Understanding Your Chicago Water Utility Needs 

Understanding how much water you’re using daily is the first step to changing your water usage habits. It is always a good idea to regularly check your water utility bills, even when you have an automatic withdrawal system or e-bills.  

Correctly understanding your water utility needs begins with an FPC or Full Payment Certificate. The Department of Finance is the authority behind FPCs. This water certification is the first document you’ll need to pay off any water and sewer penalties before transferring to the subsequent owner. This whole process might be complex for someone new, and it’s best to delegate it to a renowned FPC service. 

What Services Do You Pay For? 

There are three primary services that you need to be aware of: water bills, wastewater bills, and drainage system bills. These services are entirely funded by which everrates the customer pays for. 

The water utility company doesn’t receive any sort of funding from property taxes. Here’s the breakdown of the fixed fees, along with some variable costs that might be included or excluded depending on the situation.   

Monthly Charge For Water Supply And Treatment 

This charge is taken from each customer to cover the cost and maintenance of the water meter. It also covers the cost of reading the meter and issuing monthly bills accordingly. Water treatment is an enormous process that includes: 

● Operation of the water treatment plants 

● Maintenance of over a million km of waterpipes 

● Over 117,000 tests for ensuring the water quality 

● Responsible field crews for addressing any interruptions 24/7 

Monthly Charge For Wastewater Collection And Treatment 

This charge covers the wastewater treatment service. It’s for safely treating the wastewater from toilet flushes, bathtubs, and sinkholes. The fee is also collecting them and treating them for safe disposal into rivers. Wastewater treatment procedures include: 

● Management of wastewater plants 

● Regular up-gradation of the plants to meet the proper standards 

● Maintenance of the wastewater pipes 

● High-quality water returning to the rivers   

Monthly Charge For Stormwater Management 

This charge covers the cost of collecting and treating unmetered water like rain water or snow that flows into your area through the sewer system. It also covers are liable street drainage system, flood protection, and protecting the river's health. This charge covers the cost for the following services: 

● Property damage protection 

● Storm pond building for protecting the rivers against sedimentation 

● Stormwater system improvements and maintenance 

● Flood protection services 

● Riverbank improvements and flood protection   

How Much Do You Use? 

There are multiple units used for measurement reasons for water usage. The more common units used regularly are the CCF (centum cubic feet) and the gallon.  

CCF is also called HCF or a hundred cubic feet, representing one hundred cubic feet ofwater. Usually, the gallon is the measurement you are probably more familiar with—748 gallons of water measure one CCF. 

Now the question is, why do you need to think about water usage? Water usage equates to the amount of water you’ve been using per day for different purposes. On average, an American uses around 88 gallons of water per day.  

Who Sets the Water Rates? 

The water utility is maintained and built by the City of Chicago. They operate the water utility, which includes infrastructures and water meters. They have the authority to set the water rates according to the usage, area, seasons, and many other essential factors. 

The Chicago City council approves the usage of the water utility as a yearly budget to cover all the operating costs and other activities. They forecast the amount of water that would be used, demand in a specific area, and the water supply ratio amongthe customers. This approved budget then determines the revenue amount and recovery rate through the utility bills.   

How Can We Help? 

The City of Chicago can’t transfer the real estate without a Full Payment Certificate (FPC). An FPC for the water utility certificate is only issued by the City of Chicago Department of Finance. Any sort of water and sewer penalties and charges for a specific account must be paid in full before being transferred to the subsequent owner. 

This whole process might be pretty lengthy and complex for someone new to this stuff. You need to request the finance department to transfer the service out from the transferor to the transferee.  

Also, you must have an FPC before you can even obtain the City of Chicago Real PropertyTransfer Tax stamps. These stamps are a must for recording the property deed with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. 

At the Chicago FPC Service, we can help you through your water utility costs. We can process multiple FPC’s at the same time. Moreover, we’re vetted in the Water Department system. That means you can help you get a much quicker approval time along with a higher accuracy rate. 

What Advantages Do We Offer? 

Chicago FPC Service is committed to helping you through any of your FPC needs. The benefits that you will be having from our services: 

● Accuracy: We guarantee you that your FPC will be 100% accurate. 

● TimelyService: With ouraccess to the Water Department FPC, we can assure you that your processing willbe as quick as possible. 

● Professionalism: We have gathered years of experience working with the Water Department. 

Bottom Line 

Knowing about your water utility needs is the first step in properly comprehending your bills. Once you understand the nitty-gritty details about FPC, you’ll learn that consulting a first-rate company like the Chicago FPC Service is the best way to go. 

If you have any questions or want to have your water certification done in the least amount of time, email us at orderproperty@gmail.com.