Single family dwellings (detached homes, townhouses, condominiums, and duplexes) are billed annually for wastewater service on the owner’s property tax bill. All other customers are billed bimonthly.
The District bases its wastewater rates on the cost of providing service to each class of customer. Wastewater rates increase each year on July 1 based on the year-to-year change in the February Consumer Price Index (All Urban Consumers for San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose). The DSRSD Board of Directors may change rates at other times as a result of rate studies or other factors. Customers are notified when rate changes are proposed and are encouraged to attend Board meetings or provide written comments. DSRSD notifies customers at least 30 days before any rate increase takes effect.
Charges for significant industrial customers are not estimated by customer class but calculated individually according to the load that their wastewater places on the Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (regional charges) and the wastewater collection system (local charges). The customer’s load is measured by calculating the amount of wastewater (“flow,” typically measured by the amount of water purchased from DSRSD less the amount used outdoors), the biochemical oxygen demand (“BOD,” a measure of the amount of organic material in the wastewater), and the quantity of suspended solids (SS) that must be removed.
Customers will see regional and local charges for “loading” and “demand” on their bimonthly bills. Loading charges are based on the quantity and composition of the customer’s recorded discharge for the billing period. Demand charges are based on capacity that the customer has reserved in the wastewater treatment system. If this capacity is exceeded, higher demand charges will apply. See District Code Section 5.30.020 for more information.
Industrial Customers
Description
Billing Unit*
Effective July 1, 2011
Regional Loading Charges (for treatment)
Demand (flow)
mg
$1,246.94
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
Klb
408.20
Suspended Solids (SS)
Klb
202.66
Regional Demand Charges (for treatment)
Demand (flow)
mgd
$ 49,817.03
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
lb/day
16.32
Suspended Solids (SS)
lb/day
8.11
Connection
each
13.68
Local Charges (for collection)
Loading (BOD and SS)
mg
747.79
Demand (flow)
mgd
47,797.89
* mg = million gallonsmgd = million gallons per day
Klb = thousand pounds lb/day = pounds per day
In addition to the service charges listed above, customers participating in the District’s Industrial Pretreatment Program pay fees that reflect the DSRSD staff effort involved in permitting, monitoring, and lab analyses. All industrial customers complete an Industrial Waste Discharge Permit Application to determine whether they are required to participate in the program. Contact the Senior Environmental Compliance Inspector at 925-875-2335 regarding industrial wastewater rates, the Pretreatment Program, or the permit.
