Water Rates Explained

Your water rate reflects the cost of collecting, transporting, purifying, storing, testing and delivering safe water from the water source lakes to your tap.

Why do rates go up?

Allen’s water and wastewater services are purchased from the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD).  Each year, the City of Allen and NTMWD perform cost projections and rate studies to determine the cost of meeting our customer’s water needs. Rates may rise due to:

  • Population growth requiring new water sources, storage tanks or delivery lines
  • Population growth requiring new wastewater treatment capacity
  • Aging water and sewer infrastructure in need of repair or replacement
  • New regulations to safeguard public health
  • Installation of new backup electric power supply to assure water production and wastewater treatment capability when electric supplies are constrained or unavailable

Approximately 58% of Allen’s Water Sewer Fund budget is paid to the NTMWD to pay for their treatment of our water and wastewater. The remaining 42% of the budget is what it takes to deliver water to each home and business, as well as transport the sewage the to NTMWD. The City maintains 502 miles of water lines, 370 miles of sewer lines, 5,351 fire hydrants, 6,645 sewer manholes and 14,674 water valves.

What do rates cover?

  • Raw water collection, transport and treatment
  • Maintenance of tanks, towers, pumps, pipes and other equipment
  • Testing equipment to guarantee water quality
  • Building projects to replace aging infrastructure or meet the need of a growing population

Recent and upcoming projects

  • 2022-23: Completing the Multiyear Windridge Subdivision Water and Sewer Line Replacements - $11.6 million
  • 2022-23: Build Sloan Creek Gravity Sewer Line and New Sewer Lift Station - $13 million
  • 2022: Renewing the original half of the Stacy Road water pump station - $4.8 million
  • 2021: Completed Multiyear Hillside Subdivision Water and Sewer Line Replacements - $8.8 million
  • 2020: Repainted the Bethany Road elevated water tank - $1 million

What is Allen doing to control rising rates?

Even with incremental rate increases, most Allen customers continue to pay a lower rate than neighbors in every NTMWD member city, including Frisco, McKinney, Plano and Richardson. Allen’s rate is also significantly lower than the state average, thanks to efforts by Allen City Council and NTMWD, including:

  • 2022-23: Implementing "Smart Water Meters" and "Advanced Meter Infrastructure" (AMI) to automate meter reading, make 720 meter readings per month available for residents to analyze their water usage, add a continuous leak residential detection capability, and offer a new self-service portal for customers to review water use and set up usage alerts if desired.
  • 2022: Conducting a rate study update to ensure rates increase the smallest increment possible
  • 2021: Conducting a rate study update to ensure rates increase the smallest increment possible
  • 2020: Conducting a rate study update to ensure rates increase the smallest increment possible
  • 2019: Allen City Council voted to eliminate the highest tier of water rates, which charged residential customers a higher fee when use surpassed 75,001 gallons per month.
  • 2018: NTMWD made budgeting changes resulting in lower wholesale water rates than anticipated.
  • 2017: Allen City Council saved customers $15.75 million over the next ten years by raising infrastructure impact fees for new developments and changing the way infrastructure projects were financed.

To learn more about NTMWD and the rising cost of water/wastewater services, visit NTMWD.com.