BALTIMORE — Baltimore City's Department of Public Works is updating their water bill adjustment policy.
Officials say the new modifications are aimed to assist residents facing higher than normal monthly water bills due to plumbing leaks.
Beginning September 1 the department plans to change how they calculate interior and underground water leaks, both of which can cause a resident’s water bill to rise significantly.
Situational/Interior usage adjustments are for water loss typically associated with interior plumbing, such as appliances and interior fixtures, whereas underground leak adjustments usually have to do with underground pipe ruptures, which are more difficult and expensive to detect or correct.
Under this newly implemented policy, situational/interior adjustments will be applied to charges for both water and sewer consumption. Previously, sewer consumption was not eligible for an adjustment.
Now the city will grant one such adjustment every 12-months, as opposed to every three years which had been the rule prior.
As for underground leak adjustments, one will be granted per year, instead of every two-years.
For more information on the new policies, click here.
