Techniques of water rate design has been the subject of numerous committee reports and papers that have appeared in A.W.W.A. journals and in the general literature. Such reports as the A.W.W.A. committee report of 1954 and the 1953 Joint Report of the A.S.C.E., A.W.W.A. and other organizations, set forth principles of rate making that have received general acceptance as practical approaches to the subject. Some of the more recent articles have stressed the need for special rates for water use by devices and equipment that place extraordinary demands on the water system. Perhaps most significant of the different points stressed in the papers that have been presented is the implication that there are special considerations distinct and peculiar to each utility that must be recognized in rate studies. Although this paper, of necessity, contains much material that has been previously presented, it is the intent to focus attention on some of the facets of rate design that deserve special attention. This will, therefore, be a somewhat unbalanced presentation of the general subject.