Rates & Policies – East Spokane Water Dist No 1

Rates

2025 – Monthly water rates based on meter size & tier and various charges

METER SIZE	T-1	T-2	T-3	COMM
.75	25.74	34.02		45.96
1.0	29.41	37.76	56.62	53.34
1.5	37.71	46.89		69.85
2.0	51.47			97.41
2.5				143.36

Base water usage rate is figured at 700 cubic feet per month, per unit. Any usage over 700 cubic feet is charged at the overage rate listed below.

OVERAGE
RATE

1 .04

1.15

1.30

1.06

(Per 100 cubic feet used over the allowed amount of 700 cubic feet per month)
Any residential structures that are attached to a commercial account will be charged at the commercial rate.
All multi -unit accounts will be charged to the property owner or management company.

Service Charges

All payments on accounts are due in the district office no later than the 15th of each and every month regardless if the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday. After the 15th of the month, there is a 10% late charge each month the account is past due.

Disconnection Policy

When an account becomes 90 days past due, a 48-hour disconnection notice will be hand delivered to the residence or business. There is a shutoff notice charge of $15.00 for any disconnection notice handed out. Once 90 days has passed, no partial payments will be accepted on the delinquent account. District personnel will not accept payments at the service address when they are posting the notices.

Turn on Charges

$50.00 is charged for reinstatement of water service (for water that has been disconnected for non-payment). If the meter has been removed or tampered with, there is an additional $150.00 charge. Tampering fee of $150.00 will be charged to any customer for turning the water on/off at the meter.

Additional Charges

Washington state utility tax will be applied to all accounts. Once a year, there is $3.90 well-head protection charge applied to all active accounts. If the account has been inactive for one year or more, there will be no well-head charge for that account. A prorated yearly fire demand charge will be charged to all dishman area commercial accounts.

There will be a $25.00 per hour for staffing charge + .10 per office copy charge for any requested office research.

For after- hour call out (after 3:00 pm Monday to Friday and weekends) There will be a charge of $150.00.

Connections

New connection charges are as follows (plus parts and labor):

1.0” $ 4,461.60 2.0” $10,410.40

1.5” $ 7,436.00 3.0” $14,872.00

ONCE YOU ARE CONNECTED TO EAST SPOKANE WATER DISTRICTS WATER SYSTEM, YOU MAY APPLY FOR DORMANT STATUS IF THERE IS NO USAGE FOR ONE MONTH OR MORE. FOR DORMANT STAUS/VACATION DISCONNECT, YOUR MUST FILL OUT A DORMANT STAUS FORM BY CALLING, COMING INTO OUR OFFICE OR FROM THE LINK ON OUR WEDSITE AT ESWD1.COM. AT THAT TIME ALL DORMANT/VACATION STATUS ACCOUNTS WILL BE CHARGED AT HALF THE BASE RATE PER YOUR METER SIZE. YOU MUST CALL THE OFFICE TO RECONNECT FROM DORMANT/VACTATION STATUS.

New Duplexes are required to have two (2) separate 1″ connections.

Labor Rates

$140.00 per hour per person @ ½ an hour minimum. Backhoe rate is $220.00 for the first hour and $140.00 every hour thereafter.

Final Billings

Are required to have a meter reading at a fee of $25.00 which is charged to the seller.

There will be no unauthorized use of any fire hydrants. There is a $600.00 fine, and/or criminal charges pressed, for any unauthorized use of a fire hydrant. A signed permit is required for the use of the hydrant located at the district’s office. You must fill out a Fire Hydrant usage permit which can be obtained in the office at 704 S. Coleman Rd. a $100.00 permit charge will be applied pls $1.00 per cubic feet of water pumped from the hydrant located at the address above.

Construction Permit

Rental Property

The property owners will be held responsible for any past-due charges left by their tenants, provided that the district has received written confirmation that the property owner would like to be notified of any delinquency. This is per RCW 57.08.081 effective January 1, 1999.

Returned Checks

There will be a $30.00 fee an all returned checks. After three (3) returned checks, only cash, money order, or cashier’s check will be an acceptable form of payment.

Access to Meters

In those instances where ready access to a meter service is impaired or denied for any reason or where the meter service is located more than 20 feet from a gate; the district will require the service be relocated at the owner’s expense. Charges for this service may be paid in full or according to a payment schedule set up with the district office. Meter box and lid maintenance is the property owner’s responsibility. To avoid a frozen meter and possible additional charges due to a frozen meter, it is the responsibility of the property owner/tenant to insulate the water meter every fall. If you are unable to insulate your meter box, please contact the district office for assistance.

Rereads & Estimates

If a meter reader is required to make a return call due to impaired access, there will be an additional charge of $50.00. If a reading must be estimated due to denied access, there will be an additional charge of $50.00. If a meter is in need of a clean out in order to obtain a reading, there will be an additional $50.00 charge.

Effective April 1, 2016 the connection/tap fee for all fire hydrants will be $1,000.00 each. Fire hydrants connected prior to that date will not be assessed a connection/ tap fee.

No tap larger than 1” will be permitted, except by written consent of the district manager or district engineer. No new .75” taps are allowed in the district.

Customers with fire sprinkler systems are responsible for the waterline from the point of access to the water service main. There will be a $7,488.00 tapping fee plus parts and labor for a fire sprinkler system.

All Sprinkler Systems, pools, hot tubs, etc. Must have a backflow device in working order and maintained by property owner. All backflow devices are required to be tested annually by a state certified tester. Notices will be sent at testing time.

Pursuant to the Department of Health and Department of Drinking Water requirements, East Spokane Water District No.1 will be purchasing water annually from another water source each summer. Please be advised that the water source East Spokane Water District No 1 purchases water from may be chlorinated.

Shut Off Policy

Shut Off notices are issued the day after billing unless billing falls on a Friday. Then, notices are issued on the next business day.
Customers are given 2 business days (48 hours) notice to pay the minimum balance. No extensions past the 2 business days (48 hours) will be given.
Once the water service is turned off, minimum amount plus turn-on charge must be paid before customer can be turned back on.
Partial payments and holding checks are not accepted.
The option to pay by debit or credit via internet or phone are are available to the customer. Go to: http://pay.softtelpay.com or call 1-800-483-5729. Use ID Code: 9921211. You will also need your account number which is located on the 48 hour shut-off notice.
Office only takes cash, checks and/or money orders which are subject to District’s check policy.
Office will hand out a list of charity foundations with phone numbers to customer as per request.
There are two payment drop boxes available for customer use. One is located on the side street (Coleman Road) and other is located by the main office door.

Leak Detection Procedures

If you think you may have a water leak, please follow these steps.

First shut off all the water in your house – make sure the hot water heater is not filling up.
Go out to your meter and look to see if dials are moving – even very slowly.
If moving – there is a leak.
Now, go back into the house and shut off the main valve to the house which is usually near the hot water heater.
Go back and look at the meter, if it is still moving the leak is somewhere between the house and the meter. If it is not moving, the leak is in the house.Please call us at 509-926-6072 if you have confirmed that there is a leak before you contact a leak detection company. One of the leak detection companies that can pinpoint the leak is American Leak Detection. (509) 536-5166

Temporary disconnect (Dormant Request)

Click here to download the Request for Dormant Tap Status Form.

2026 Backflow Testing

East Spokane Water District #1 has contracted with Bastin Backflow Testing Services, to perform the annual testing of the premise and irrigation (sprinkler) backflow prevention assemblies. Backflow testing for commercial businesses could start as early as April 01, 2026 and residential will start May 1, 2026.

Using Your Own Backflow Tester

If you would prefer to use your own certified backflow tester, commercial business and residential properties will need to contact our office by March 21, 2026 to let us know. Please have your certified back flow tester submit all proper documentation to our office no later than July 31, 2026. For those that choose not to use our contracted tester, there is a $10.00 plus tax admin fee.

If we do not hear from you by the designated date, we will assume you are using Bastin Backflow and we will proceed accordingly with our contracted backflow tester. And by contacting us after March 21 you may run the risk of being charged for two tests if our backflow tester has already tested your device. The charge for the initial contract backflow test is $50.00 plus tax, which includes our $10 admin fee. However, if your backflow device fails during the initial testing, the cost for repairs and retesting is the responsibility of the property owner.

Fireline Backflows

Fireline backflows must be tested by your Fire Inspection Company.

Backflow Cross-Connection Program

Questions?

If you have questions or concerns, please contact our office at (509) 926-6072. We are open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. excluding major holidays.