1. Make sure that your dishwasher, washing machine, toilets, ice maker, etc. are not running. Turn off all faucets inside and outside.
2. Record your meter reading on the water meter located outside your home close to the street. You may need to use a flashlight to wake your meter up. While recording your reading, check the flow indicator.
3. Wait 2 to 6 hours using absolutely no water. (Remember not to flush any toilets during this time.)
4. Record your meter reading again and compare the two readings.
5. If the reading has increased, you may have a leak, and you may want to contact a licensed plumber or repair the leak yourself.
6. If the reading is the same, you do not have a leak.

1. Locate your meter, which is typically in your front yard on the corner near the street.
2. Remove the meter lid from your meter box. Remember to replace this lid when you are finished.
3. Locate the shut-off valve, which is located on the street side of the meter.
4. You will need a crescent or tee wrench (also called cut-off key). This wrench can be purchased at any hardware or home improvement store.
5. Attach the wrench to the shut-off valve and slowly turn the valve clockwise a quarter of a turn. This will stop the water flowing into your home.
6. Confirm that you have closed the valve and stopped the water flow by going inside and turning on a faucet.
7. To restore service, attach the wrench to the shut off valve and slowly turn the valve counterclockwise.

Water can exert a natural force on pipes when it changes directions in fittings and/or bends, or it is suddenly stopped or started. This is commonly called “water hammer.” Sometimes a water outage in your area can cause this, as line repairs can produce air pockets. To see if this is the case, turn on an outside faucet or cold-water bathtub faucet and let it run for a few minutes. If the noise subsides, it was likely due to air in the line. If it continues, here are three common causes:

• Commode fill valve is malfunctioning
• Pressure balance valve in tub and/or shower is malfunctioning
• Pressure reducing valve needs to be replaced

Technically where the meter attaches to the customer’s water line and beyond is the customer’s responsibility to maintain and/or repair.  MSUD maintains the water main to the meter/meter box. However, damage to the meter, meter box, lid and battery assembly is also the responsibility of the customer.

More water used is the general reason, more days in a billing period possibly as reasons too. Many factors can affect your water use such as time of year, letting cold water drip or run to prevent pipes from freezing, watering plants, washing cars, filling pool, showering more often, and houseguests. However, water leaks can often be a culprit with even the smallest of leaks using hundreds of gallons of water. It is important to check for leaks often and fix them immediately. Dripping faucets and leaky toilets are often overlooked but can be the cause of some of the largest leak bills.

To terminate your water service, call the MSUD business office at least one business day prior to the date you need to schedule your water to be taken out of your name. The Representative taking your information will make a work order while you are on the phone and will give you a Final Confirmation number. You need to make reference of that number and keep it until you receive a bill that is marked FINAL.

Commercial bills are due the 25th of each month.
Residential bills are due the 15th of each month.
Residential bills on MSUD Bank Draft are due the 25th of each month.

You absolutely do not get TWO water bills. MSUD bills the water based on the readings from the water meter.   Metro Water Service (MWS) or City of Goodlettsville bill for sewer and storm water.   We also provide all the public fire protection water to this entire community.

For many years MSUD billed the sewer and state sewer fee for Metro Water Services and for the City of Goodlettsville. In 2008 Metro began billing for stormwater and sewer/state sewer fee on their own.   Since sewer is not metered and based on water consumption, Metro purchases the readings from MSUD to bill the sewer. They pass the fee along to their customers directly on their sewer/storm water bill.  In 2012 Goodlettsville began stormwater and sewer billing and purchased the readings from us. The per reading fee was .45 from 2008 to September 2023. In October 2023 the per reading fee changed to .67.

Stormwater is not to be confused with potable water

Call Metro Water Service 615-862-4600 or City of Goodlettsville 615-851-2200

MSUD is a governmental entity overseen by the State Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), EPA and State Comptroller.

In the 1920’s Mr. Newman Cheek built his country estate called Sherwood Forest on the banks of the Cumberland River in Madison, Tennessee. Mr. Cheek of the Maxwell House Coffee’s Cheek Family needed a good source of clean drinking water, so he built a water treatment plant as his personal water system for his home. Being a man of vision, he later allowed his neighbors to hook onto his water system, realizing the importance of abundant clean water to his friends and neighbors for the enhancement of their daily lives.

Mr. Cheek was determined to find a way to provide more water to the area. He established the Madison Water Company and the Lakewood Water Company, all while exercising his guidance on the water system so that the intended purpose to provide water to the public was not lost. Demand soon outweighed supply so he began to lobby state legislators to create special governmental utility districts, with defined boundaries. In 1937 The Utility District Acts of Tennessee were passed and signed into law by the TN State Legislature. This allowed the Madison Suburban Utility District to form and gave it the ability to gain financing and the income needed to expand.

As current technology becomes outdated it becomes more of a hindrance than benefit.  This requires an update/change of systems.  Although we want transitions to be seamless and simple more often that is not the case.  The billing system required changing account numbers.  The good news is we do not foresee another change soon.

The new billing system was noted on the bill for two months prior to going live. MSUD also advertised the transition on our website, social media platform, and on our automated phone message.

These fees are billed instead of having more and more rate increases.

The System Maintenance Fee – Is 10% of the monthly water portion of the bill. This fee is used as funds for maintaining and upgrading the water system.

Automated Meter Reading (AMR) Fee– is for maintenance of the electronic meter reading system.

Environmental (ENV) Fee– is an annual fee accessed on the District by the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) based on number of connections.  We take that invoice amount and divide it by the number of active customers and bill the ENV Fee. It averages $2.00 per customer per year.

We had a rate increase effective July 1, 2023, that was listed on each customer’s bill thirty (30) days prior.  Additionally, as the inflation rate increases, and the economy fluctuates, so does the cost of required materials needed to provide high quality water in a consistent manner.

Our automated meter system sends digital reading to our network, and it provides analysis of the meter data.  The meter can tell if there is a “constant flow” or an “intermittent flow” which is an indicator of a leak.

Click Here for Detailed Instructions on Reading Your Bill

Madison Suburban Utility District water continues to meet all federal and state water quality standards and water treatment standards. Detailed information about our testing results and the source of your drinking water can be found in our Water Quality Report, which is distributed annually to all our customers. See the latest report:   https://msud.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/madccr2023.pdf

The decision to buy bottled water is a personal one. In the U.S., bottled water is less regulated than municipal drinking water, and it is more expensive (a gallon of MSUD water costs less than a penny; a gallon of bottled water costs approximately $1). Because utilities are so heavily regulated, you don’t need to buy bottled water for health reasons.

Usually this occurs when a fire hydrant is on in the area.  MSUD is required to flush the system annually and we do this by opening hydrants in a specific order throughout the year.

Photo Driver License, other identification, SS number, lease or closing papers with address and date of occupancy.

New Service is as easy as 1-2-3.

Before you begin your request for new service, you need to gather some information about the type of account and services you need. You will be required to provide personal identification information and service location details when submitting your service order.

Next, the information you provide will be reviewed by one of our Customer Service Representatives and your work orders will be entered. If for any reason we cannot fulfill your request promptly, a Customer Service Representative will contact you immediately with follow-up questions and/or additional information.

We provide the next business day service; requests are completed Monday – Friday between 7:30 am and 4:00 pm (excluding holidays).

Residential non-refundable signup fees:

Owner/Property Manager: $50.00 non-refundable signup fee

Lessee/Renter: $100.00 non-refundable signup fee

Commercial signup fees: Rates vary. Once the application is reviewed, a customer service representative will reach out regarding fees for that service location.

**IMPORTANT**

Please complete the MSUD Survey/Payment form and save before proceeding with the application process. This form must be completed and attached along with all the other requested attachments before the application is approved and processed.

As you fill out the forms, some items will be required. These will be marked, *, to indicate a required field. You will not be able to progress to the next step without this information.

https://customer.msud.net/app/login.jsp

An account must be billed one time before you can register.

If you have Bank Draft (free of charge) through MSUD call the office and update. If you have Auto-Pay (cost of $1.95) though Invoice Cloud – you update on the web portal directly. If you are unsure which you have, please call the office – we will be happy to assist you.

It is not in our business practice to subsidize the cost of commercial customer meter failures to residential customers.

The meter is property of MSUD.  The cost is a fee to provide the consumer right of use.  Additionally, this topic is covered in the “terms, conditions, rules and regulations” section on each customer’s water contract.

There was a reclassification of billing fire lines within the MSUD coverage area that was approved by our board of commissioners. This standardized the billing to the Commercial Intermediate rate (available at MSUD.net) based on fire line size to meet potential demand requirements. Additionally, there is a 100% meter policy that requires all customers to meter their fire line, irrigation, and other water uses so MSUD can be in compliance with Tennessee Statutes.

Billing Change: There was a reclassification of billing fire lines within the MSUD coverage area that was approved by our board of commissioners. This standardized the billing to the Commercial Intermediate rate (available at MSUD.net) based on fire line size to meet potential demand requirements.

Fire Meter: Utility districts and companies are required by Tennessee Code Title 7 and Title 68 to “reduce water loss to an acceptable level and to take appropriate actions”.  We all have a duty to ensure that water accountability is as accurate as possible.  Water is a finite natural resource that we all require.  The best method is to install accurate meters with current technology so MSUD can comply with the state requirements.

The first step is to call a plumber/contractor to verify the size of your fire line and to provide you a quote for meter installation. This includes the meter box and lid(s). Your plumber/contractor can find the specifications at Construction Information | Madison Suburban Utility District (msud.net). These meters must be installed horizontally and sufficient distance from any bends in the pipe, double detector check valves, or other valves nearby. The plumber/contractor should know those required distances. The rule of thumb is four times the pipe diameter is the length of straight pipe between the meter and any other valve, curve, etc.

MSUD is prioritizing based on the diameter of fire line. The larger the line the higher the priority. As stated in the notification, the customer will be billed 30 days after notification and has an additional 90 days for installation. You must notify MSUD once your plumber/contractor is near completion of their work so we can inspect the site. MSUD must verify that the plumber/contractor completed the work according to the MSUD standards. It is vital for the plumber/contractor to use MSUD.net as a resource.

You need to schedule an inspection with MSUD. Our inspectors will meet you and the contractor on site to ensure that everything is within MSUD standards. Once our inspector approves the site, he will provide your contractor with the meter for them to install. MSUD will remain on site until complete to ensure there are no issues.