Frequently Asked Questions – New Billing System

Due to an issue with our e-billing that occurred during September, you will receive your bills via post until further notice. We are working to restore e-billing as an option to our customers. We have prioritised data security and privacy until we can be sure the same issue will not occur again in future. In the meantime, you will have no access to the eNotices portal until this issue is resolved. What happened? In September 2025, our e-billing provider (eNotices) accidentally sent a number of bills to an email address linked to previous owners of properties, instead of to the current customer’s email address. This occurred during the first billing run from our new billing system with approximately 1,300 customers impacted. We are reviewing and correcting the data migration process completed by our e-billing partner (eNotices) to ensure this does not happen again.

We redesigned bills to be clearer and easier to read:

• Bigger text and better colours for accessibility
• Simpler descriptions of charges
• A new section explaining fees and tariffs on the back of your bill

For around 2,000 accounts, we couldn’t display historic meter data in this first billing run. Those graphs and comparisons will return on future bills.

When we moved balances into the new system, some customers may notice transactions such as Migrate Balance, Opening Adjustment, or Balance Transfer. These were added to make sure your opening balance is correct.
Accounts with concessions, non-profit rebates and credit balances have often been the accounts where we needed to manually check and fix through adjustments added to accounts.
For credit adjustments, these have been added as ‘payments’ to accounts and will appear under the total payments received on the front page of the bill.

No. Your charges are based only on the most recent meter reading. Past readings may appear this time, but they won’t in future bills.

Please contact us with your account details and why you think it may be incorrect.
📞 Call 1300 851 636
📧 Email billing@sgwater.com.au
We have extra phone lines set up to help with billing issues.

Before calling us, you can:

• Check if there’s an explanation (guests, garden watering, etc.)
• Read your meter to confirm it matches your bill
• Test for leaks by checking your meter before and after a period when no water is used. If it moves, you may have a leak and need a plumber.

If we couldn’t access your meter, your usage may have been estimated. You can give us an actual reading by calling or email a photo showing the dials and meter serial number to billing@sgwater.com.au.

We’ve extended the due date for this first bill run to 10 October 2025. We won’t charge penalty interest or send overdue accounts to debt collection. If you need more time or support, please call us — we can help.

Because billing is now quarterly, your concession is split across four bills instead of three. For this bill, it covers 92 days and is capped at $93.79 for 2 services (i.e. water and sewerage) or $46.89 for one service (i.e. water usage only). It appears as an adjustment on page 1 and in detail on page 2 of your bill.

Yes — most customers now have a new account number, shown at the top right of your bill. Please update your saved BPAY details. If you forget, we’ll still make sure your payment is applied correctly.

BPAY View is no longer available. Once our new customer portal is live, you’ll be able to choose how you receive your bills. Until then, you’ll receive paper bills.

We’ve moved to quarterly billing. Bills are issued four times a year, usually in late August, November, February, and May, with payment due at least 28 days after issue. Charges are now calculated on a daily rate.

Please use our online form and electronically sign this using docusign to provide your concession details and consent.

You can no longer pay your account by cheque. There are still many ways to pay and we are always here to help you find the best option that suits your circumstances.

We are working with Australia Post to ensure barcoding on your bill will work at your local post office.

Some bills may display extra transactions, such as account adjustments or migrated balances. These adjustments were part of ensuring that all customer balances were correct when we transferred data from our previous billing system. While the bill format may look different this time, we have checked all balances carefully. These extra transactions do not easily translate into a standard bill template and will not appear on future bills.

• If you had a direct debit set to pay on the due date, it’s been transferred to the new system — no action needed.
• Payments will be taken within two days of the due date.
• Monthly direct debits have also been transferred.
• Twice-monthly direct debits couldn’t be transferred — please complete a new form if you’d like to continue. This is an online web form and you can provide us with an electronic signature.
• You can check if you have a direct debit set up by looking at the “How to pay” section on page 2 of your bill.

If a direct debit fails and the amount is still owing after the due date, your account will be flagged and a reminder notice sent.

We’re working hard to launch the portal, likely before the billing cycle in February 2026.

Bills were generated on 5 September 2025, so any payments made after that date will not appear until your next bill.

We calculated 24,931 bills in our first billing run. About 1,744 accounts did not receive a bill because we need to do extra checks first.

• Customers who sold or moved house since 19 June 2025 have not yet received their final account.
• 1,744 customers have not yet received their quarterly bill while we check and fix details to make sure their information and charges are correct.

We’ve moved three older systems into one modern, cloud-based system. Some accounts are more complex and need extra checks before we send a bill. Your account may take longer if you:

• Are a tenant with all charges billed to you
• Have multiple contacts or shared meters
• Receive a concession or rebate
• Had data issues or an opening balance that needed fixing.

It’s taken longer than expected to get our new billing system up and running. We’ve held back some bills so we can double-check details and make sure they’re right before sending.