New Orleans Water & Sewer Connection Fees (SWBNO) (2026)
In New Orleans, water and sewer both come from the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO), but SWBNO does not sell connections off a flat fee schedule the way Baton Rouge Water Company or Houston Public Works do. A property owner hires a Louisiana-licensed contractor to build the tap to the public main, and SWBNO charges an administrative fee equal to 20% of that contractor’s own cost estimate, covering inspection, technical review and meter preparation (Connect to Water/Sewer Main). On top of that, SWBNO collects a small refundable meter deposit of $100 for a 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch meter, or $125 for a 1-inch meter (Rates, Fees & Charges). The caveat that matters most: since 2020, Louisiana law (Act 227, amending La. R.S. 33:4090) ended SWBNO’s old practice of free connections to lots of record, so every New Orleans connection now has a real, contractor-specific price tag — there is no citywide dollar total to quote.
Official New Orleans fees in one table
The table below lists every SWBNO charge we could verify against an official source. Because SWBNO prices the connection itself as a percentage of a private construction estimate rather than a flat number, those rows’ Amount column reads “See formula” instead of a dollar figure (it is shown once for water and once for sewer so the site’s calculator picks it up on both sides, but it is one combined 20% charge, not two) — the 20% rate and the full formula are spelled out in the paragraph above and repeated in the FAQ below. The deposit rows are flagged for review: the deposit table carries no printed effective date, and the water/sewer usage-rate tables on the very same SWBNO page are dated January 2021, so we could not confirm the whole page is current.
| Service | Category | Fee | Meter | Amount | Basis | Effective | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General — Deposit | ||||||||
| General | Deposit | New account deposit, Meter Code C 1-inch meter | 1" | $125 | by meter size | — | Official source | 2026-09-30 |
| General | Deposit | New account deposit, Meter Code B 3/4-inch meter | 3/4" | $100 | by meter size | — | Official source | 2026-09-30 |
| General | Deposit | New account deposit, Meter Code A 5/8-inch meter | 5/8" | $100 | by meter size | — | Official source | 2026-09-30 |
| Sewer — Connection | ||||||||
| Sewer | Connection | House Connections administrative fee, sewer side (same 20% combined fee) | — | See formula | Percent | — | Official source | 2026-09-26 |
| Water — Connection | ||||||||
| Water | Connection | House Connections administrative fee, water side (20% of contractor's estimate) | — | See formula | Percent | — | Official source | 2026-09-26 |
Worked example for a single-family home in New Orleans
SWBNO does not publish a typical contractor price for a New Orleans tap, so there is no official worked example to reproduce. What we can show is the arithmetic behind the 20% administrative fee using this site’s national benchmark ranges for the physical work — a stand-in for “what a contractor might estimate,” not a New Orleans-specific figure.
Illustrative only: national estimates for a 40-foot water service line and a 40-foot sewer lateral, with SWBNO’s official 20% administrative fee applied on top. Not an SWBNO-published figure.
| Line item | Basis | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water service line, 40 ft (national estimate) | $30–$150/ft | $1,200 | $2,000 | $6,000 |
| Sewer lateral, 40 ft (national estimate) | $50–$250/ft | $2,000 | $4,000 | $10,000 |
| Contractor estimate (subtotal) | $3,200 | $6,000 | $16,000 | |
| SWBNO administrative fee | 20% of estimate | $640 | $1,200 | $3,200 |
| SWBNO meter deposit, 5/8″ (refundable) | flat | $100 | $100 | $100 |
| Illustrative total | $3,940 | $7,300 | $19,300 |
Two things drive the real number for any given lot: how far the house sits from the water main and sewer main (longer runs cost more per the contractor’s estimate, which raises the 20% fee proportionally), and whether the crossing requires a street cut or bore, a national estimate of $1,000 to $10,000 per crossing (benchmark methodology). A homeowner only gets a real number once a licensed contractor inspects the lot and writes an estimate for the Service Cut Application that SWBNO’s House Connections Department reviews.
New Orleans vs. Baton Rouge and Houston
New Orleans is the odd one out among the three Louisiana-and-Texas cities in this database with a published SWBNO-adjacent number. Baton Rouge charges a flat $300 water initial-service charge from Baton Rouge Water Company plus a $2,150 City-Parish sewer impact fee for a 5/8-inch meter, a fixed $2,450 total (Baton Rouge tap fees). Houston Public Works charges fixed per-service-unit impact fees that come to $4,383.35 in water and wastewater impact fees ($4,572.27 with published permit items) for a single-family connection under rates effective July 1, 2026 (Houston tap fees). New Orleans has no equivalent fixed figure: SWBNO’s 20% administrative fee means a short, easy tap could land well under Baton Rouge’s $2,450, while a long run needing a street bore under a New Orleans street could run past Houston’s total by a wide margin. The trade-off is that SWBNO’s model scales with actual difficulty instead of charging every house the same amount regardless of distance from the main.
What is not included in New Orleans fees
SWBNO’s 20% fee covers its own review, inspection and meter work on the public-main side. The construction itself, and everything on the private side of the property line, is separate:
- The contractor’s construction cost for the actual water tap and sewer connection to the main — this is the base the 20% fee is calculated from, and SWBNO does not price or cap it.
- Private-side plumbing from the meter and cleanout to the house, installed by a licensed master plumber, plus that plumber’s own SWBNO plumbing permit. Real New Orleans plumbing permits we found on the city’s One Stop permitting system list separate “SWB Filing Fee” and “SWB Additional Fixture Fee” line items that scale with the job (filing fees from $50 to $400 and fixture fees from $10 to $170 across the permits we sampled), but SWBNO does not publish a flat per-fixture rate, so we could not verify a single number to quote.
- Water service line from the main to the meter: $30 to $150 per foot, about $50 typical, installed including the trench (water service line cost, national estimate).
- Sewer lateral from the house to the SWBNO main: $50 to $250 per foot, about $100 typical, installed including the trench (sewer lateral cost, national estimate).
- Street cut or bore if the connection must cross a street: $1,000 to $10,000 per crossing, about $4,000 typical (national estimate).
These national figures come from our benchmark set; New Orleans’s mix of narrow lots, mature streets and high water tables can push actual contractor bids toward the higher end. Model your own numbers here:
Estimate utility connection costs
Estimates are planning figures, not quotes. Confirm fees and trench rules with your utility.
How and when New Orleans fees are paid
- Contact House Connections before any work starts. Call 504-585-2164 or use SWBNO’s online form; work cannot begin on the public side until you show proof of a permit for your private plumbing work (Connect to Water/Sewer Main).
- Hire licensed people. Your contractor for the public-main tap must hold a Louisiana Municipal and Public Works Contractor license and at least $5 million in insurance; your private-side plumbing must go through a licensed master plumber, who files intent to establish new service before the contractor applies.
- Submit the permit packet. A Service Cut Application, plan drawing, construction cost estimate, construction schedule, contractor’s license and certificate of insurance go to the House Connections Department at 625 St. Joseph Street, Suite 261. Review takes up to two weeks.
- Pay the 20% administrative fee at pickup. The contractor pays SWBNO’s fee — 20% of the estimated construction cost — when picking up the approved permit packet, not up front with the application.
- Meter deposit is due within 21 days of applying to have water turned on or connected, refunded when the account closes in good standing; SWBNO may waive it for residential customers with a clean recent payment history (Rates, Fees & Charges).
New Orleans fee changes to watch
We found no dated fee-schedule PDF for SWBNO’s house-connection administrative fee — the 20% rate is stated the same way on both the Connection page and the Connection FAQ, with no revision date attached, so we have no way to know when it last changed. The deposit table on SWBNO’s Rates, Fees & Charges page is likewise undated, but it sits directly next to water and sewer usage-rate tables explicitly labeled “January 2021.” That does not necessarily mean the deposit amounts are that old, but it means SWBNO’s own page does not let us confirm they are current, so we have flagged those rows for review rather than presenting them as settled.
New Orleans connection fee questions
How much are water and sewer tap fees in New Orleans, LA?
There is no fixed citywide answer. The Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) charges an administrative fee equal to 20% of a licensed contractor’s estimated cost to build the water and/or sewer connection to the public main, plus a refundable meter deposit of $100 (5/8-inch or 3/4-inch meter) or $125 (1-inch meter). The contractor’s own construction price, which the 20% fee is calculated from, is not published by SWBNO and varies by lot.
Does SWBNO charge a flat tap fee like other cities?
No. Unlike Baton Rouge Water Company’s flat $300 service charge or Houston’s published per-service-unit impact fees, SWBNO’s connection charge is a percentage (20%) of a private contractor’s construction estimate. SWBNO’s own site pages do not list a flat dollar tap fee.
What exactly is SWBNO’s 20% administrative fee?
It is a fee SWBNO charges on top of the private contractor’s own construction cost to build a new water or sewer connection to the public main, covering SWBNO’s inspections, technical review, documentation and meter preparation. SWBNO says it may adjust the percentage for a project’s schedule or complexity, and the contractor pays it when picking up the approved permit.
Is water and sewer connection still free for an existing New Orleans lot?
No. Louisiana Act 227, which took effect in 2020 and amended La. R.S. 33:4090, ended SWBNO’s earlier practice of providing free water or sewer connections to lots of record. Residents now cover the full cost of connecting.
Who installs the water and sewer connection in New Orleans?
A Louisiana-licensed Municipal and Public Works Contractor builds the connection to SWBNO’s public main, and a separately licensed master plumber handles the private plumbing on the owner’s side of the property line. SWBNO’s Networks Engineering, Construction Administration & Inspection, and Plumbing departments review and inspect both sides.
How big is the SWBNO water/sewer deposit for a new account?
SWBNO’s published deposit table lists $100 for a 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch meter and $125 for a 1-inch meter, due within 21 days of the application and refunded when the account closes in good standing. That table carries no printed effective date, so confirm the current amount with SWBNO Customer Service before budgeting.
Are there separate plumbing permit fees in New Orleans?
Yes. New Orleans plumbing permits are issued by SWBNO, not the city’s Department of Safety & Permits, and real permits we reviewed show separate “SWB Filing Fee” and “SWB Additional Fixture Fee” charges that scale with the size of the job. SWBNO does not publish a flat per-fixture rate, so we could not verify a specific number for a typical home.
Related guides for New Orleans
Compare New Orleans with Baton Rouge and Houston, or see the full tap fees by city table. Related guides: tap fee vs. impact fee, water tap fee, sewer tap fee, utility deposits on a new home and the utility connection cost calculator.
Sources for New Orleans figures
- Connect to Water/Sewer Main, Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans. Checked Sep 26, 2026.
- Connection Frequently Asked Questions, Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans. Checked Sep 26, 2026.
- Rates, Fees & Charges, Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans. Checked Sep 26, 2026.
- Guide to Building Permits (plumbing permits section), City of New Orleans. Checked Sep 26, 2026.
- National cost estimates: Utility Cost Guide benchmark methodology.