The City of Belleville recognizes that accidental high-water bills may occur for a variety of reasons, such as a leak in plumbing from toilets, faucets and more.
The City’s Water Leak Forgiveness Adjustment Policy provides residential metered water customers an opportunity to request financial relief in the form of a credit for abnormally high and unintentional (due to exceptional and unexpected circumstances) water bill charges resulting from undetected leaks in their plumbing system, provided such leak has been repaired.
Under the policy, an accidental leak is defined as the unintentional water loss caused by a broken or otherwise malfunctioning plumbing system.
An extension for paying water and wastewater bills will not be provided because of a pending adjustment request. Residents are advised to pay the full amount of the accidental high-water bill within the normal payment period while your adjustment request is being investigated or enter a payment arrangement for the accidental high-water bill amount to remain in good standing on all current billings.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the City’s accidental water leak adjustment:
- The customer must be a residential water customer
- The customers account must be in good standing.
- Customers will be limited to one forgiveness adjustment per lifetime of utilities account
- The customers premises must not have been vacant during the period when the adjustment was requested.
- Usage must exceed a threshold of greater than 50 cubic metres and be 200% above the average bi-monthly consumption for a similar previous calendar billing period (i.e. June of 2025 being comparable to average consumption from June of 2024 and June of 2023).
- The customer must make a reasonable effort to complete repairs for leak within 60 calendar days of notification from the City of Belleville of their increased water consumption:
- Customer must retain any invoices and receipts for the repairs and submit copies to the City.
- Customers must apply for the water leak forgiveness within 90 calendar days of increased usage notice
- Customers must be able to explain cause of increased water consumption
Not all applications will qualify for an adjustment to their account. An adjustment will not be granted for the following reasons:
- Seasonal or discretionary use (i.e. filling a pool or spa, irrigation system, or other similar uses).
- A slowed meter
- Theft, vandalism, construction, or third-party damage
- “catch-up” bills (i.e. a bill reflecting actual consumption after a period of estimated billing).
- The property is a commercial, industrial, institutional, or income-generating rental property
Last, it should be noted that adjustments will apply to only volumetric charges (Fire and Service charges will be excluded).
Application Process
- Application can be submitted online or in-person at City Hall
- Provide proof of leak repair
- Copy of the repair invoice (if repaired professionally)
- Copy of the repair receipts (if repaired by owner/tenant/agent)
- Customer will be notified of successful application by email, and the credit will be applied to their next most recent utility bill
For assistance, or further information please call 613-966-3657 or email waterbilling@belleville.ca