In general, drinking-water and sanitation services bill consumers to cover their costs. The basic principle in France is that "water pays for itself", i.e. it is not taxes that cover costs.

The water bill frequently groups the amounts due for the two services.

The bill corresponds to the price of the service, not that of the water. The provision of drinking water and water treatment requires enormous amounts of infrastructure, e.g. wells, distribution systems, drinking-water production plants, wastewater-treatment plants, etc., that are expensive to build and maintain. In addition to the consumption of each person, the price of water depends on local conditions.

The geographic situation. The farther the wells and the treatment plants are from a town, the more it costs to transport the water (networks, pumps, etc.)

Distances between homes. It is more expensive to transport water in rural areas, where houses are located far apart from each other, than in urban areas.

Water quality. Depending on the quality of the water drawn from the natural environment, the treatment required to produce drinking water is more or less complex and more or less expensive.

Environmental-protection requirements. The complexity and cost of treatment depends on the sensitivity of the environment receiving the treated wastewater.

Tourism. Additional investments may be required to handle temporary increases in demand, for example in tourist areas.

In many apartment buildings, only the building manager or the homeowner association sign a contract and receive a bill. The people living in the building do not receive an individual water bill, but pay for water with the other building expenses.

Prices for each service are set by the local government in order to cover the costs incurred in providing the service.

The overall price includes a variable part corresponding to the quantity of water consumed by the customer. The only exception to this rule is in small towns (less than 1000 inhabitants) that have abundant water resources. They may request an exemption from the prefect to charge only a lump sum. The price also includes a set fee that must be paid, whatever the level of consumption. The set fee may not exceed a maximum amount determined nationally (except for tourist areas).

No, it also includes a number of fees and taxes paid to various public entities.

- The Water agencies are public entities under the authority of the Ecology ministry. They were created in 1964 in each major river basin to collect fees on abstractions and polluting discharges, in application of the "polluter pays" principle. Two of the fees for the Water agency on the water bill are the "Projects/work to fight pollution" and the "Upgrading water networks" fees. The latter, however, appears on the bill only if the consumer is connected to a collective-sanitation system. In addition, drinking-water services pay to the Water agency an "abstraction" fee that the services pass on to consumers as the "Preservation of water resources (Water agency)" fee.

The Water agencies redistribute the collected sums in the form of subsidies for investments by local governments, industrial companies and farmers. They also fund efforts to preserve and restore water resources and aquatic environments, as well as efforts to provide information and raise awareness, and to deploy monitoring networks for water quality. Since the 1960s, the funding system for the Water agencies has contributed to improving the facilities of public water and sanitation services by grouping the financial resources in each river basin.

N.B. In the overseas departments, this work is done by the Water offices.

- The State receives, where applicable, value-added tax on elements in the bill.

- Voies navigables de France (VNF, French waterways) receives a fee if the water services draw water or discharge treated wastewater in a river managed by the organisation.

A water bill generally comprises three separate parts.

- Supply of drinking water

This section corresponds to all aspects of the service to supply drinking water. It includes several elements of information, namely the amount of the "Preservation of water resources (Water agency)" fee, the amount of the monthly fee (if applicable), the volume of drinking water consumed and the amounts redistributed to entities providing the service (local government, private companies if applicable), etc.

- Wastewater collection and treatment

This section is included only if collective sanitation is provided.

The information is similar to that found in the "Supply of drinking water" section.

- Public entities

This section shows the amount of the "Projects/work to fight pollution" fee on one line and, if applicable, the amounts for the "Voies navigables de France (VNF)" and the "Upgrading water networks" fees.