Nashville Metro Water Services Tap & Capacity Fees (2026)

Metro Water Services (MWS), the utility of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, charges a new home two kinds of one-time fees under the Metro Code: small flat tap fees and much larger capacity charges. The tap fees are $500 for a 5/8-inch water tap and $360 for a 4- or 6-inch sewer connection. The capacity charges are $1,375 (water) and $2,300 (sewer) per unit of flow, where one unit equals 350 gallons per day (Metro Code 15.20, 15.36). If a house is assessed one unit, the code fees total $4,535. At two units they total $8,210. The caveat that matters most: MWS sets the number of units assigned to a single-family home administratively, and we could not confirm it from a published source, so get that number in writing before you budget.

Official fees at a glance

The rows below come straight from the Metro Code, the ordinance text that sets these fees. The tap amounts were set by Ordinance BL2019-45. The code does not print an effective date or fiscal year next to each fee. Two points help when reading the table. First, the code’s sizes are tap sizes, and the three smallest water taps sit close together ($500, $525, $550). Second, the two capacity charges are listed as a price per unit, not per house. They are the bulk of the bill, and their total depends on the unit count MWS assigns.

What the table does not show: MWS also publishes a development fee schedule with meter, inspection and review charges. That PDF blocked our automated access when we checked on September 24, 2026, so those amounts are not in our database yet. Expect them on top of the code fees.

Worked example: a new single-family home

The per-house formula from the code is simple once you know the unit count:

Code fees = water tap + sewer connection + units × ($1,375 + $2,300)

With a 5/8-inch tap that becomes $500 + $360 + units × $3,675 = $860 + (units × $3,675). Because the unit count for a single-family home was not published where we could read it, here are three cases side by side.

Metro Nashville code fees for one house with a 5/8-inch water tap and a 4-inch sewer connection, by assessed capacity units (source: Metro Code 15.20 and 15.36). Meter and inspection fees not included.

The cases are illustrations of the formula, not MWS determinations. Each extra unit adds $3,675, so the unit count swings the bill far more than the choice between a 5/8-inch ($500) and a 1-inch ($550) tap. If a home reuses an existing tap of the same or smaller size, the code says no new tapping fee is charged. Ask MWS how prior capacity is credited in that case.

What these fees don’t include

The code fees cover the utility’s tap and capacity. The pipe on your property is private work:

• Water service line: $30 to $150 per foot, about $50 typical (national estimate).
• Sewer lateral: $50 to $250 per foot, about $100 typical (national estimate).
• Trenching: $4 to $15 per foot in normal soil (national estimate). Rock can multiply trenching cost 2.5 to 7 times (national estimate).
• Street cut or bore if the main is across the road: $1,000 to $10,000 per crossing, about $4,000 typical (national estimate).
• MWS meter and inspection fees and the building and plumbing permits, which we have not yet captured for Nashville.

For example, a 50-foot water line at $50 and a 50-foot lateral at $100 add about $7,500 before trenching. These are from our national benchmark set. See water service line cost and trenching cost for detail, and model your lot here:

How and when you pay

• Before the connection permit. Under Metro Code 15.20, the water capacity charge is due before MWS issues the service-connection permit. The capacity charges apply to every new water and sewer connection, in addition to the tap fees.
• Unpaid fees become a lien. The code attaches unpaid tap and capacity fees to the property as a lien. Check for one when you buy a recently built or partly built house.
• No payment plan for single-family development. The code provides a 36-month, no-interest payment plan for capacity charges, but single-family developments are excluded from it.

Changes to watch

The tap amounts in the code date from Ordinance BL2019-45, and the code does not show a later revision for them. Current cost changes are more likely to show up in the unit count MWS assigns and in its separate fee schedule. Metro’s Development Services fee schedule, dated January 2025 by its file name (DS fee schedule PDF), is the likeliest place for newer charges. We could not open it on September 24, 2026, so we have not used any figure from it. We will add its rows once we can read and verify them.

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

Compare Nashville with other Southeast cities: Charlotte, Raleigh, Charleston and Orlando, or the full tap fees by city table. Related guides: tap fee vs. impact fee, sewer tap fee, utility costs for new construction and the utility connection cost calculator.

Sources

• Metro Code Chapter 15.20, Water Main Tapping Fees and Charges, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (via Municode). Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• Metro Code Chapter 15.36, Sewer Main Tapping Fees and Charges, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (via Municode). Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• Development Services fee schedule (January 2025 PDF), Metro Nashville. Could not be opened when checked Sep 24, 2026. No figures used.
• National cost estimates: Utility Cost Guide benchmark methodology.