Understanding the Charges

Usage Charges are the charges you pay based upon the amount of water you used that month. Titusville does not meter the sewage your property produces, so both water and sewer usage charges are based on the amount of water used. Usage charges cover the variable costs of providing water and sewer service, such as the cost of chemicals. More chemicals are used if more water is treated. These chemicals make your water safe to drink and clean your wastewater to make it environmentally safe. The electricity needed to operate both water and wastewater treatment plants, as well as collection facilities, is another variable cost Titusville incurs in order to provide water and sewer services.

People often wonder why it appears as if their water consumption does not change from month to month. The reason for this is that Titusville does not charge you per gallon of water you use. Instead, it bills you based upon how many thousands of gallons of water you use each month. Usage is rounded down to the lower thousand. For example, if you used 3,995 gallons of water, you would only be billed for 3,000 gallons. If your neighbor used 3,005 gallons of water, he would also be billed for 3,000 gallons. So, although you used 990 gallons more than your neighbor, both of you would show the same consumption on your bill.

Since consumption is rounded down, sometimes a small increase in usage can bump you up to the next thousand-gallon level and make you wonder how you could have used an extra thousand gallons of water. For example, your utility (water) bill may normally show a consumption of 3; that “3” stands for three thousand gallons. If you normally used 3,995 gallons of water, and the next month you did just one additional load of laundry, it could bump your consumption to 4. For example, an Energy Star washer uses about 15 gallons per load (some machines use more). Adding that 15 gallons to your usual 3,995 usage would make your actual usage for the month 4,010 gallons. Your next bill will show a consumption of 4, meaning you are billed for 4,000 gallons. What appears to be a 1,000-gallon jump in consumption, actually is not. It just means you used enough more to bump you to the next thousand.

Public Service Tax is a 10 percent tax applied only to water charges. This tax is also levied on five other utility services: electric, fuel oil/kerosene, LP gas, manufactured gas, and natural gas. If you add your water fixed monthly charge and your water usage charge together and multiply by .1, you will get the amount you are charged for this tax.

Fire Hydrant Charge is a fixed fee applied to water customers outside the city limits. This fee is used to pay the costs of providing outside city hydrants including installation, repair and maintenance, and water costs. 

Reclaimed Water Service is charged as a flat fee depending upon the customer classification and ERC (service/meter size). Reclaimed service does not have a consumption charge. A detached single-family home is charged a monthly eight dollar maintenance and replacement fee per ERC. If you are not connected to Titusville's sanitary sewer system, in addition to the maintenance fee, you also pay a user charge of nine dollars per month. This additional fee is charged because reclaimed water is treated sewage effluent. See our page on reclaimed water fees for more information.