Water & Sewer

The Water Resources Department provides water and sewer service to more than 250,000 individuals and businesses. If you are currently receiving City water and sewer services, the rate you are paying for these services will be reduced by half once you are annexed into the City. You will continue to receive your service bill every month. (The City is changing its water / sewer billing to monthly rather than quarterly for all City residents.)

For current water and sewer rates, visit this website.

If there are no main water and sewer lines in a City-initiated annexed area, you must file a petition within five days of the required Public Hearing in order for the City to install these lines within two years of the effective date of the annexation.

Assessments

Once the City places water and sewer lines adjacent to your property, all property owners – regardless of whether they signed the petition and whether they connect to water and sewer – will be assessed. If water and / or sewer lines are installed on your street, each property owner abutting the street will be assessed a frontage fee and a lateral fee. The frontage fee for water and sewer lines is based on the width of your lot where it meets the street. Currently that fee is $12 per foot for water and $16 per foot for sewer. The cost of the lateral (the service line from the main to the property line) is not based on individual frontage. Currently, the cost of a 5/8” x 3/4” water lateral and a four-inch sewer lateral that are installed in the same ditch is $2,620 with meter fee. This can change if the laterals are installed in separate ditches or if the street is dirt or gravel. You will need to contact a licensed plumber to connect the lateral line from your property line to your home.

When you are connected to water service, you will pay for the water meter, which is $165 for an existing house and $185 for a new home. If your house was built after July 1, 1989, a capacity use fee will also be due when you connect. This fee is based on the heated square footage of your house. The maximum amount you will have to pay is $1,970, which is based on a home size of greater than 1,822 square feet. If your house was built before July 1, 1989, you will not be charged a capacity use fee. Fees are higher for uses that require larger water lines and meters.

Generally, assessment charges are levied within several months after the project is completed. Assessments, charges and fees are computed by the Business & Technology Division of the Engineering & Inspections Department. The City Council confirms all assessment rolls prior to any bills being mailed out. You may make payment in full within 90 days or pay in 10 equal payments every September, with a six percent per annum interest charge added.

For specific questions about connecting to water and sewer lines, call the Water Resources Department at 373-2055.

When both water and sewer lines are available to your property, you must connect to City water and sewer within 10 years of annexation, unless the Guilford County Health Department determines that your well or septic system is unacceptable and requires earlier connection. If only a water line or a sewer line (not both) is available to your property, you are not required to connect.

Once you are connected to City water and sewer, you may not use your septic system. The septic system must be pumped out, crushed, and filled in with dirt. Pending approval from the Guilford County Health Department, you may continue to operate your well, but only for non-drinking use. You must also disconnect the well from your home. In addition, if the Health Department determines it is unacceptable, you must abandon it.

*Fee based on 5/8-inch meter.
**Petitions filed within five days of the public hearing do not require the signatures of other property owners. Petitions filed after that time period must be signed by a majority of the property owners with street frontage.

More Information 
Call 373-CITY (2489) or visit this website 

Related Links
Stormwater Services
Drain Markers
Paying Your Water Bill