Upon a bill becoming delinquent, California Water Service (Cal Water) shall give the person or entity responsible for payment of the bill (hereinafter referred to as “customer”) a notice of delinquency stating that water service will be discontinued after 60 days. The delinquent notice will be mailed to the mailing address designated on the account. If the mailing address and the address of the property to which water service is provided are different, a second notice will be mailed to the service address and addressed to “Occupant.”
Any customer who is unable to pay for water service within the normal payment period may request an alternative payment arrangement or extension to avoid disruption of service. Options include splitting payments (payment arrangements) for up to six months to pay off the full balance and deferring payments (payment extensions) of the full balance for up to two weeks beyond the due date. Additionally, Cal Water offers a Customer Assistance Program (CAP, formerly LIRA), which provides reduced service charges for those who meet maximum income requirements.
Although some customers simply forget to pay their bill, others have difficulty making ends meet. There may be non-profit organizations in your area that can help. In addition, Cal Water offers a CAP for qualified customers.
Please contact your Customer Center (using the Contact Us form or by phone) if you dispute your bill or would like to discuss payment options. If you are not satisfied with Cal Water’s response, submit a complaint to the California Public Utilities Commission by visiting www.cpuc.ca.gov. Billing and service complaints are handled by the CPUC’s Consumer Affairs Branch (CAB), which can be reached at (800) 649-7570, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, if you prefer not to submit your complaint online.
If you have limitations hearing or speaking, dial 711 to reach the California Relay Service, which is for those needing direct assistance relaying telephone conversations, as well their friends, family, and business contacts. If you prefer having your calls immediately answered in your mode of communication, dial one of the toll-free, language-specific numbers below to be routed to the California Relay Service provider.
| TTY/VCO/HCO to Voice | Voice to TTY/VCO/HCO | From or to Speech-to-Speech | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | English and Spanish | English and Spanish | English and Spanish |
| Toll-free number | (800) 735-2929 or (800) 855-3000 | (800) 735-2922 or (800) 855-3000 | (800) 854-7784 |
Cal Water will make a reasonable, good faith effort to inform the occupants, by means of written notice, when the water service account is in arrears and subject to disconnection at least 10 days before water service is shut off. The written notice will advise the tenants/occupants that they have the right to become customers of Cal Water without being required to pay the amount due on the delinquent account, as long as they are willing to assume financial responsibility for subsequent charges for water service at that address.
Failure to comply with the terms of an amortization plan for 60 days or more, or failure to pay current residential service charges for 60 days or more, will result in the issuance of a final disconnection notice. The final disconnection notice will be in the form of a door hanger delivered to the premises no less than 5 business days in advance of discontinuance of service.
In order to resume or continue service that has been disconnected for non-payment, the customer must pay a re-establishment fee of $50 during business hours and $90 after normal business hours. Payment options are listed below.
For your convenience, the disconnection policy is also available in a variety of languages as a downloadable PDF: