Austin water and sewer rates
Who supplies water to Austin houses, what it costs, and how the sewer charge works.
Austin Water (City of Austin)
Austin Water single-family residential rates for bills rendered on or after November 1, 2026: a monthly meter minimum charge and a tiered minimum charge, plus volume rates per 1,000 gallons in five blocks, a $0.05 Revenue Stability Reserve Fund surcharge per 1,000 gallons, and (for customers not in the Customer Assistance Program) $0.30 Community Benefit and $0.15 GoPurple charges per 1,000 gallons
| Use a month | Price per 1,000 gallons |
|---|---|
| Fixed charge | $11.80 a month |
| 0 to 2 thousand gallons | $4.07 |
| 2 to 6 thousand gallons | $6.59 |
| 6 to 11 thousand gallons | $11.74 |
| 11 to 20 thousand gallons | $18.56 |
| 20 to more | $22.71 |
- Source
- Surface water from the Lower Colorado River as it flows through Lake Travis and Lake Austin, treated at the Handcox, Davis and Ullrich plants.
- Hardness
- Total hardness averaged 93 ppm (5.4 grains per gallon) in 2025, ranging from 70 to 126 ppm.
- Lead
- In 2024 tap testing, 90% of samples were under 1.0 ppb of lead and none exceeded the 15 ppb action level; Austin Water confirmed in October 2024 that the public system has no lead pipes.
- PFAS
- Testing found little to no detectable PFAS, and no samples tested positive for E. coli in 2025.
Sewer
Austin Water wastewater for bills from November 1, 2026: an $11.26 monthly customer charge plus $7.13 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons and $14.93 per 1,000 gallons above that, plus, for customers not in the Customer Assistance Program, $0.30 Community Benefit and $0.15 GoPurple charges per 1,000 gallons. Wastewater is billed on the average water use in a three-month averaging period, or on monthly water use if that is lower.
Other charges on the utility bill
- Transportation user fee (single-family home): $21.80 a month
- Clean Community Fee (residential): $10.60 a month
- Drainage charge (typical home: 3,100 sq ft of impervious cover): $14.92 a month
Ways to pay less
- Low-income households: Customer Assistance Program discounts. Residential customers on low or fixed incomes who take part in certain state, federal or local assistance programs can get City of Austin Customer Assistance Program (CAP) utility discounts; Austin Water waives its monthly meter minimum charge and tiered minimum charge for CAP participants. How: See Utility Bill Discounts under Customer Assistance on coautilities.com.
Sources
Checked October 21, 2026. Every number here comes from the public sources listed, matched by our checker.
Rates change every year; this page shows when it was last checked. Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.