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Public Water AuthorityDataset 2026.08
Denver Water
Denver and surrounding suburban distributor districts across the Denver metropolitan area, including Denver Water’s inside-city, total-service, and read-and-bill territories
Population reference
Approximately 1.5 million people in Denver and surrounding suburbs
Billing detail
Broad public detail found
Official destination
Open provider website ↗Provider-specific findings
Billing and account research from public material
Provider-specific research notes are displayed separately from fields that contain only an unavailable-information marker. Read qualifiers in each note and verify current account terms with the provider.
- Billing frequency
- Monthly for ordinary residential accounts. Denver Water’s operating rules also permit bimonthly or other billing arrangements for certain distributor, master-meter, or contractual accounts, but the standard residential account is billed monthly and the due date appears on each statement.
- Rate structure
- Increasing block tiers based on individualized average winter consumption, plus a monthly fixed meter charge. For 2026 inside-city single-family customers, the 5/8- or 3/4-inch fixed charge is $20.91; Tier 1 is $3.02 per 1,000 gallons up to the customer’s average-winter threshold, Tier 2 is $5.44 per 1,000 gallons for the next 15,000 gallons, and Tier 3 is $7.25 above that. The Tier 1 minimum is 5,000 gallons and maximum is 15,000 gallons. Temporary Stage 1 drought pricing beginning with May 2026 use adds $1.10 per 1,000 gallons to Tier 2 and $2.20 to Tier 3, while essential Tier 1 use is exempt. Suburban read-and-bill and total-service districts use their own 2026 volume rates.
- Residential cost reference
- For an inside-city 5/8- or 3/4-inch single-family account whose 5,000 to 7,000 gallons remain in Tier 1, the 2026 Denver Water charge is approximately $36.01 to $42.05 per month ($20.91 fixed charge plus $3.02 per 1,000 gallons), before any separate wastewater bill. A typical outside-city total-service account at the published Tier 1 rate of $4.37 is approximately $42.76 to $51.50 including the same fixed charge. Actual bills depend on the individualized average-winter allotment, district type, meter size, drought-tier use, and whether a local distributor adds a charge.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- Denver Water is primarily the drinking-water billing utility. For customers inside the City and County of Denver, sanitary sewage is provided by the City’s Wastewater Management Division within the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, with rates established by city ordinance; suburban customers may receive wastewater service and a separate bill from their local sewer entity or distributor. Denver Water’s water bill therefore cannot be treated as a universal combined water-and-sewer charge. Where an outside-city sewer entity requests a water shutoff for nonpayment of its sewer bill, Denver Water’s rules allow a sewer turn-off, so customers should identify which agency issued each charge.
- Meter reading
- Denver Water’s standard system uses customer water meters with automatic meter-reading devices, while its Advanced Metering Infrastructure program is upgrading select meters with a device that collects frequent consumption readings and transmits them to the EyeOnWater service. AMI customers can review daily use by day, week, or month and receive unusual-consumption leak notifications; the program is not yet described as universal across the entire 1.5-million-person service area. Denver Water’s operating rules state that the physical meter register controls if it differs from the AMR device, and an inaccurate meter may be estimated, removed, and tested. Billing is normally monthly, with the statement showing the read date and consumption history.
- New-account deposit
- The current residential customer pages do not publish a universal startup security deposit, credit-check waiver, or on-time-payment refund schedule for ordinary account activation. Denver Water does publish construction-related temporary tap deposits of $1,540 for taps 2 inches or smaller and $2,565 for taps 3 inches or larger; the temporary deposit is refunded when the tap is cut by the specified date, or when the system-development charge for a permanent connection is assessed. Those construction deposits should not be confused with a normal residential billing-account deposit. Customers should call Sales Administration at 303-628-6100 for a property-specific new-connection determination.
- Activation or transfer fee
- The 2026 miscellaneous-fee schedule lists $36 for a requested turn-on and $36 for a requested turn-off, unless the action is for repairs. A transfer of title is $72 per check and includes a final meter reading on the closing date; the transfer process reviews compliance, collections, and autopay status. A tap that has remained inactive for more than five years may incur a $77 reactivation fee after inspection. New development also requires system-development or tap charges that vary by service area and meter demand, separate from ordinary account activation.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
Colorado
68%
records with any overview detail
National index
50%
records with any overview detail
Coverage measures what this directory documented. It does not measure service quality, affordability, or regulatory compliance.
Research record
Broad public detail found
7 of 7 fields in this section contain provider-specific public detail in dataset August 1, 2026.
Documented
100%
Primary verification routes
- Denver Water public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System ↗
Federal background on public water-system records and their limitations.