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Your 90-day bill at every level of use
90 days at 145 gallons a day, our arithmetic
A WSSC Water bill for 90 days runs about $137.82 at 40 gallons a day, $319.19 at 145 and $1,212.18 at 500, on FY27 rates, a 5/8-inch meter and our arithmetic.
By the Your Water Numbers desk, not WSSC Water · Updated · How we check
Look up your number: total by gallons a day
| Gal/day | Gal in 90 days | Bill total | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 3,600 | $137.82 | $131.99 on FY26 rates |
| 60 | 5,400 | $170.04 | $162.68 on FY26 rates |
| 81 | 7,290 | $203.87 | Top of Tier 1 |
| 100 | 9,000 | $238.11 | Up $10.59 from FY26 |
| 120 | 10,800 | $274.14 | Up $12.30 from FY26 |
| 145 | 13,050 | $319.19 | Budget papers’ family of 3 |
| 166 | 14,940 | $357.02 | Top of Tier 2 |
| 200 | 18,000 | $431.17 | Up $19.75 from FY26 |
| 250 | 22,500 | $540.20 | Up $24.93 from FY26 |
| 276 | 24,840 | $596.90 | Top of Tier 3 |
| 300 | 27,000 | $662.82 | Up $30.75 from FY26 |
| 400 | 36,000 | $937.50 | Up $43.80 from FY26 |
| 500 | 45,000 | $1,212.18 | Up $56.85 from FY26 |
Source: Our arithmetic, from published rates and fees · FY27 rates, 90-day bill
Reading this: Totals include water, sewer, the Account Maintenance Fee, the Infrastructure Investment Fee and about $15 of Bay fee. No credits and no rounding to thousand gallons, so a real bill lands a few dollars off.
How do you find your gallons a day?
Divide the bill’s gallons by its days. WSSC Water’s example is 13,000 gallons over 90 days, or 144 gallons a day.
That house sits right on the highlighted row. Between rows, read the nearest one and expect a small gap.
Which row should a normal house be near?
There is no single right row, but two yardsticks help. Budget papers use a family of 3 at 48 gallons per person, which is the 145 row.
EPA puts the national average at 82 gallons a person at home. Three people at that pace use 246 gallons a day (our arithmetic), close to the $540.20 row.
Use these for scale, not as a verdict on your house. A bill that matches a family of 3 in Bowie could be high for a retired couple in Bethesda.
The curve gets steeper as you climb
Source: Our arithmetic, totals by row · 90-day totals, FY27
Going from 250 to 500 gallons a day doubles the water but multiplies the bill by about 2.24 (our arithmetic). The higher rate tiers do that.
At the low end the opposite happens. Fixed fees of $73.38 are more than half the bill at 40 gallons a day.
Does this work if you are billed monthly?
Roughly, yes. Your bill period sets the tier lines, and monthly bills use 30 days, so the average per day still points to the same row.
Take about a third of the total: near $106 at 145 gallons a day (our arithmetic). Check it against your actual fee lines.
What the table leaves out
- Larger meters, which pay more in fixed fees
- The flat-rate sewer charge, if your account has one
- Credits, such as the Customer Assistance Program
- Rounding to the thousand-gallon steps meters are billed in
When your total is far above your usual row
Compare gallons first, dollars second. If gallons jumped and you cannot say why, treat it as a leak until shown otherwise.
EPA says a family of four above 12,000 gallons a month in winter suggests a leak. In our arithmetic that works out to 400 gallons a day, the $937.50 row.
What to do with this number
- Pull last year’s bill for the same season and read its row too
- If gallons rose, follow the high bill checks
- If only dollars rose, read the rate increases
- Price a dripping or running fixture on the leak cost table
Questions on this page
Why is my real total a few dollars different from the table?
Real meters bill in whole thousand-gallon steps, and the table does not round. The Bay fee here is also WSSC Water’s approximate $15.
What did the FY27 rates add at my level?
Compare a row with its FY26 figure. At 145 gallons a day the same use cost $304.75 on FY26 rates, so the rise is $14.44.
Do these totals fit a 1-inch meter?
Not exactly. The table uses the 5/8-inch Infrastructure Investment Fee, and larger meters pay more, so add the difference shown on your bill.
Where each number comes from
| Figure | What it is | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every total | Water, sewer, fixed fees, Bay fee for 90 days | Our arithmetic from WSSC rates | FY27 and FY26 tables |
| 13,000 gal; 30-day billing | The bill guide’s own example | Bill guide from the utility | 13,000-gallon example |
| 48 gal per person | Typical customer in budget papers | WSSC Water FY27 preliminary budget | January 2026 |
| 82 gal per person | Average use at home | EPA WaterSense | USGS 2015 data |
| 12,000 gal a month | Winter leak flag for a family of four | EPA WaterSense leak week | winter flag |