On June 17, 2025, a public hearing will be held by the Hayward City Council regarding the proposed rates effective October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026.

In 2022, the City of Hayward began providing recycled water for irrigation of parks, schools, roadway medians, and landscaped areas around commercial and industrial buildings. Learn more about the recycled water project here.

What do recycled water rates pay for?

Recycled water rates are established to pay for the costs of treatment and delivery of recycled water to customers and are determined through an assessment of revenue requirements and anticipated recycled water purchase volumes. The bimonthly recycled water bills would consist of two parts:

1. the fixed service fee, which pays for services that do not vary with the volume of recycled water purchased, such as meter maintenance; and
2. the recycled water usage fee, which pays for costs associated with water consumption, such as the pipeline maintenance and energy related expenses.

How will Recycled Water Rates change?

The recycled water rate will be modified from a uniform rate structure to a two-tiered rate structure to be consistent with the rate structure for using drinking water for irrigation.  With the proposed rates, the cost increase for customers in FY 2026 will range between 3.4% to 14.3%.  The FY 2027 increase will range between 5.6% to 16.1%.  Even with proposed rate increases, the recycled water rates provide a discount of up to 42% compared to the use of drinking water for irrigation.