Water, sewer, and stormwater management bills are rendered quarterly and become due and payable within 20 days. A late payment charge of 3% will be added to bills not paid within 20 days of issuance. Any unpaid balance on November 15 of each year will be placed on the tax roll and become a lien against the property.

Meter Reading
Effective January 1, 2006, meter readers began reading all water meters in the city of Eau Claire during each of the spring, summer, fall and winter quarter billing cycles. Previously, residential customers were sent a post card to fill in their own reads in the spring and summer quarters. However, most properties now have a "touchpad" installed on the outside of the home or building so that meter readers do not have to actually get inside the property to obtain the meter read. Post cards may still be sent to customers if meter readers are unable to obtain a read for any reason. If the card is not sent back, the consumption for that account is estimated to be the amount used during the same quarter of the previous year.

Since residential consumption may increase in the summer months due to lawn watering, the consumption measured in the "winter quarter" establishes the maximum consumption for sewer billing for any subsequent quarter in that year. For the "winter quarter" rules to apply, the account cannot have estimated reads.

Public Fire Protection
The water utility directly charges customers for Public Fire Protection (PFP) to pay for the production, storage, transmission, sale and delivery of water for public fire protection purposes. The PFP charge is billed quarterly as a fixed charged based on the size of the water meter.

Storm Water Management Fee
The storm water management fee is a charge billed to all property owners to cover the costs of city-wide storm sewer maintenance and repair, to provide capital for major storm sewer and drainage system improvements, and to meet the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) storm water runoff regulations.

Direct Payment Service
Your payments can now be made automatically from your checking or savings account using Direct Payment. Direct Payment is our new payment service that makes it more convenient for you to make your utility payments to the city of Eau Claire. You authorize the bank account used to pay your utility bill, and there are no checks to be lost, stolen, or delayed in the mail. To sign up for the convenient Direct Payment service, simply call the Customer Services office at (715) 839-4954, and request an authorization form.