EDWARDSVILLE – Water bills for Edwardsville customers will increase later this year as the city faces its own rising costs related to water infrastructure improvements.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Edwardsville City Council members approved an ordinance updating water service rates and billing procedures at their July 7, 2026 meeting with Alderman Chris Farrar absent. In addition to moving the city from bimonthly to monthly billing, the ordinance also raises the water rates for customers in and out of the city.
Under the current City Code, water rates were already set to increase by 5% each year starting on May 1. However, the newly approved ordinance allows these rates to spike more sharply in 2026 and 2027.
Water usage rates per 1,000 gallons for in-city customers will increase by 15% from $9.94 to $11.43 starting Nov. 1, 2026. This rate is set to increase another 15% to reach $13.15 on May 1, 2027 before returning to the standard 5% increase starting on May 1, 2028 to reach $13.81.
Out-of-city customers will also see their usage rates rise by 15%, bringing the current cost of $11.34 per 1,000 gallons to $13.05. This rate faces another 15% increase on May 1, 2027 before raising by the standard 5% starting on May 1, 2028.
Monthly fixed service charges are set to more than double for in-city and out-of-city customers over the next two years. Fixed charges for in-city customers are set to increase to $15.68 on Nov. 1, 2026, before rising to $25.42 on May 1, 2027 and $35.16 on May 1, 2028. The same charge for out-of-city customers is also going up to $23.34 each month starting Nov. 1, 2026 before reaching $37.90 in 2027 and $52.46 in 2028.
According to the ordinance, the city’s water rates “are currently not covering expenses for operation, maintenance, and system improvements.” Public Works Director Ryan Zwijack said the rate increases aim to fund the replacement of a water treatment plant and more as costs continue to rise for the city.
“As you all know, we’ve had a lot of issues with our water account being in debt,” Zwijack said. “We’ve got a lot of projects coming up – our water treatment plant project to replace Plant 1, that’s going to be a $25 million project.”
Zwijack said just as the cost of groceries and other goods have gone up, the city’s costs associated with lead service line replacement and distribution system improvements have more than doubled in some cases. The cost to replace one mile of a water main has doubled from $2 million to $4 million, he said, while the cost of salt has gone from $400,000 to $900,000 each year and electric rates have skyrocketed.
However, he said the city has taken steps to try and minimize these water rate increases by ensuring accurate metered billing and not using the rate increases to cover project construction costs.
“Things we’ve done with this ordinance to try to keep rates as low as possible: just trying to make sure that construction pays for construction costs, our water meters costs are being paid by that user of that water, to try to make sure we keep the rate low for our users rather than push the cost off onto those users,” Zwijack said.
