What uswaterbillguide.org/ Is — and Is Not
Plain-English statement of what this site is, what it is not, what we can and cannot do for you, the FCRA non-CRA status, the limits of utility-directory content, and the limits of our liability. Read this in conjunction with our Terms of Service.
Life-threatening emergency (gas smell from a flooded utility room, electrical hazard from flooding, structural collapse, injury): call 911 first.
Water main break, no water service, sewer back-up, flooding from a city main: call your water utility’s 24/7 emergency line (printed on your bill).
Suspected ingestion of a contaminant: call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 (24/7, free, confidential).
Suspected water-quality problem: call your water utility AND your state drinking water primacy agency.
1. We are an editorial directory. Not the EPA, not any state primacy agency, not any state Public Utility Commission, not your water utility.
2. We do not provide water service. We do not send bills, accept payments, or have access to your account.
3. We are NOT a Consumer Reporting Agency under FCRA. Do not use this site for credit, tenant-screening, employment, insurance, or utility-deposit decisions.
4. We do not give legal advice. Consult an attorney licensed in your state.
5. Verify with the utility before relying. Utility customer service numbers, billing portals, and rates change.
6. Our directory is informational. Public information, used for general reference, not for any FCRA permissible-purpose decision.
7. Our liability is capped at $100. See Terms of Service for the full clause, governed by Delaware law.
What is on this page
1. Nature of the Site
uswaterbillguide.org/ is an independent editorial publisher of a US water utility directory. We are NOT:
- the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- any state drinking water primacy agency (whether located in the state Department of Health, Department of Environment, Department of Natural Resources, or elsewhere)
- any state Public Utility Commission (PUC) or Public Service Commission (PSC)
- the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
- the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the National Rural Water Association (NRWA), or the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA)
- any specific water utility, holding company, billing technology vendor (InvoiceCloud, Paymentus, Tyler MUNIS, MUNIS, CIS Infinity, Cayenta, Harris ERP, etc.), or payment processor
- a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) under FCRA
- a furnisher of consumer-report information under FCRA § 623
- a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
- a tenant-screening service
- a credit-reporting service
- a utility-deposit decision service
- a licensed attorney or law firm
- an authorized representative or agent of any utility, regulator, or government body
2. Not a Consumer Reporting Agency Under FCRA — Critical
The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., regulates Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) that compile and furnish "consumer reports" used for FCRA "permissible purposes" — credit, employment, insurance, tenant screening, utility-deposit decisions, government licensing, child-support enforcement, and a small number of other uses set out in FCRA § 604, 15 U.S.C. § 1681b. uswaterbillguide.org/ does not compile, sell, or furnish "consumer reports." We do not have account-level information about any individual. We are an editorial publisher that describes water utilities. Do not use this site for any FCRA permissible purpose. Permissible-purpose decisions must be made on consumer reports furnished by FCRA-regulated CRAs, with the FCRA-required disclosures (FCRA § 604(b) for employment), pre-adverse-action notices, and adverse-action notices under FCRA § 615, 15 U.S.C. § 1681m. Using public utility directory information as a basis for any consumer-report-style decision is unlawful and may expose the user to FCRA civil liability under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n (willful) and § 1681o (negligent).
3. Not the Utility, Not a Substitute for the Utility
For anything specific to your service, your account, your bill, your meter, your service start or stop, your autopay enrollment, your CCR, your lead service line inventory status at your address, or any other account-specific matter, the route is your utility — not uswaterbillguide.org/.
We describe utilities. We do not act as a utility. We do not have access to billing systems (Tyler MUNIS, Cayenta, Harris ERP, CIS Infinity, etc.). We do not have access to payment processor accounts (Paymentus, InvoiceCloud, MasterCard, Visa, ACH systems). We cannot look up your bill or process a payment. The lawful, protected route to your account is via the utility’s own customer service line, online portal, in-person office, or written request to the utility.
4. Not for Individual Credit, Tenant-Screening, Employment, Insurance, or Utility-Deposit Decisions
Decisions about an individual person — whether to extend credit, whether to rent to a tenant, whether to hire an employee, whether to underwrite an insurance policy, whether to require a utility deposit — that use information characterized as a “consumer report” must follow FCRA. Decisions of those kinds based on water-utility account history specifically may also implicate state utility-deposit-rule statutes, state tenant-screening laws (California’s AB 2557 framework, New Jersey’s tenant-screening law, and analogous state laws), and the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.) and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA, 15 U.S.C. § 1691). Public utility directory information is not a substitute for FCRA-compliant consumer reports. Do not use it that way.
5. Public Information and Limits on Its Use
US water utility details — office address, customer service phone, billing portal URL, emergency line, rate ordinance, CCR — are public information, published by the utility itself, by EPA’s SDWIS, by state primacy agencies, and by state PUCs. That public status does not eliminate restrictions on use:
- FCRA applies when public information is combined with account-level information used for a “permissible purpose” decision
- State utility-deposit rules govern when and how utilities can require deposits
- State tenant-screening laws govern how landlords can use utility account history
- Fair Housing Act and state fair-housing laws prohibit discrimination in housing
- State data-breach notification laws apply when combined with personal identifiers
Public ≠ unrestricted.
6. Not Legal, Financial, Insurance, or Other Professional Advice
Nothing on this site is legal, financial, insurance, real-estate, or other professional advice. We are not licensed attorneys (state bar regulated), not licensed financial advisers (SEC / FINRA / state-regulated), not insurance producers, not real-estate brokers or agents, not tax professionals (IRS Enrolled Agents, CPAs). For specific advice, consult an appropriately regulated professional in your state.
7. Accuracy and the Verification Caveat
We work to a strict manual-verification standard — every utility URL clicked, every billing portal verified for current branding and current vendor, every emergency line dial-tested quarterly. We are nevertheless an editorial publisher, not the utility or the regulator. Utility details change frequently — billing-portal vendors migrate (we have tracked vendor changes across hundreds of utilities), customer service phone numbers change, rate ordinances are adopted, autopay procedures change, CCR publication URLs change, and LCRR service line inventory pages have been deployed at staggered times.
If a detail on our site and the utility’s own published page disagree, the utility’s page is authoritative. Tell us — we re-verify and update.
8. Third-Party Content and Links
The site links extensively to the EPA, state primacy agencies, state PUCs, individual water utilities, AWWA, NACWA, NRWA, ASDWA, and other third-party sites. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content, availability, accuracy, or privacy practices. A link is not an endorsement.
9. US Regulatory Framework Reminder
US water regulation is layered: EPA enforces the SDWA at the federal level (with primacy delegated to 49 states + Navajo Nation); state primacy agencies enforce at the state level; state PUCs/PSCs regulate rates for investor-owned utilities; local governing bodies set rates for municipal and PUD utilities; FTC and CFPB regulate consumer protection and credit-related practices. We cite specific federal or state frameworks when we describe service-level procedures, but we are not a source of authoritative interpretation — the relevant statutory body or the utility itself is.
10. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law: we are not liable for any indirect, consequential, special, incidental, or exemplary loss arising from your use of the site or your reliance on any content — specifically including but not limited to any FCRA / state-privacy-law / fair-housing-law / state-utility-deposit-rule violation incurred by using this site for any permissible-purpose decision, any failure or delay in paying a water bill, any service shut-off, any water quality concern, any decision to attend or not contact a utility, or any other loss connected to use of the site. Aggregate liability to any user is capped at one hundred US dollars ($100). See Terms of Service for the full clause, governed by the laws of the State of Delaware.
Nothing in this Disclaimer or our Terms of Service excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be lawfully excluded or limited under the laws of the State of Delaware or any other applicable US state law.
11. Contact
For corrections, takedowns, privacy-rights requests, or general inquiries: info@uswaterbillguide.org
Questions or Corrections?
Email us with a clear subject line. We respond to corrections within 7 business days, with a 48-hour expedited path for broken billing-portal URLs and out-of-date emergency phone numbers.
📧 info@uswaterbillguide.org