The city has prepared informational videos. If you have additional questions you can call the Revenue Customer Care line at 613-580-2444 or email revenue@ottawa.ca
See how your water utility bill has changed.
Water and sewer billing
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Background
In October 2016, after an extensive consultation process, Council adopted a new water, waste water and storm water rate structure which was implemented on April 1st of this year following the launch of the new billing system. On the same date, the 2019 rate increase of 5% also came into effect.
Objectives
The new rate structure was designed to achieve the following objectives:
- All property owners that benefit from the water, waste water and storm water infrastructure should contribute towards the cost of operating and maintaining the infrastructure
- The new rate structure should encourage conservation by having water and waste water rates increase with consumption
- The lowest rate should be set at a consumption level that ensures basic water need is met
- A portion of the revenue raised should be from a fixed charge recognizing that the majority of the costs of operating and maintaining the system do not vary with consumption and to reduce revenue volatility, thereby ensuring that the City has the funds to maintain the infrastructure in a good state of repair
Impact
The new structure achieves the objectives but it is impacting low users as a result of the introduction of a fixed charge for water and waste water. The average single-family home that consumes 30 cubic meters every two months will see little to no change in their bill. Households with lower consumption will see an increase in their bill. The fixed charge is more equitable to all users as most of the costs to operate and maintain the water and sewer systems do not vary with consumption. The City has adopted a water bill deferral program for low income seniors and disabled to assist those residents who truly cannot pay the increased amount.
While the City has had an extensive communication strategy on this issue for the last two and half years, the reality of the new structure is only being seen by low users now.
Additional content is available on Ottawa.ca and videos (see links above) about the new structure and objectives of those changes. Resident inquires can also be referred to Revenue Customer Care line at 613-580-2444. Staff in Revenue are available to assist resident with any questions about the new water rate structure or any other questions about their bill.