Wastewater Retainage Credit

The Cobb County Water System realizes that there are instances where all of the water used by some industrial, commercial, or institutional customers may not be returned to the sewer system for conveyance and subsequent treatment as wastewater. Examples of “retained” water include: evaporative losses in air-conditioning cooling towers, in certain manufacturing processes, or at laundry facilities; water directly used in a product; water supplying a boiler, or; other similar applications.

Participants in the Wastewater Retainage Credit Program do not have to pay wastewater service charges for that portion of metered water which is not returned to the sewer system. A “Retainage Analysis”, prepared twice a year by an approved independent professional engineer employed by the customer, is used to quantify the amount of water “retained” and to establish an average credit percentage value to be applied to the customer’s bill during the six-month seasonal period. Most situations require the installation of sub-meters on specific water-using components to accurately measure the consumption and subsequent discharge.