Moving a Water Meter in Winder, GA: City Fees and the Plumbing Behind Them

City of Winder relocation schedule

The City has adopted relocation fees by meter size. For a 5/8 to 3/4 inch line, a relocation is $1,419.28 on the short side and $2,383.04 on the long side. A 1-inch line is $1,453.95 and $2,732.44; a 1 1/2 inch line is $2,917.36 and $3,780.72. Two-inch and larger meters are charged the connection tap fee.

If rock or debris excavation is needed, its actual cost is added.

Minor elevation changes that do not require moving the vault or re-tapping are a flat $500.00 per meter.

Short side and long side

The sheet does not define the terms, but in utility practice short side usually means the meter is on the same side of the street as the main and long side means the service has to cross the road. Ask the City which applies to your lot before budgeting; the difference on a 3/4 inch meter is close to a thousand dollars.

If you are planning a driveway or addition, ask early. Moving a meter a few feet can sometimes be avoided by adjusting the design.

Get the City's answer in writing.

Barrow County relocation charges

Barrow County Utilities' FY2026 fee list includes relocating a water meter and box with no new tap at $500.00, raising or lowering a meter or box to grade at $200.00, and meter re-installation at a customer's request at $400.00.

Its list also has replacement charges for damaged meters, lids and boxes, worth knowing if construction is near the meter.

See the county rate page.

The plumber's side

When a meter moves, the private service line from the meter to the house has to be re-connected to the new location. That is plumbing work: trenching, new pipe, fittings and possibly a new house shut-off.

Ask whether the existing line can be extended or should be replaced. Older lines disturbed by a move can start leaking.

Inside Winder, a plumbing trade permit is $225.00; in unincorporated Barrow County, the base plumbing permit is $75.00 plus items such as $5.00 for water piping.

Protect the meter during work

Winder lists meter damage at $135 and Smart Point radio device damage at $185. Mark the meter box before any digging, and tell every contractor on site where it is.

Do not operate the curb valve yourself. Winder's Water Service Policy says only authorised City staff or contractors may work on City lines, and sets a $500.00 tampering fine.

If you need water off for the work, ask the City; temporary disconnection due to repair is listed at no charge.

Checklist

Ask the utility: short or long side, any rock surcharge, timing. Ask the plumber: line extension or replacement, permit, restoration of the yard. Confirm who calls in utility locates before digging.

Keep the City's written quote and the plumber's invoice together.

Send a Free Quote Request with the address and the City's answer.

The plumber's permit

Reconnecting the house line to a moved meter is plumbing work and may need a trade permit. Inside the City of Winder, all trade permits including plumbing are $225.00 with up to two inspections. Ask the City whether the relocation work you are planning needs one.

Reading a Winder-area bill line by line

Start at the top of the bill and find the name of the utility. City of Winder bills follow the City's Form 520 rate sheet; Barrow County Utilities bills follow the county's FY2026 schedule. Everything else on this site depends on getting that first step right, because the two utilities use different tiers, different base charges and different leak rules.

Next, find the reading dates and the gallons used. Divide the gallons by the number of days in the cycle to get a daily figure, and compare it with the same cycle a year earlier. A household that normally uses a little over a hundred gallons a day and suddenly shows several hundred has either changed its habits or has water going somewhere it should not.

Then look at the charges. The base water and base sewer lines do not move with use. The volume lines do. If the volume lines jumped and the base lines did not, the change is in gallons, not in rates, and the meter test on the high bill page is the next step.

Finally, note the due date. On a City of Winder account, the 30-day window to contest a bill runs from that date, and a missed window cannot be reopened by the policy's own terms.

Keeping records that make every later step easier

Most of the trouble homeowners describe after a plumbing problem is not the repair itself but the paperwork around it: a leak credit request without an invoice, a permit nobody can find at resale, a disputed meter reading with no photo. A simple folder fixes most of it.

Keep the bill that showed the problem and the one before it. Take a dated photo of the meter dial when you first notice something odd and again after the repair. Ask the plumber for an invoice that names the address, the date, where the problem was and exactly what was replaced. If a permit was pulled, keep the permit number and the final inspection result.

Write down every call to the utility or the permit office: the date, the person's name and what they said. Policies change, and staff answers are easier to rely on when you can quote them back.

None of this costs money, and every piece of it helps if you later need a credit, sell the house or have to show an insurer when a problem started.

Sources: City of Winder, GA: Water & Sewer Rates, effective July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027 (Form 520, PDF); City of Winder, GA: Water Service Policy, Sec. 500.26 Bill Adjustments for Loss of Metered Water (PDF); Barrow County, GA Utilities Department: Water and Wastewater Rates FY2026 (PDF); Barrow County, GA Planning & Community Development Fees, FY 2025 / FY 2026 (PDF); City of Winder, GA Planning & Development Services: Fee Schedule. Checked 2026-10-30.