DROPCOUNTR
Dropcountr is a free water use portal with a mobile app for tracking home water use to help you save water, time, and money. All City of Banning water customers that hold a water utility account are able to access their water use through the Dropcountr HOME portal.
The portal allows water utility water customers to better understand and manage their personal water use, compare it against similar and efficient households, reach water use efficiency goals, and access valuable rebates and utility announcements.
Download Dropcountr for free from your device's app store or get started at www.dropcountr.com/Banningca.gov. You will need your name and account number as it appears on your City of Banning utility bill.
For help setting up your account, contact support@dropcountr.com
If you have specific account related questions, check out our list of FAQ's below, contact the Water Billing Division by phone at 951-922-3135 or email us at ww@banningca.gov
Account Related Questions
You can access Dropcountr by:
- Downloading the Dropcountr application in the Apple or Android app store
- Online at Dropcountr.com/banning
You will need your utility statement account number, account name, and an email address to sign up.
To register for Dropcountr you will need your email and a password, the account number on your utility bill, and the name on the account.
Yes! You can apply additional email log in’s by going to the registration page and inputting the account number and address to sign up using a new email address.
Absolutely not! All residence information such as occupancy, number of bathrooms, appliances, and irrigation system equipment is optional. However, to get the most out of your Dropcountr experience, we encourage you to share as much as you are willing! Goals and comparisons to similar households shown in Dropcountr are based on this information.
Go to “My Account” in your Dropcountr app or online and select the “Notifications” option to configure any of your settings! All messages received from your utility are always stored in the “Messages” page, regardless of your notification settings.
Yes! We suggest that you notify your landlord/property manager to get their account name and number to get started.
If your water bill is paid by your HOA or similar entity and you are not a single family water customer, then you will not be able to see your home’s individual water use. Water usage for non-single family accounts represents all water use associated with one water meter. For example, if you live in a fourplex, it is likely that the water use from all four units is captured by the same water meter - all of that water use would be represented in Dropcountr.
We ask that you cancel your previous Dropcountr account and create a new one with your new utility bill account information! Send an email to support@dropcountr.com to get started on setting up a new account.
Simply send an email to support@dropcountr.com to cancel.
No. The account will automatically clear after 90 days of no registered water use or you can contact Dropcountr staff at support@dropcountr.com to clear the account.
For any technical problems that are not related to billing or utility specific information, please contact Dropcountr staff at support@dropcountr.com
Renter Account Questions
Unfortunately, multi-family dwellings are not individually metered and only show total water use for all units. You can still sign up for Dropcountr, but know that you will be unable to view your individual unit’s use. We suggest contacting your landlord or property manager to gain account information – we are unable to give private account information out to anyone but the account holder.
Access to Dropcountr is meant for the water bill account holder. If the water bill is in your landlord’s name, then you will need their permission and account information to register for Dropcountr using your own log in information. We are unable to give out any private information.
You will need to have the account inactivated and re-register. To do this, contact Dropcountr staff via email at support@dropcountr.com.
We are unable to provide account information to anyone but the account holder. We suggest getting in contact with your property manager or landlord to gain access to account information and proceed with registering for Dropcountr using your own log in information.
Yes – if you are a renter and the water bill is in your name (or in care of current resident), then you can sign up for Dropcountr. All you need is the account number, account name, and your email address!
HOME Portal Related Questions
Dropcountr was provided only access to your water usage information through a secure file-transfer-protocol program.
Absolutely, 100%. Only you and your utility have access to your household water use information.
Dropcountr calculates your water-use goal by considering City of Banning’s climate data, number of people in your household and what is considered to be efficient water use per person each day. If you select that you have an irrigation system in your profile, your goal will change from month to month based on the water demands of your lawn.
The household comparison compares your household to similar households in your neighborhood. That means comparing 2-person, 2-bathroom, no lawn households to homes with similar occupancy and outdoor water use. Dropcountr makes a very conscious effort to not compare households with different profiles.
Efficient households are the top 20% most efficient households you’re compared to (i.e. similar households).
The City’s single family rate structure is ‘tiered’ meaning that the cost per unit of water increases as you use more and move into higher tiers. Each color represents water use in different rate tiers.
Unfortunately, not all Banning residents receive weekly or daily water use information. This can be due to a number of factors such as having an older meter model, the location of your home, or your meter's signal being disrupted by objects (broken wire, radio issues, weather conditions, etc.) that inhibit its communication with a nearby gateway (an automatic meter data collector).
The frequency that your water use is displayed in Dropcountr is determined by how well your water meter communicates with a nearby gateway - an automatic meter Infrastructure (AMI) reading data collector. That communication can be disrupted by objects (parked on or near meter radio, broken wire, weather conditions, etc.) that will automatically inhibit the signal strength. As the majority of City of Banning water meters are located in the water meter box located in the front or rear of the property, a number of meters will experience some signal disruption, which will be displayed as a period of no water use in Dropcountr. Once your meter does successfully communicate, the water usage that occurred for the duration of the time that the meter was not communicating with the gateway will be 'backfilled' evenly in Dropcountr (water usage is represented as the same volume each hour), or may appear as one lump sum which may trigger a false leak alert.
When your meter communicates water use information to Banning's data collectors (called gateways) that usage is not time-stamped. Instead, depending on how often your meter communicates with a gateway, your water use information may show up as a lump sum or evenly distributed across each hour that the meter did not communicate with the gateway. This may trigger a false leak alert within Dropcountr if continual use is over 3 gallons per hour.
A meter is ideally replaced when its battery life is coming to an end and is costly to replace ahead of schedule. The City’s Water Department staff has been actively replacing the water meters over the last two years. Once the meters have been replaced staff will monitor when meters need to be replaced and will contact you when it is time for a new one! Also, there is no guarantee that a new meter will result in a more up-to-date water usage in Dropcountr.
Dropcountr determines that you may have a leak in your home if your home has had 96 continuous 15 minute intervals of water use (or 24 hours of continuous water use at or above 3 gallons of water per hour).