Read the units on your water bill
Water meters and tariffs may use liters, cubic meters, US gallons or CCF. The price denominator must match the usage unit before multiplication.
Match volume and tariff units
One cubic meter is 1,000 liters. One US gallon is 3.785411784 liters. One CCF is 100 cubic feet, or 2,831.6846592 liters. The Bill Calculator expects the converted usage as an input. At an illustrative USD 2.50/m³, 12 m³ has a volume-based charge of USD 30.00.
US and imperial gallons
US gallons and imperial gallons are different. This website supports US gallons only. Do not enter an imperial-gallon tariff as a US-gallon tariff. Convert the volume and tariff carefully using the provider’s stated units.
Wastewater needs its own basis
Wastewater charges may use metered water, a winter average or a separate formula. Calculate these separately when they differ. The water price input must represent the charge you actually want to estimate.
Convert the price denominator too
A fictional price of 3.00 per m³ is 0.003 per liter. For 12 m³, either 12 × 3.00 or 12,000 × 0.003 gives 36.00. Keep the conversion visible. Minimum billed quantities and rounded meter units can make a statement differ from an unrounded physical-volume calculation.
Electricity & Water Bill Calculator
Worked example: Convert a US gallon meter for a CCF tariff
Related reading: Why sewer charges may not follow this month’s water use
Reference: EPA WaterSense: understanding your water bill.