service available to each customer and is based on the size of the meter located at the property. This charge is assessed to the water portion of your bill only. There is no minimum meter charge assessed to the sewer portion of the bill.
| Meter Size (inches) | Monthly Fee |
|---|---|
| 5/8 and 3/4 | $4.95 |
| 1 ½ | $8.27 |
| 2 | $14.25 |
| 3 | $36.26 |
| 4 | $68.74 |
| 6 | $120.27 |
| 8 | $168.01 |
| 10 | $252.02 |
WATER/SEWER CONSUMPTION CHARGES: The City Council adopted on June 3, 2024 the Fiscal Year 2025 water and sewer rates effective July 1, 2024.
1 Unit of metered water = 748 gallons
WATER RATES -
Tier 1: First 10 units of water consumed will be billed at a rate of $5.02 per unit.
Tier 2: Consumption above 10 units of water will be billed at $6.04 per unit.
SEWER RATES - Sewer charges are based on water consumption.
Tier 1: First 10 units of consumption will be billed at the rate of $17.32 per unit.
Tier 2: Consumption above 10 units will be billed at the rate of $19.05 per unit.
IRRIGATION METERS -
Tier 1: First 10 units of consumption will be billed at the rate of $6.04 per unit.
Tier 2: Consumption above 10 units and up to 20 units will be billed at the rate of $11.41 per unit.
Tier 3: Consumption above 20 units will be billed at the rate of $14.08 per unit.
FIRE SERVICE CHARGES:
| Fire Service Size (inches) | Monthly Fee |
|---|---|
| 1 | $2.55 |
| 1 ½ | $3.82 |
| 2 | $5.09 |
| 2 ½ | $7.64 |
| 3 | $12.22 |
| 4 | $22.85 |
| 5 | $46.04 |
| 6 | $74.86 |
| 8 | $161.45 |
| 10 | $291.62 |
| 12 | $472.31 |
| Municipal Hydrants | $400.00/year |
An estimated bill is rendered when we are unable to read your meter, such as when the reading device has become dislodged. Your bill will indicate an estimated reading in the meter reading section of your bill. It is important for the City to obtain an actual reading as soon as possible. A corrected billing or issuance of credit will be applied to your account when an actual reading is obtained.
Your bill is payable upon receipt. You have 30 days from the date of the bill to pay your balance in full before a penalty will be imposed. Penalty per month of 1.5% will be added if not paid within 30 days of bill date. Your prompt payment is appreciated.
For your convenience, the City has implemented the following payment options for water and sewer bills. Please note that some payment methods take longer for the payments to be posted to your account. The following methods of payment are listed in order of promptness:
City website - “NEW” online bill and payment program (estimated 2 business. days for payment to be credited to your account): Visit Online Bill Payment Webpage, to view your bill or make a payment on your water and sewer account by using your bank account or credit card. You may now schedule an immediate one-time payment, schedule a future payment, set up Auto Payments, or set up recurring or Flex Payments (see website for details.)
NOTE: For those customers only who are currently enrolled in the City’s Auto-Pay Program, there is no need to do anything at this time. Your payments will continue to be drafted on the payment due date.
The Water and Sewer Division charges fees for other associated services, including Industrial Discharge Permits for Sewer, Oil and Grease Trap Permits for Sewer, Turn on and Turn off fees for water/sewer service, Final Billing Requests, Hydrant Rental, Account History, Frozen Meter Repair, Emergency Callouts, Meter Testing, Water Service Applications, Meter Reading System Repairs, Fire Flow Testing, Fire Services, Backflow Testing, Sewer TSS and BOD charges for large industrial customers, Sewer Connection Permits, Equipment Use, and Water/Sewer Capacity Improvement charges.
These fees are updated annually as part of the budget process and are posted on the City's budget page. See this fiscal year's budget, "Appendix III - Schedule of Fees" and browse to "Fee Schedule - Water and Sewer Divisions".
In general, most of these charges are added to a customer's water bill, therefore, those customers with automatic withdrawal should make sure that if they anticipate any of these charges on their next bill that they have the appropriate funds in their account to cover the payment.
The purpose of the water/sewer rate structure studies is to stabilize utility revenues and to maintain a rate and fee structure that is fair and equitable. In order to assure that our customers are equitably charged, the City periodically performs a comprehensive rate analysis. A detailed rate study was performed in 2006. This has subsequently been followed up with another rate study in 2013. The following documents are presentations made to the City Council and the public from these efforts. They provide background information on the Water and Sewer Division's Enterprise Fund finances, customer demographics, and rate recommendations.
May 18, 2022: Water and Sewer FY2023 Budget Work Session
May 19, 2021: Water and Sewer FY2022 Budget Work Session
May 19, 2020: Water and Sewer FY2021 Budget Work Session
May 13, 2019: Water and Sewer FY 2020 Budget Work Session
May 16, 2018: Water and Sewer FY 2019 Budget Work Session
May 17, 2017: Water and Sewer FY 2018 Budget Work-Session
May 18, 2016: Water and Sewer FY 2017 Budget Work-Session
May 6, 2015: Water and Sewer FY 2016 Budget Work-Session
March 19, 2014: Water Sewer Rate Public Input
April 16, 2013: Rate Study City Council Work Session
March 13, 2013: Rate Study Public Input Session
February 11, 2013: Rate Study City Council Work Session
December 4, 2012: Rate Study Public Meeting
Portsmouth April 3, 2006: Water Sewer Rate Presentation
The City of Portsmouth's Water & Sewer Division is pleased to announce our latest effort to promote water efficiency in our water and sewer systems - A Toilet and Washing Machine replacement rebate for eligible residential water customers.