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MDC Water & Sewer Connection Fees in Hartford, CT (2026)

Last reviewed: By Utility Cost Guide editor

The Metropolitan District — known as MDC or “The MDC” — is the regional water and wastewater authority for Hartford and seven surrounding towns. Unlike most cities on this site, MDC doesn’t price a new connection with a single flat tap fee. Its 2026 fee schedules show two flat charges every new single-family connection pays — a $550 water service tap and a $360 meter (5/8-inch, the standard residential size), for a fixed $910 — plus a separate, lot-specific charge: a water assessment of $95.00 per foot and a sewer assessment of $111.50 per foot of the property’s frontage on the street. That frontage assessment, not the tap or meter, is usually the largest part of an MDC connection bill, and because it depends on a number MDC calculates per property, there is no single “typical total” we can publish for Hartford the way we can for a flat-fee city — see the worked example below for what different lot widths would owe.

Hartford tap and connection charges at a glance

The table lists every current MDC charge we could verify from the district’s 2026 fee schedules, in four groups. The water and sewer assessments are priced per foot of lot frontage and apply when a property not already connected to MDC elects to connect; that rate ($95.00 water, $111.50 sewer) took effect January 1, 2019 and MDC’s current schedule still lists it as active. The service tap and the “Domestic & Fire Meter Cost” rows are flat, size-based new-connection charges. A separate table, “Installation, Repair or Replacement of MDC Meters,” prices the same meter sizes at different dollar amounts; MDC’s public documents don’t say which table applies to a brand-new residential tap versus a meter swap on an existing service, so both are listed and flagged. The remaining rows (meter pit, radio transmitter, administrative review, cross-connection inspection) are real published MDC charges that may or may not apply to a routine single-lot tap; we could not confirm their scope, so none count toward the totals below.

ServiceCategoryFeeMeterAmountBasisEffectiveSourceVerified
Sewer — Main Extension
SewerMain ExtensionSewer Assessment—$111.5per foot of lot frontage2019-01-01Official source2026-09-26
Sewer — Plan Review
SewerPlan ReviewAdministrative Review for Sewer Service Fees—$670per review—Official source2026-09-26
Water — Inspection
WaterInspectionCross Connection Inspection Fee—$150per building—Official source2026-09-26
Water — Main Extension
WaterMain ExtensionWater Assessment (Main Pipe Assessment)—$95per foot of lot frontage2019-01-01Official source2026-09-26
Water — Meter
WaterMeterDomestic & Fire Meter Cost (1")1"$675by meter size—Official source2026-09-26
WaterMeterDomestic & Fire Meter Cost (3/4")3/4"$395by meter size—Official source2026-09-26
WaterMeterDomestic & Fire Meter Cost (5/8")5/8"$360by meter size—Official source2026-09-26
Water — Meter Set
WaterMeter SetInstallation, Repair or Replacement of MDC Meter (1")1"$575by meter size—Official source2026-09-26
WaterMeter SetInstallation, Repair or Replacement of MDC Meter (3/4")3/4"$550by meter size—Official source2026-09-26
WaterMeter SetInstallation, Repair or Replacement of MDC Meter (5/8")5/8"$500by meter size—Official source2026-09-26
Water — Other
WaterOtherMeter Pit (5/8" - 1")—$1,750per pit—Official source2026-09-26
WaterOtherRadio Transmitter Unit—$225per unit—Official source2026-09-26
Water — Plan Review
WaterPlan ReviewAdministrative Review for Water Services—$670per review—Official source2026-09-26
Water — Service Line
WaterService LineWater Service Installation Charge—$180per foot—Official source2026-09-26
Water — Tap
WaterTapWater Service Tap (1")1"$550by meter size—Official source2026-09-26

What a new Hartford house pays: worked example

Assumptions: a single-family lot inside Hartford with an MDC water main and sanitary sewer already in the street, a standard 1-inch water tap with a 5/8-inch meter inside it, and a basement-set meter (no exterior meter pit). The fixed portion of the bill — the parts that don’t depend on lot size — is the $550 tap plus the $360 meter, or $910. The frontage assessments scale with the lot’s front footage, which MDC calculates per property from land records; we found no published “typical Hartford lot frontage,” so the table below shows the arithmetic at three illustrative widths using MDC’s per-foot rates, not an MDC-published total.

Illustrative MDC water + sewer connection cost by lot frontage (2026 rates; fixed tap and meter charges plus per-foot assessments)

Charge A: 40 ft frontage B: 60 ft frontage C: 100 ft frontage
Water Assessment ($95.00/ft) $3,800 $5,700 $9,500
Sewer Assessment ($111.50/ft) $4,460 $6,690 $11,150
Water Service Tap (1″) $550 $550 $550
Domestic & Fire Meter Cost (5/8″) $360 $360 $360
Total $9,170 $13,300 $21,560

Every additional foot of frontage adds $95.00 to the water side and $111.50 to the sewer side — $206.50 combined — on top of the fixed $910, so a narrow city lot and a wide suburban one can owe very different totals for the same house. MDC’s Permits page also notes sewer assessments can be based on acreage and/or dwelling unit rather than frontage alone, depending on the property, so confirm your specific method and footage with MDC’s Utility Services Department (860-278-7850 ext. 3780) before budgeting.

How Hartford compares

Among the other Northeast cities on this site, MDC is the only utility that prices a new connection mainly through a per-foot property assessment rather than a flat tap or per-unit fee, which makes a dollar-for-dollar comparison misleading unless the frontage is known:

Hartford’s fixed charges alone ($910) already exceed Pittsburgh’s entire total ($570), and once the frontage assessment is added, even a narrow 40-foot lot ($9,170) costs more than double Jersey City’s current $4,100 rate — and still exceeds Jersey City’s own January 2027 rate of $8,200 after that authority’s scheduled increase. A wide suburban lot in Hartford can run into five figures, a scale neither comparison city’s schedule reaches.

What is not included in Hartford fees

MDC’s charges cover the frontage assessment, the tap into the main, and the meter. They don’t cover the private service line and sewer lateral from the property line to the house (a licensed, bonded, insured contractor installs it, per MDC’s Permits page), excavation, or the City of Hartford’s own building/plumbing permits, none of which MDC publishes a fee schedule for. National estimates (methodology):

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Estimates are planning figures, not quotes. Confirm fees and trench rules with your utility.

Location and property
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Many codes require horizontal separation between water and sewer. This estimate assumes separate water and sewer trenches unless you select a shared run where your utility allows it.

Quoted fees and comparison assumptions

Paying Hartford fees: timing and process

A licensed, bonded, insured contractor installs the water service, pays MDC’s tap fee, and schedules the work; MDC performs the actual tap and inspects the installation. A sewer lateral needs a separate MDC sewer permit and inspection. To calculate the water and sewer assessments for a specific property, MDC needs a site plan and land deed plus a fee to research the land records — a 2–4 week process. Larger or redevelopment projects also go through MDC’s Availability & Capacity Analysis (6–8 weeks) before design proceeds. MDC’s public pages don’t state exactly when each charge is due relative to the building permit, so confirm payment timing with MDC’s Utility Services Department (860-278-7850 ext. 3780, or utilityservices@themdc.com) before setting a construction schedule.

What could change in Hartford

Common questions about Hartford fees

How much does MDC charge to connect water to a new home in Hartford?

MDC’s fixed charges are a $550 water service tap plus a $360 5/8-inch meter, or $910 total. On top of that, MDC assesses $95.00 per foot of the lot’s frontage on the street for water, so the full water-side cost depends on the lot’s width — a 60-foot-wide lot would add $5,700, for example.

What is MDC’s water assessment based on?

MDC’s Water & Sewer Permits page states water assessments are based on land frontage: the property’s linear footage along the street where the MDC water main runs. The current rate is $95.00 per foot, in effect since January 1, 2019 and unchanged in MDC’s 2026 schedule.

What is MDC’s sewer assessment in Hartford?

$111.50 per foot of frontage, unchanged since January 1, 2019. MDC’s Permits page notes that sewer assessments can also be based on acreage and/or dwelling unit depending on the property, rather than frontage alone, so the method used for a specific lot should be confirmed with MDC.

Does meter size affect my MDC connection cost in Hartford?

Yes, on the “Domestic & Fire Meter Cost” table: $360 for 5/8-inch (the standard size), $395 for 3/4-inch, and $675 for 1-inch. The $550 water service tap itself is a flat fee starting at the 1-inch tap size, which is standard for residential service; a smaller meter is installed inside that tap.

Does Eversource charge a fee to connect electric service to a new home in Hartford?

We could not find a published, specific dollar figure for a residential new electric service connection fee on Eversource’s public site, so none is included here. Contact Eversource’s Builders and Contractors group for a site-specific quote; costs vary by whether service is overhead or underground and whether transformer or trenching work is needed.

Is there a separate MDC sewer tap fee in Hartford, on top of the sewer assessment?

We did not find one. MDC’s sewer fee schedule lists meter fees for company sewer meters (used for non-residential dischargers, not typical single-family homes, which are billed for sewer based on metered water use) but no separate flat “sewer tap” charge; the sewer assessment ($111.50/ft) is the primary published sewer connection cost.

Where to go next from Hartford

For another Northeast utility that prices connections per unit rather than by meter size, see Jersey City’s JCMUA water and sewer connection fees. For a Northeast city with a much lower flat published total and no frontage assessment, see Pittsburgh Water’s tap fees. For another example of a per-unit sewer connection charge, see Minneapolis connection permits and the Met Council SAC.

tap fees by city · water tap fee · sewer tap fee · utility extension cost · water meter installation cost · utility connection cost calculator

Sources for Hartford figures