St. Petersburg Utilities Guide

The City of St. Petersburg bills five utilities on one account: drinking water, reclaimed water, trash and recycling collection, wastewater and stormwater.

Those five services and the online account sit with the St. Petersburg utility billing office (City of St. Petersburg utility billing). Electricity, natural gas and internet are not among the residential services the city lists. The city account is reached at 727-893-7341, and address-specific questions about which charges apply go to the Utility Customer Service Center at the same number, option 0 (City of St. Petersburg rates).

Not every St. Petersburg address pays every line. The current rate schedule notes that certain charges apply only to specific locations: reclaimed water is not available in all areas, and wastewater for accounts in South Pasadena and St. Pete Beach is billed at rates those towns set, while most unincorporated Pinellas County areas pay county wastewater rates (St. Petersburg rate schedule).

Three Digital Towns guides go deeper on this St. Petersburg section: the St. Petersburg water utility guide (drinking water, reclaimed water and the water reclamation facilities), the St. Petersburg electric utility guide (Duke Energy, the franchise question and rates) and the St. Petersburg broadband guide (internet access and digital equity programs).

A St. Petersburg single-family home with a standard 5/8 x 3/4 inch meter pays an $11.83 monthly water base charge plus tiered volume charges starting at $4.68 per 1,000 gallons, under rates effective Oct. 1, 2026.

The St. Petersburg schedule runs from Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027 (City of St. Petersburg). On top of the city's own tiers, every gallon carries a Tampa Bay Water cost of $2.66 per 1,000 gallons, applied to total water volume. All water rates inside city limits are subject to a 10% utility tax, and service outside city limits carries a 25% surcharge unless City Council approves otherwise.

The St. Petersburg tiers climb steeply: a single-family home pays $4.68 per 1,000 gallons for the first 3,500 gallons but $26.73 per 1,000 gallons over 10,500 gallons (St. Petersburg rate schedule). Worked from those published figures, 5,000 gallons in a month comes to $52.22 for water before the 10% utility tax: the $11.83 base, $13.30 in Tampa Bay Water cost, $16.38 for the first tier and $10.71 for the next 1,500 gallons.

The city also offers irrigation-only service, a potable water meter used only for an in-ground irrigation system and billed without sewer charges; for a 5/8 x 3/4 inch meter it carries a $16.73 base fee and volume rates from $7.14 per 1,000 gallons (City of St. Petersburg).

Most St. Petersburg households pay a $30.40 monthly wastewater base charge plus $11.72 per 1,000 gallons, $34.29 a month for twice-weekly trash collection and $4.53 for recycling.

St. Petersburg charges wastewater on the water registered on the meter: for each 1,000 gallons of water, the sewer charge is $11.72 (City of St. Petersburg). The same 5,000 gallons used in the water example adds $58.60 in volume to the $30.40 base, so at that usage the sewer charge of $89.00 is larger than the $52.22 water charge.

Sanitation in St. Petersburg is twice-weekly by default at $34.29 a month for a single-family home. Once-weekly collection costs $27.18 and is open, with city approval, to one- or two-person households on lots of 8,500 square feet or less that use 5,000 gallons of water a month or less. Residential recycling is $4.53 a month and is billed whether or not a household sets out a cart. Backyard service is $81.80, and tub-out service for residents who cannot move containers costs nothing extra (St. Petersburg sanitation rates).

Snowbirds away from St. Petersburg for two months or more can switch to standby service, which lowers sanitation charges in months with no water on the meter; activation costs $17.62. The Sanitation Department takes billing questions at 727-893-7398 and residential collection, including missed collection, at 727-893-7334 (City of St. Petersburg).

St. Petersburg charges single-family homes a monthly stormwater fee in four tiers by impervious surface area, from $12.67 for 1,600 square feet or less to $59.08 for 4,801 square feet or more.

Impervious area in St. Petersburg means roofs, patios, porches, pavers, walkways, driveways and parking areas; grass, landscaped beds, dirt, crushed shell and rock beds do not count (City of St. Petersburg). Tier 2 (1,601 to 3,200 square feet) is $25.22 and Tier 3 (3,201 to 4,800) is $39.60.

Commercial and other non-single-family parcels in St. Petersburg pay $25.22 per Equivalent Residential Unit, and one ERU equals 2,406 square feet, the impervious area of a typical single-family property in the city. The city's own example: 23,800 square feet of pavement and roof works out to 9.89 ERUs and a $249.43 monthly fee (St. Petersburg stormwater rates).

A St. Petersburg owner who thinks the measurement is wrong can look it up and file an appeal in the Stormwater Review and Appeals Portal, email [email protected] or call 727-893-7280; rebates and credits are also offered (City of St. Petersburg). Stormwater fees cannot be used for anything other than stormwater, and the city's October 24, 2025 release lists a $14,000,000 Bartlett Lake/Salt Creek pump station for Basin C, the drainage basin around Lake Maggiore, among projects supported by utility fees (City of St. Petersburg release).

Reclaimed water reaches only the St. Petersburg properties along existing reclaimed mains, and those customers may irrigate no more than three days a week.

St. Petersburg's Water Reclamation System was the first built in the United States and remains one of the largest in the world, according to the city (City of St. Petersburg). Supply depends on wastewater from the city's three water reclamation facilities, and it takes five houses worth of wastewater to supply one property, which is why St. Petersburg cannot serve every home and the Water Resources Department considers in-fill requests only where mains already run.

The St. Petersburg reclaimed schedule is year-round: even addresses water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, odd addresses on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, from 5 to 9 a.m. or 7 to 11 p.m. Dry weather protocols are currently in effect: the city has temporarily lowered reclaimed water pressure, and customers may notice decreased sprinkler pressure from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the Water Resources Dispatch Line is 727-893-7261 (St. Petersburg reclaimed water).

Unmetered reclaimed service in St. Petersburg is a flat $46.36 a month for one acre or less, plus $26.57 for each additional acre, and the 10% utility tax applies inside city limits (City of St. Petersburg).

St. Petersburg water bills carry a Tampa Bay Water cost, and Tampa Bay Water delivers its desalinated water, blended with other supplies, to St. Petersburg; electricity is not among the services the city lists.

The Tampa Bay Water cost of $2.66 per 1,000 gallons is applied to total water volume on St. Petersburg bills (City of St. Petersburg). Tampa Bay Water's seawater desalination plant provides up to 25 million gallons a day, blended with other supplies and delivered to Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, New Port Richey, St. Petersburg and Tampa (Tampa Bay Water).

Residential utility services provided by the city include water, reclaimed water, trash and recycling collection, wastewater and stormwater (City of St. Petersburg utility billing). Duke Energy Florida, whose September 4, 2025 rate release carries a St. Petersburg dateline, describes itself as supplying electricity to 2 million customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida. That release said residential bills at 1,000 kWh were expected to fall by about $44.16 in March 2026 compared with February 2026, largely from removal of the Storm Cost Recovery charge, with Florida Public Service Commission approval then anticipated (Duke Energy Florida). The St. Petersburg electric utility guide covers power service, the franchise and rates.

St. Petersburg utility rates are evaluated and, on City Council approval, updated each year, and the city says the changes fund water, wastewater, stormwater and sanitation services plus resilience and infrastructure projects.

In its October 24, 2025 explainer, the City of St. Petersburg said its utility services saw an average operating cost increase of 12%, that much of St. Pete's infrastructure has reached or exceeded its original design lifespan, and that the St. Pete Agile Resilience Plan (SPAR) began after Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024. Projects it lists as supported by utility fees include wet weather capacity in the Northeast Sewer Basin north of 30th Avenue and east of I-275 and flood hardening at the Northeast and Southwest Water Reclamation Facilities (City of St. Petersburg).

The St. Petersburg rate page confirms that rates changed again on Oct. 1, 2026 (City of St. Petersburg rates). A resident behind on a bill can call the Utility Customer Service Call Center at 727-893-7341, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, to make payment arrangements (City of St. Petersburg rates). Bills are considered late about 20 days after billing (St. Petersburg utility billing).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay Water and Duke Energy Florida websites.