If you received a letter from Utility Billing indicating your property has a water leak, here are some ways to investigate where the leak is coming from:

Toilets
Dye packets for toilets are available at City Hall’s front desk Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or use food coloring, put a few drops into the tank of the toilet, wait about an hour, it the colored water shows up in the toilet bowl, you have a leaky toilet.

Faucets (inside and outside)
Before you retire for the evening, place a glass under the faucet (or bucket for outside spigot), when you get up in the morning check to see if there is any water in the glass (or bucket), if there is, you have a drippy faucets.

Water Softener
This appliance is a big water user in your home. If it is getting older, it may not be cycling properly. If it is not cycling properly, it could be your culprit. Check how often your softener is cycling to soften the water in your home, most homes only need to cycle once a week, possible twice a week.

Irrigation
Take a walk through your yard, along the perimeter of your irrigation system on your property, if you find squishy, wet areas, you will need to investigate, you may have a leak in your irrigation system.

Once you have inspected your property with the suggestions listed above and you do not find any leaks, your next step would be to bring in a plumber to help locate the leak.

How do you verify a leak has been fixed?
Locate the meter on your property and take note of the numbers before you retire for the evening. In the morning, re-read the numbers. If the numbers have increased overnight, then you still have a leak somewhere on your property. 

Utility accounts are billed quarterly (four times a year). Residential accounts billing cycle is determined by your location within the city.

The city bills for water, sewer, storm water and street lights.

Dick's Sanitation (DSI) bills for trash and recycling. 

If you have questions about your trash or recycling service or need to make a change in your service, you must contact DSI at 952-469-2239 or email them at [email protected]. 

Please call the Utility Billing office Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at 651-280-6883.  

Also call Dick's Sanitation to cancel your trash and recycling service at 952-469-2239 or email them at [email protected]. 

The city does not turn off the water when a person moves out of their house. Before your closing, contact Utility Billing during office hours to set up a final meter reading and close the account. Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at 651-280-6883

If you recently purchased a home within the City of Farmington, you may want to verify that the final utility bill was paid by the previous owner. Any outstanding utility bill (water, sewer, storm drainage and street lights) will be certified to your property as a special assessment. If your property has an outstanding final utility bill, you may want to contact your title company to see if any money was held in an escrow account.

Commercial accounts are billed March, June, September, and December.

The city bills for water, sewer, storm water and street lights.

Dick's Sanitation (DSI) bills for trash and recycling. 

If you have questions about your trash or recycling, or need to make a change in your service, you must contact DSI at 952-469-2239 or email them at [email protected]. 

Utility bills must be in the name of the owner.

Ultimately, if city utility bills remain unpaid, state law allows the city to assess the charges, penalties, and interest against the real property served by the utility. This is consistent with the concept that it is the property that receives the benefit of the utility service, not simply the user. Minn. Stat. 444.075, s. 3(e) states: The governing body may make the charges a charge against the owner, lessee, occupant or all of them and may provide and covenant for certifying unpaid charges to the county auditor with taxes against the property served...Minn. Stat. 116A.22 provides: Charges established for connections to and the use and availability of service from any water or sewer or combined system, if not paid when due, shall, together with any penalties established for nonpayment, become a lien upon the property connected or for which service was made available. Written notice shall be mailed to the owner of any property as to which such charges are then due and unpaid, stating the amount of the charges and any penalty thereon and that unless paid the same will be certified...and assessed as a tax...upon the property for collection with and as a part of other taxes...Because any unpaid delinquent account will be assessed against the property, the Farmington City Council has determined to follow the practice of a growing number of cities and have the water and sewer service utility account in the name of the owner so the owner is fully aware of the status of the account.

E-bills are available online or will be mailed to the property address on file with the Dakota County Property Tax records.

The city does not recommend rental property owners provide their customer number to their tenants. If you do and live in the City of Farmington, tenants would be able to see your personal account. They would also be able to view utility account information for any Farmington rental you may own.

You will be assessed a late fee of 10 percent of the current amount due and owing.

If requested by the owner, city staff will take a meter reading. There is a $37.50  fee for this service which will be added to the utility account. The owner also has the option of reading the meter themselves. 
Meters are generally located by the hot water heater/furnace and will read like a car odometer. Only the digits falling in the white section of the meter are used to determine water usage. This number minus the previous meter reading (from your last utility bill) will give you the thousands of gallons used between reading dates.
For more information, contact: Utility Billing at 651-280-6883 or [email protected]