Customer and Company Responsibilities

Customer Rights

As a customer of Middlesex Water Company, Tidewater Utilities and Pinelands Water and Wastewater, you are entitled to certain rights:

1. You have the right to utility service if you are a qualified applicant.
2. You shall not be asked to pay unreasonably high deposits as a condition of service, nor make unreasonable payments on past due bills.
3. You are entitled to at least one deferred payment plan in a year.
4. You have the right to have any complaint against your utility handled promptly by that utility.
5. You have the right to call upon your state public utility regulatory authority (in NJ, the Board of Public Utilities and in Delaware, the Public Service Commission) to investigate your utility complaints and inquiries. Your service may not be terminated for nonpayment of the disputed charges during a BPU investigation.
6. If you suspect your meter is not working properly, you the right to have your meter tested, free of charge, once a year by your utility (NJ customers Only/DE customers subject to meter test fee).
7. You have the right to voice concerns to the Company about service or billing matters at the time of the occurrence, as well as in writing.
8. You have the right to a written notice of terminations, seven days prior to discontinuance of service.
9. Your residential service may not be shut off on weekends, holidays, or after 1:00 p.m. prior to a holiday or weekend, or if a valid medical emergency exists in your household. 10.If you live in a multi-family dwelling, you have the right to receive posted notice of any impending shut off. This notice must be posted in a common area and/or sent individually to each occupant.
10. You have the right to have a “diversion of service” investigation if you suspect the level of consumption reflected in your utility bill is unexplainably high. Diversion is the unauthorized connection to pipes, whereby someone else's utility service registers on your meter without your consent or knowledge.

Customer Responsibilities

1. The customer owns and is responsible for maintaining the service connection from the curbstop to the house.
2. The customer is responsible for maintaining the interior plumbing system, including all pipes and plumbing fixtures. Customer, particularly operators of institutions (schools, hospitals, hotels/motels) and other large facilities, should follow appropriate procedures for maintaining their own plumbing systems.
3. The customer is responsible for protecting the interior water meter from damage due to freezing, hot water and other causes.
4. The customer is responsible for all charges accruing for water service until notice, preferably written notice, has been given to the Company to discontinue.
5. The customer is responsible for following advisories and recommendations issued by the Company, specifically with regards to matters of water quality.

Company Responsibilities

1. The Company owns and is responsible for maintaining the service line from the water main to the curbstop of the customer's property line.
2. The Company owns the water meter and remote reading device and is responsible for its installation and routine maintenance.
3. The Company has the right of access to the customer's premises at all reasonable times for any legitimate purpose connected with the supplying of water services to the premises.
4. The Company reserves the right to change its rates for water service and its rules and regulations subject to the approval of the state utility regulatory authority.

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