Senate Bill 7 – Submetering Requirements, effective January 1, 2018, will require new multi-family residential buildings to include a submeter for each unit and bill tenants in apartment buildings accordingly for water use. Developers and contractors in Long Beach will be required to show proof that multi-family residential buildings will be submetered before a water service connection is provided for a proposed project.

More than half of residential water use in Long Beach is used in multi-family residential buildings, such as apartments and condominiums. Most of these buildings only have one meter that measures the total building water use and do not measure how much water is used by each individual dwelling unit. Individual tenants and condominium owners may not be aware of how much water they are using and may be less inclined to conserve water because they pay the same regardless of water usage.

For additional information on water metering requirements in Long Beach, visit the Long Beach Water Department.