Sacramento County Water Agency

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Frequently Asked Questions​

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Many customers are looking more closely at their daily water consumption and are surprised by their water use.  SCWA has made an online portal available for residents to check their read history: watersmart.scwa.net. Alternatively customers can contact  311 for assistance and ask for an email copy of their historic consumption.

Hand watering is only allowed with a drip attachment on the hose on the same days as drip irrigation.

Currently, SCWA customers are allowed to water three (3) days a weeks.  ​The last number in your property address will determine when you can water.  You can learn more on our water conservation page.

​Yes. There are no restrictions one-time filling of a pool. If you are not using potable water from the Water Agency then you will not be fined.  Proof of receipts with dates and volumes should be sufficient for proof.​

Yes SCWA offer a Cash for Grass program along with a toilet and clothes washer rebate program.​ ​Please check our rebates page to see if  you qualify for them. 

​​​​Draining and refilling a pool for maintenance services is allowed.​ 

All potable uses of water are subject to restrictions.  Vegetable gardens on drip systems are allowed to be watered 3 days a week.  The State Water Board has established that the following activities related to the use of potable water are permanently prohibited.  You can learn more on ourwater efficiency​ page​​.​​​​


There is a Contact Us webpage with information on how to reach us by phone or email.​

A door hanger means that water waste has been identified on your property by Water Agency staff. The notification contains information on the type of waste noted and information on how to reduce or eliminate water waste. Reducing the water waste on your property may help you save money (for meter billed customers) and will help reduce the depletion of our water supply​​.

The first notification should contain detailed information on the water waste identified on your property. Most often we post a door hanger for overwatering. Signs of overwatering include water runoff, algae on the sidewalk or flooding. We recommend shortening watering times for each cycle to reduce runoff from your property and checking your irrigation system for leaks or broken pipes or sprinklers.​

No. There are no exemptions for newly installed turf.​

No, this is not allowed. SCWA customers are on a one day a week watering schedule for lawns (sprinklers) and three days a week for trees and shrubs (drip).

​Water Wise Consulting, Inc. is a consultant that we hired to provide Water Wise House and Business Calls to assist us in identifying simple ways for our customers to save water and money on water bills. They come to your home/business and check indoor plumbing fixtures, your irrigation system, provide training on programming your irrigation timer, and inspect for water leaks and offer water saving tips specific to your property.  This service is FREE to all Sacramento County Water Agency customers. Call 866-685-2322 to schedule an appointment.

​A difference in water rates could be due to many factors. The two main factors could be metered versus flat rate or you may be in a different service area. There are over 25 individual water providers in Sacramento County. If you have any billing questions, please contact the County’s Consolidated Utilities Billing System at 875-5555.

Use our Water Waste Reporting page​​ to let us know where you see it.

Dial 311 if you wish to make a call to report water wasters.​​

To find out how much your utility bill is, please contact the County’s Utility Billing System (CUBS) by calling 875-5555 or sending an e-mail to utilities@saccounty.net.

The Water Agency currently has two rebate programs available.

  • The High Efficiency Toilet (HET) rebate is worth up to $175 for residential customers and $200 for commercial customers.  HET’s use 1.28 gallons of water per flush or less.
  • Customers can receive a rebate worth up to $100 for a water efficient clothes washer with a water factor of 6.0 or less.
  • Customers can receive a rebate of $100 for purchasing a high efficiency​ clothes washer with a water factor of 4.5 or less.

Visit our rebate programs webpage​ for more information.

50-80% of all residential water is used outdoors for irrigation purposes.  Reducing your outdoor water use has the potential to save you the most on your water bill. Leaks are another huge water waste in homes. A simple test to check if your toilet has a leaky flapper is to put food coloring in your tank. If it seeps into your bowl, you know your flapper is leaking and you may need to replace it. Visit our water conservation page​ to find other ways to save water.

​If you feel you received a notice in error,​ please call us at 875-1955.​

Yes, we can do an inspection of the backyard. Once we determine where the water is coming from, a notice will be sent to the property owner.​​​

No, there is definitely a way to water without having runoff. Soil varies from area to area so there is no perfect watering time that will suit all types. The best way to eliminate runoff is to shorten watering cycles but run more cycles. We recommend shortening each cycle to 5-7 minutes, with at least an hour between each cycle giving the water enough time to absorb into the lawn.  If you have steep slopes, you may want to consider replacing your sprinkler nozzles with low output nozzles such as rotary nozzles. You can replace only the nozzle and don’t need to replace t​he whole sprinkler head.​

Algae on sidewalks are caused from water running off your property and the sidewalk remaining wet. We recommend letting the algae dry up and try removing it with a scrub brush.  You may also use a biodegradable product that has citric acid like lemon juice or vinegar, but only use the product if there is staining on the concrete. Be careful when using any products, because an excessive amount can enter storm drains and negatively impact our local creeks and rivers. To prevent algae from forming, you can adjust your sprinklers to face only the landscape and reduce watering times.

​If you see your neighbor overwatering, please contact us and our water patrol will go out and investigate. Please include the days/times of the water waste along with a brief description and address.

​Finding leaks can be difficult. First, we recommend turning off the water to your home. For those with water meters, check your meter (typically found in front of your property) and see if there is any movement. If the water is shut off, there should not be any movement in your water meter. If so, you may have a leak or malfunction. An easy way to check if your toilet is leaking is to place a few drops of food coloring into the tank. If you see the color in the bowl, you may have a change your flapper. Please bring the old flapper to the store with you and replace with the same flapper. A different flapper may cause the toilet to not function well or change the flush volume.

Water purveyors enforce the State’s mandates for their customers. However, since residents on private wells do not receive water from a water purveyor, purveyors have no jurisdiction or enforcement powers over private well users.\

The State Water Resources Control Board enacted the water restrictions, and distributed a media released on May 5 regarding water conservation mandates.

Commercial, Industrial and Institutional properties that are not served by a water supplier (or are self-supplied, such as by a groundwater well) also must either reduce water use by 25 percent or restrict outdoor irrigation to no more than two days per week. No reporting is required but these properties must maintain documentation of their water use and practices.

For more information, contact: 

State Water Resources Control Board Enforcement Office

Meet OE Director: Yvonne West
About the Office of Enforcement​
​Contact Us - (916) 341-5272

It is not within the prevue of SCWA to make decisions regarding fireworks. However Metro Fire does have current information on fireworks and fireworks safety. Please see www.metrofire.ca.gov.

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