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Review your water bill monthly so you are familiar with how much water your household uses throughout the year. Visit our Wise Water Use Tips page to learn about wise water use like checking for leaks and addressing them in a timely manner, monitoring outdoor water use, and other suggestions that might apply to your household. In addition, you can visit our Financial Assistance webpage for more information about financial assistance for your water bill. 

Prince William Water purchases treated drinking water from Fairfax Water and the City of Manassas to meet the needs of Prince William Water customers in Prince William County. Prince William Water remains fully confident in their ability to provide safe and reliable drinking water that meets regulatory treatment and distribution requirements. Read Fairfax Water's statement about PFAS.

Like our regional and national water utility colleagues, Prince William Water supports the EPA’s efforts to limit exposure to PFAS compounds, which enter the environment through industrial and household uses. While Fairfax Water has developed preliminary estimated costs to treat PFAS, including required infrastructure updates, this is an evolving topic and estimates may change. In addition, it is important to note that as only one of Fairfax Water’s wholesale customers, Prince William Water would only be responsible for our portion of the total costs. We will continue to work with our wholesale providers to address PFAS treatment in a cost-effective manner.

Prince William Water has been collecting and testing samples from our water distribution system for PFAS compounds since 2021. We will continue this sampling and reporting process and are working with regulatory agencies and our wholesale water providers to ensure that we maintain the safety and high quality of our drinking water into the future. 

Prince William Water’s goal is to set fair and equitable rates and fees while providing clean, safe, reliable drinking water to our customers and to protect the environment. This means ensuring that Prince William Water’s infrastructure is well-maintained and in good working condition, which requires a significant capital investment every year. The adopted rates for 2025-2027 are primarily driven by capital replacement needs, the rising cost of construction, as well as increases in purchased drinking water, purchased water reclamation services and other operating costs.

Prince William Water purchases most of its drinking water from advanced treatment plants owned and operated by Fairfax Water. Wholesale water rates charged by Fairfax Water have increased significantly over the past few years. Prince William Water also purchases water reclamation services from the Upper Occoquan Service Authority (UOSA) to serve a portion of our customers. Recently, UOSA treatment costs have also increased considerably.

In addition, the updated rates and fees are also required to properly maintain our infrastructure, meet or exceed environmental regulations, and continue delivering the high-quality, reliable service our customers expect from Prince William Water.

Prince William Water’s average monthly bill is considered affordable or low burden using several affordability metrics.  

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends multiple affordability measures and guidelines for water and sewer service. The guidance originally developed by the EPA in relation to median household income states that customers’ bills under 4.0% of median household income are considered affordable.   

To expand upon the view of affordability for households with lower incomes, several additional metrics have been developed over the years, including Lowest Quintile Residential Indicator and the Hours Worked metrics.  

• The Lowest Quintile Residential Indicator approach evaluates a customer bill at the lowest quintile of income instead of median income, with a threshold of under 4% considered affordable.  
• The Hours Worked approach evaluates the number of hours worked at the prevailing minimum wage to pay the typical residential water and sewer bill, with the threshold of under 8 hours worked deemed affordable.  

Based on Prince William Water’s typical household consumption of 5,000 gallons per month, Prince William Water’s proposed monthly water and sewer bills for fiscal years 2025 through 2027 are less than 1% of median household income, under 2% for Lowest Quintile Residential Indicator and under 7.0 hours worked at minimum wage.

The rates that take effect in 2025, 2026 and 2027 continue to reflect Prince William Water’s average monthly bill as affordable and continue to place Prince William Water’s average bill among the lowest in the region. 

• Cook with stainless steel, cast-iron, glass, or ceramics. Try not to use nonstick cookware.
• Look for coats, hats, and boots labeled “water-resistant.” They are less likely to have PFAS than waterproof products.
• Avoid ordering food in grease-resistant wrappers or containers.
• Avoid carpets and upholstery treated to be stain or water-resistant; decline stain treatment.
• Ask manufacturers if their products have PFAS. These chemicals are often not listed. However, given that many PFAS cannot be measured yet, products cannot be confirmed “PFAS-free.”
• Filters that are currently available and can be effective at reducing PFAS are Charcoal (Granular Activated Carbon or GAC), Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems, and Ion Exchange Resins. 

If you are concerned about potential health effects from exposure to these PFAS above the health advisory level, EPA encourages you to contact your doctor or health care professional.

Updated December 2024

Every five years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviews and selects a list of unregulated contaminants for public water systems to monitor. This study benefits the environment and public health by providing valid data on the occurrence of these contaminants in drinking water. The EPA uses this data to develop regulatory decisions for emerging contaminants. This requirement is mandatory for all public water systems that serve more than 10,000 customers.

UCMR5 requires testing for 29 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and lithium. This list includes the PFAS chemicals that EPA is proposing new Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs): PFOA and PFOS as individual contaminants, as well as PFHxS, PFNA, PFBS and HFPO-DA (commonly referred to as GenX Chemicals) as a PFAS mixture.  

In 2024, Prince William Water collected quarterly samples for the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 5 (UCMR5) in its East and West water distribution systems. Results indicated that Prince William Water's East system were slightly above the EPA's proposed Maximum Contaminant Level for both PFOA and PFOS. PFOA and PFOS were not present in the sampling performed for Prince William Water's west system.

Prince William Water will work with regulatory agencies and our wholesale water providers to ensure that we maintain the safety and high quality of our drinking water. Water systems have until 2029 to comply with the EPA’s stringent new PFAS limits.

You may be eligible for a courtesy adjustment on your account. Information on leaks and leak adjustments is available in the Customer Handbook.