How to pay your water utility bill

Any balance will become due on the regular due dates and outstanding balances will be charged interest at a rate of 0.0417% per day after the due date, every 15 days thereafter and before each bill.

Partial payments are applied first toward the outstanding interest, penalty and fees, then to the oldest outstanding water utility charges.

Payment Methods

There are 5 different payment options to pay your water utility bill:

• Financial Institution (online, telebanking, or in-person)
• Online by debit or credit card
• Pre-authorized debit (PAD)
• In-person at Client Service Centre (by appointment only)
• Mail

Depending on the payment option, a charge may apply which will be noted in the Payment Options.

Other Applicable Fees

• Should payment not be received following the due date, a reminder notice will be issued, which is subject to a fee of $9.40. If payment is not received following this notice, further collection activities will be taken and interest will continue to accrue on the arrears.
   
• If your payment cannot be processed or is not otherwise honoured by the bank you will be charged a fee for each account the payment was originally applied to. The fee is $53 for returned cheques and $39 for a returned PAD payment.
   
• If a payment must be transferred from one account to another, a service fee of $33 applies. This fee will be waived if it is the first transfer request on the account. Subsequent requests will incur the applicable fee. If you have moved or you have more than one water utility account, you must ensure all your accounts have been individually set up for payments. E-mail us at revenue@ottawa.ca if you have misapplied payment.
   
• A $33 fee applies when producing a refund to cover the cost of refunding credits to clients when credits are not the result of an error by the City.

Financial Institutions

Most financial institutions offer online, telephone or in-person bill payments.

To set up an online or telephone banking payment, use the 15-digit customer-account number shown on your bill as the account number to be paid and City of Ottawa-Water as the payee. If you have trouble finding the payee name, please reach out directly to your financial institution.

Please allow at least 3 business days for the City to receive payment from your financial institution.

Most financial institutions have a cut-off time for payment processing and do not process weekend or holiday payments until the next business day. The City of Ottawa will honour the date stamp your financial institution has used to date your payment.

I’m Moving

If your payments are made through your bank, you will need to update your payment settings to your new account number.

Online by Payment Card

When paying online by credit card or Interac Debit, a service fee of 1.99% is applied by the service provider, Paymentus Corporation. Residents can pay water utility bills online with MasterCard, VISA, American Express (AMEX), Interac Online, Mastercard Debit and Visa Debit.

There are two ways to access the payment card website called Paymentus:

• My ServiceOttawa and select your account listed under “Water Utility Bill,” then select “Pay bills” from the menu options or;
• The secure Paymentus payment system

Payments made before 10:00 pm will be credited to your water utility account on the next business day. Payments made after 10:00 pm will be credited to your water utility account within two business days.

Payment Confirmation:

You will receive an on-screen confirmation number and an email receipt which will include the service the third-party provider, Paymentus Corporation.

For more information on Paymentus, please refer to our Paymentus page.

Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) Plan

Your current bill must be paid in full before you can enroll in the plan and the amount due on your bill will be processed on the due date.

To enroll, log into My ServiceOttawa and navigate to your registered water utility account (if you have not yet registered your water billing account, follow these instructions). Select the blue menu option titled “Pre-authorized debit” and follow the on-screen prompts. If you do not already have a My ServiceOttawa account, you may register for one.

Alternatively, print and complete the Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) Plan Form and attach a void cheque. Email, fax or mail using the information listed on the form. If you require a hardcopy of this form, you may request one in writing to revenue@ottawa.ca or to:

City of Ottawa, Revenue Services
100 Constellation Drive, 4th Floor East
Ottawa ON K2G 6J8

Please include your name and address.

Authorization is not required each year. Customers on the PAD Plan with more than three dishonoured payments in a 12-month period will be removed from the plan.

I’m Moving

Your pre-authorized debit (PAD) plan is NOT transferable. You must complete a new application form.

City of Ottawa Client Service Centre

In-person

This service is available at any Client Service Centre. 

The following payment types will be accepted: cash, Interac, cheques, money orders.

Drop-boxes

Drop off a cheque at one of the secure payment drop-boxes located outside the main entrances of the following locations:

• Laurier Client Service Centre, 110 Laurier Avenue West
• Nepean Client Service Centre, 101 Centrepointe Drive
• Kanata Client Service Centre, 580 Terry Fox Drive
• Orleans Client Service Centre, 255 Centrum Boulevard

Please bring your water bill with you and make cheques or money orders payable to City of Ottawa and write your customer-account number on the front or include the bill stub with payment.

By Mail

City of Ottawa - Water and Sewer
PO Box 4648 STN A
Toronto ON
M5W 0E7

Please include your water utility bill stub and allow sufficient time between your mail date and the due date for the payment to be processed on time. Do not fold, staple or stamp on payment stub. Make cheques or money orders payable to City of Ottawa and write your customer-account number on the front or include the bill stub with payment.

The number of payments received by mail is very low and continues to decrease. As equipment required to process such payments comes at a high cost, a decision was made in 2012 to contract the processing to the City’s financial institution whose office operates at a Toronto location.

For questions concerning your water utility bill:

• Visit us at the City of Ottawa water billing page.
• Login to your My ServiceOttawa account to review: your current balance, your most recent transactions; your current or past bills; etc.
• Call the City of Ottawa Revenue Services at 613-580-2444 (TTY: 613-580-2401) Transactions will be recorded for training and quality assurance. The City of Ottawa hours of operations are Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (June to August, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm). Please have your service address and the customer-account number listed on your bill available

For technical help regarding online card payment:

• Contact the Paymentus Call Centre: 819-525-2108. This support hotline is a 24 hour, 7 days a week service available in both English and French
• Email Paymentus Customer Care at customercarecott@paymentus.com

For help with My ServiceOttawa:

Submit technical issues using the feedback button on My ServiceOttawa page