Water Availability FAQ

A Request for Water Availability Document may only be made by the News legal parcel owner, as listed by the County Assessor’s Office.

When do I need to fill out a Request for Water Availability Document?

A Request for Water Availability Document PDF is required if you have a parcel in Washington Water’s retail service area and if you are:

  • Applying for a building permit (e.g. remodeling/building a new home, adding an ADU to the parcel)
  • Starting a new plat development project (residential/commercial)
  • Need a Certificate of Water Availability (sometimes referred to as Water Availability Letter)

How can I find out if I am in Washington Water’s retail service area?

Enter your address on our Find Your System page to see if it is in one of our water systems. If your parcel hasn’t been assigned an address, please reach out to the Water Availability Department.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 877-408-4060 and request Water Availability

What documents and forms are required?

The following items are required when submitting your application:

    1. Request for Water Availability: Form must be complete.
    2. Water availability analysis charge: Payment should be made payable to Washington Water Service and can be made with cash, check, or money order.
      Analysis Charge:

      $20 Reissue of Certificate of Water Availability for an existing water service connection
      Lender Letter (This letter simply states that the parcel is within Washington Water’s retail service area. This letter does NOT guarantee a water service connection.)
      $100 Request for 1-2 residential meters
      Request for a release letter (serving 1 residence)
      $500 Request for 3 or more meters (commercial/residential)
      Request for a release letter (serving 2 or more residences)

      Note: Water availability analysis charge is nonrefundable.

    3. Digital signature audit log: Required if the Request for Water Availability Document was signed using a digital signature service. The audit log should show when the request was sent, who received it, when the recipient logged in to the service, and when the recipient signed the document.
    4. Certificate of Formation: Required if parcel owner is an LLC or other type of business.
    5. Proof of Signatory Authority: Required if parcel owner is an LLC or other type of business. Please provide documentation that proves the signer has the authority to sign on behalf of the company.
    6. Preliminary plan sets: Required for boundary line adjustments, subdividing parcels, plat, or commercial development.

Requests will not be processed until all required documents and analysis charges have been received.

Mailing Address/Drop Box

The completed Request for Water Availability Document, other documents and non-refundable analysis charge can be mailed or dropped off below:

  Gig Harbor East Pierce
Mail Water Availability
P.O. Box 336
Gig Harbor, WA 98335		 Water Availability
P.O. Box 44168
Tacoma, WA 98448
Drop Box 14519 Peacock Hill Avenue NW
Gig Harbor, WA 98332		 5410 189th Street E,
Puyallup, WA 98373

How much does a service connection cost?

Standard residential service connection charge (Includes meter at no additional cost.)
5/8″ Meter:

  • $5,000.00 (service connection charge)
  • Up to $1,549.00 (facilities charge)

1″ Meter:

  • $7,721.52 (service connection charge)
  • Up to $2,857.00 (facilities charge)

A standard residential meter size is 5/8″ x 3/4″. A larger meter may be required, depending on the fire sprinkler flow requirements. Please have your fire sprinkler installer specify all sprinkler flow requirements prior to installation of service, to avoid additional fees.

The service connection charge for a connection larger than 1″ is the cost of labor and materials, plus applicable taxes.

How long does it usually take to get a Certificate of Water Availability?

A Certificate of Water Availability is issued to the legal parcel owner after all the following conditions are met:

  • A service connection has been installed
  • All applicable fees have been paid
  • An active billing account is set up
Need a certificate for your existing water service?

Estimated time to issue a Certificate of Water Availability for an existing, active account can take up to 25 days from start to finish.

  1. Start: You submit a Request for Water Availability Document and the analysis charge ($20).
  2. Up to 10 days later: Washington Water will send a confirmation receipt.
  3. Up to 15 days later: Washington Water issues a Certificate of Water Availability to the parcel owner.
Need water? Plan ahead…

Timeline excluding engineering review
Estimated time for 1 new standard residential service connection/Certificate of Water Availability is approximately 55 days from start to finish. (Excludes engineering review timeline.)

  1. Start: You submit a Request for Water Availability Document and the analysis charge ($100).
  2. Up to 10 days later: Washington Water will send a cost estimate for your service connection.
     
    Sample Cost Estimate
    Standard residential meter 3/4″ or under:

    • $5,000 (service connection charge)
    • $1,549 (water system facilities charge)
  3. Within 30 days: You have 30 days to review the cost estimate, send payment and paperwork if you decide you want to install the connection.
  4. Up to 30 days later: Washington Water will complete the installation within 30 days upon receipt of payment and paperwork. Note: Water system emergencies or other variables can cause delays in the completion of the service installation.
  5. Up to 15 days later: Washington Water issues Certificate of Water Availability to parcel owner.

Timeline including engineering review
Length of review for requests that require Engineering review* varies depending on the complexity of the project.
*Release letter requests, boundary line adjustments, three or more connections, etc.

  1. Start: You submit a Request for Water Availability Document and the analysis charge ($100 or $500).
  2. Up to 10 days later: Washington Water will notify whether we are able to provide service to your parcel. It may take an additional 35 days for our engineering department to complete their full review.
  3. Within 30 days: Engineering will review plans and outline next steps. If a cost estimate is provided, you have 30 days to review it, send payment and paperwork to move forward.
  4. Varies based on project: Washington Water may prepare a Memorandum of Understanding and Construction Agreement, depending on the complexity of the project. Note: Water system emergencies or other variables can cause delays in the completion of the service installation
  5. Up to 15 days later: Once the installation, necessary paperwork and payment is complete, Washington Water issues Certificate(s) of Water Availability to the parcel owner.

What does Ready-to-Serve mean?

Our normal installation process is to install a meter when we install a service connection. If the parcel owner wishes to install the service connection but postpones the installation of the meter, the parcel owner will be billed a monthly Ready-to-Serve charge until the service connection has been converted to an active metered service (see Washington Water Rate Information-UTC-Approved Tariff).

Rate Information and other Resources