Tampa Water Department customers residing outside the reclaimed water service area may be able to reduce their monthly water and wastewater costs by installing a separate irrigation meter to measure water used for irrigation, car washing and pool filling. A dedicated irrigation meter, or lawn meter, is a water meter that only meters water used for outdoor watering, or other uses that do not return water to the City’s wastewater system for treatment and disposal. Residential accounts in Tampa, where a dedicated irrigation meter is not present, receive a lawn credit, or sewer max, when a lawn meter is not in use. The lawn credit “caps” the amount of water to which monthly. Wastewater costs are billed by estimating the portion of total water use returning to the wastewater system. The lawn credit is location specific and is based on past water use history at that site. Lawn credits are recalculated annually in January based on the billing history for the previous twenty-four months. At locations where a dedicated lawn meter is in use, no lawn credit is applied.
Water billing is based on the total amount of water passing through the primary service meter and the lawn meter. Wastewater billing is based on the amount of water passing through the primary service meter. The Tampa Water Department is responsible for installation and maintenance of the meter only. You are responsible for your piping to the pipe stub provided by the Water Department. The Water Department is also responsible for repairing leakage from the main to inside the meter box. You are responsible for all leakage occurring on the customer’s side of the meter box. A plumbing permit is required to install the service pipe from your property to the meter.
