To ensure that our bills are accurate, Holland BPW collects usage data with complex metering systems. These meters collect data on how much water or power you use each month. Our wastewater service is unique in that we do not have a meter to measure how much water goes down your drain.
Because there is no easy way to measure how much goes down your drain, we measure the amount of water you use. But we know that in the summer, many people sprinkle their lawns and that water does not go down a drain. With that in mind, Holland BPW customers have two distinct seasonal billing periods for wastewater.
Winter Wastewater Usage (Bill issued November through April)
During this period, you are billed for wastewater based on your actual monthly water use for October through March. Usage for wastewater on bills issued from November through April will match your actual water meter readings.
Summer Wastewater Usage (Bill issued May through October)
The billing process changes during this period to avoid charges for wastewater usage for water used to sprinkle during warmer months. For billing purposes, you are charged the lower value of these two amounts:
- Your actual water usage from April through September, which is billed May through October.
- Your average monthly water usage from October through March, which is billed November through April.
For customers who sprinkle their lawns or own a pool or hot tub, the average water usage is typically lower.
Summer Wastewater Usage (Bill issued May through October)
October marks the transition into fall and most outdoor water usage declines. The October decline in outdoor water usage also marks when we start the calculation for next summer’s wastewater bills. If you are sprinkling or filling a hot tub or pool in the months of October through March, it will impact the wastewater costs for the following summer.
Here’s how this looks on your bill:
Case Study: Joan’s Wastewater Bills
Scenario 1 - Watered in October
Joan regularly waters her lawn in the summer and paid a commodity charge of $4/month for sewer in the summer billing period. The fall was hot and Joan continued to water into October. With higher October use, Joan’s average use for October – April increased. When the summer billing period began in April, her commodity charge went up to $6/month.
*Cost shown is commodity charge only, based on 2025 rate of $3/CCF, and does not include readiness-to-serve charges
Scenario 2 - Did Not Water in October
Joan regularly waters her lawn in the summer and paid $4/month for her sewer commodity charge in the summer. Because she understood that watering in October would raise her rates, Joan stopped watering on October 1st. This kept her sewer commodity charge lower in the summer, at $4/month.
Keep your water use low in October and save money on your wastewater bill!