Residential & Business Water Rates

Applies to water sold, supplied, distributed, or transported to customers within the City of Glendale and annexed territories.

• These rates apply to all Glendale Water & Power water customers with a regular water service.
• A master-metered complex has one water meter serving more than one unit in a building or buildings. The individual units do not have their own water meters.

Water Billing Unit

The billing unit for water usage in your Glendale Water & Power bill is hundred cubic feet (hcf). One hcf equals 748 gallons.

Brief Overview of Water Rate Schedules

On Tuesday, June 12, 2018, Glendale City Council approved new water revenue increases of 1%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2% for the next five years. The new rates go into effect on July 1, 2018 and all subsequent increases will start on July 1 of the following years.

Glendale Water & Power maintains three Water Rates for Residential and Business Customers:

• Standard Water Service Rate
• Private Fire Line Water Service Rate
• Recycled Water Service Rate

Standard Water Service Rate - WSF, WMF, WIR, WMC

• Please refer to “Explanation of Water Charge Components” at the bottom of this page for Water Rate Bill Codes.
• The majority of residential water services have water meters of 1 inch or smaller.
• Water Variable Charge (WVC) is assessed when water is used through your meter.
• Customer Charge (CC) is assessed regardless of usage.
• Total Water Charges (TWC) = CC + WVC

Customer Charge: means meter charge and is based on the size of the water meter or fire line. This component of the water rate reflects the cost of metering support, customer service, and maintaining customers’ account. Occasionally, the term "customer meter charge" or "customer charge" or "meter rates" may be used interchangeably. Charge is applied on a per-meter basis. To determine the meter size of your property check your bill or contact GWP Customer Service at 855-550-4497.

Meter Rates:

Water Variable Charges: Is based on the amount of water used during a billing period. The chart below outlines how the water usage is billed on progressively higher tiers.

Water Adjustment Charge: Effective January 1, 2024, this charge is -$0.5195 per HCF.

Private Fire Line Water Service Rate - WF

• Fire lines may be connected to automatic sprinkling systems or to hose attachments within a multi-family complex such as an apartment building.
• Customer Charge means meter charge or fire line charge and is based on the size of the water meter or fire line. Charge is applied on a per-meter or per fire line basis.
• Water Variable Charge is assessed only when water is used through this meter for non-fire fighting purposes (as recorded by bypass meter) The commodity charge is the same rate as for standard water usage.
• Total Water Charges (TWC) = CC + WVC
• Total Water Charges (TWCF) = CC for firefighting

Below are the rate and variable charges for water service and water consumed by private fire lines used exclusively for fire protection, whether such lines are connected to automatic sprinkling systems or to hose attachments.

Meter Charges:

Variable Charge:

Meter Rates:

Commercial

Irrigation

Drought Charge

The Drought Charge is currently in effect.

On January 18, 2022, the Glendale City Council approved Phase III of Glendale Water & Power’s Water Conservation Ordinance to begin on February 1, 2022. Glendale and many cities in the State that rely on water from the State Water Project are moving towards increasing their Mandatory Water Conservation phases due to a lack of expected runoff amid the summer months.

Phase III of the Mandatory Water Conservation Ordinance will limit outside watering to two days a week: Tuesdays and Saturdays for no more than 10 minutes at each watering station. The drought charge for Phase III of Mandatory Water Conservation is $0.45/HCF, which equates to about $.0006/gallon, or 60 cents for 1,000 gallons of water.

On June 12, 2018, the City Council adopted a new water rate fee structure effective July 1, 2018. In anticipation possible drought conditions in California, the new rate-structure also included an additional fee, or Drought Charge. The Drought Charge is specifically related to drought conditions and would go into effect upon the approval by the City Council of any of the four phases of our mandatory water conservation ordinance.

The purpose of the Drought Charge is two-fold: 1) to keep the utility financially secure should California enter into a prolonged drought period and revenues from consumption declined in response to mandatory conservation, and 2) to encourage water conservation among all customers. The Drought Charge was designed such that customers who meet the curtailment target will likely not experience an increase in their total bill. The table below shows the various Drought Charges by Mandatory Water Conservation Phase and Drought Charge Stage.

The Drought Charges are to be imposed immediately upon the declaration of Mandatory Water Conservation Phase II, III, IV, or V by the City Council, and remain in effect until such time that the Mandatory Conservation Phase is lifted.