Tennessee Utility Connection Costs (2026): Tap Fees by City
Tennessee has no statewide tap fee schedule. Each city runs its own water and sewer utility (or, in Chattanooga’s case, splits water and sewer between two different providers), and the fee structures differ as much as the amounts. For a new single-family home with a 5/8-inch water meter, the one-time official charges we’ve verified across five Tennessee cities range from $155 in Chattanooga to $7,850.65 in Spring Hill. Nashville’s Metro Water Services charges $4,535 for a home assessed one capacity unit, Knoxville Utilities Board’s published minimum is $2,700, and Murfreesboro’s standard subdivision-lot fee is $4,640. Our database covers Nashville (Metro Water Services), Murfreesboro (Murfreesboro Water Resources Department), Spring Hill (Spring Hill Water), Knoxville (Knoxville Utilities Board) and Chattanooga (Tennessee American Water for water, City of Chattanooga for sewer) so far. Other Tennessee utilities are not yet collected, and we say so rather than guess.
Official fees in Tennessee
The table below lists every verified Tennessee fee row in our database, across all five cities, with utility, meter size and a link to the source document. Tennessee’s utilities don’t share one fee structure. Nashville and Spring Hill both price capacity separately from the physical tap or connection charge. Murfreesboro bills flat per-house connection and meter fees instead of a capacity charge. Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) publishes tap fees with no separate capacity charge at all. And in Chattanooga, the private water utility installs the service line and meter at its own cost, so the city’s small sewer and permit items are effectively the whole bill.
| City | Provider | Water typical new home* | Sewer typical new home* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga | City of Chattanooga (Wastewater Dept. / Land Development Office) | $0 | $0 |
| Knoxville | Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) | $1,000 | $1,700 |
| Murfreesboro | Murfreesboro Water Resources Department (MWRD) | $2,140 | $2,500 |
| Nashville (Metro Nashville-Davidson County) | Metro Water Services (Metro Nashville) | $1,875 | $2,660 |
| Spring Hill | Spring Hill Water (City of Spring Hill) | $3,715.65 | $4,135 |
* Simplified sum of default official residential fees for a standard meter and one unit where applicable. Confirm your actual charges with the utility.
City comparison
One-time official water + sewer charges for one new single-family home with a 5/8-inch meter, as verified on each city’s own tap fee page: Nashville, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Each city page carries its own primary sourcing (ordinances, code sections, tariffs) and review date.
| City | Utility | Typical total (5/8″ meter) | What’s in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga | Tennessee American Water (water) + City of Chattanooga (sewer) | $155 | $25 water New Service Fee + $40 plumbing permit + $70 sewer connection item + $20 building sewer item; no tap or capacity fee on either side |
| Knoxville | Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) | $2,700 | $1,000 water tap + $1,700 wastewater tap, both published as “not less than” minimums; no separate capacity charge found |
| Nashville | Metro Water Services | $4,535 | $500 water tap + $360 sewer connection + $3,675 capacity charge for one assessed 350-gpd unit |
| Murfreesboro | Murfreesboro Water Resources Department (MWRD) | $4,640 | $1,200 water connection + $940 meter connection + $2,500 sewer connection, on a subdivision lot with a developer-installed water stub |
| Spring Hill | Spring Hill Water | $7,850.65 | $2,230 water system development charge + $1,300 water tapping fee + $185.65 meter fee + $3,035 sewer system development charge + $1,100 sewer connection fee, effective July 1, 2026 |
How the rows are built. Chattanooga: $25 Tennessee American Water New Service Fee + $40 city plumbing permit + $70 sanitary sewer connection item + $20 building sewer item = $155; the tariff has the company installing the service pipe to the curb and the meter at its own cost. Knoxville: KUB’s $1,000 water tap + $1,700 wastewater tap = $2,700; its water, gas, electric and wastewater fee documents list no separate capacity, impact or system development charge. Nashville: Metro Code’s $500 water tap + $360 sewer connection + one 350-gallon-per-day capacity unit × ($1,375 water + $2,300 sewer) = $500 + $360 + $3,675 = $4,535; a second unit raises the code total to $8,210. Murfreesboro: $1,200 water connection + $940 meter connection + $2,500 sewer connection = $4,640, on a subdivision lot where the developer already installed the water service stub. Spring Hill: $2,230 + $1,300 + $185.65 = $3,715.65 for water, and $3,035 + $1,100 = $4,135 for sewer, for $7,850.65 total, from July 1, 2026.
City pages with the full fee rows, worked examples and local caveats: Nashville Metro Water Services tap and capacity fees, Murfreesboro water and sewer connection fees, Spring Hill water tap and system development fees, KUB tap and connection fees in Knoxville and Chattanooga water and sewer tap fees.
What decides your number
- Which utility serves you, and whether water and sewer are the same provider. Chattanooga splits the two: Tennessee American Water (a private, state-regulated utility) for water, the City of Chattanooga for sewer. Knoxville Utilities Board bills water, wastewater, gas and electric together. Nashville, Murfreesboro and Spring Hill each run their own combined water-and-sewer department.
- Whether the utility charges a separate capacity fee. Nashville and Spring Hill both add a capacity charge on top of the physical tap or connection fee. KUB’s fee documents list no capacity charge, and neither does Chattanooga’s code. Murfreesboro’s flat per-house connection fees aren’t broken out as a separate capacity line, but they serve a similar function.
- Meter size. Spring Hill’s two system development charges scale directly with meter size: a 3/4-inch meter pays 1.2 times the 5/8-inch charge, and a 1-inch meter pays 1.6 times, taking the total to $11,430.80. KUB’s water tap rises from $1,000 to $1,400 at 1 inch. Nashville’s fee is driven by assessed capacity units rather than meter size.
- Whether a service stub already exists. In Murfreesboro, a lot with a developer-installed water stub pays $940 for the meter connection; without a stub, the tap itself costs $1,840 outside the roadway or $2,432 inside it, raising the total to $5,540 or $6,132.
- Local sewer capacity limits. Spring Hill has been under a state-ordered sewer moratorium since August 2025 (TDEC Consent Order WPC2025-0093), and Ordinance 25-29 (January 2026) allocated all remaining treatment capacity to specific listed projects and permit-ready lots. A lot without an allocation cannot get a sewer connection at any price, whatever the fee schedule says.
- Special assessment districts. Murfreesboro adds $500 to $3,150 per house in specific sewer special assessment districts, on top of its standard $2,500 sewer connection fee. Spring Hill adds a $750 territorial assessment for lots mostly inside the H.B. & T.S. Utility District.
Costs beyond the utility’s fees
None of the five totals above cover the private plumbing between the utility’s connection point and the house. These national estimates are repeated across all five city pages, not Tennessee-specific figures (methodology):
- Water service line: $30 to $150 per foot, $50 typical.
- Sewer lateral: $50 to $250 per foot, $100 typical.
- Trenching in normal soil: $4 to $15 per foot, $8 typical. Rock multiplies this 2.5 to 7 times.
- Street cut or bore where the main is across the road: $1,000 to $10,000 per crossing, about $4,000 typical.
- Plumbing permit: about $300 typical.
Worked example, repeated on four of the five city pages: a 60-foot water line at $50 a foot ($3,000) plus a 60-foot sewer lateral at $100 a foot ($6,000) add about $9,000 to the official fees, in any of these cities. In Chattanooga, where the official fee is $155, that private work runs roughly 58 times the fee itself; in Spring Hill, where the fee is already $7,850.65, it adds another $9,000 on top. Run your own lot through the calculator:
Estimate utility connection costs
Estimates are planning figures, not quotes. Confirm fees and trench rules with your utility.
Frequently asked questions
How much are water and sewer tap fees in Tennessee?
They vary enormously by city. Across the five Tennessee cities in our database, official one-time fees for a new home with a 5/8-inch meter range from $155 in Chattanooga to $7,850.65 in Spring Hill. Nashville is $4,535 at one capacity unit, Knoxville Utilities Board’s minimum is $2,700, and Murfreesboro’s standard subdivision-lot fee is $4,640.
Why is Chattanooga so much cheaper than the other Tennessee cities?
Tennessee American Water, the private utility that serves Chattanooga’s water side, installs the service pipe to the curb and the meter at its own cost, and the city charges nothing to connect to a 4-inch sewer lateral. The other four cities each bill a tap, connection or capacity charge on both water and sewer.
Does every Tennessee utility charge a separate capacity fee?
No. Nashville and Spring Hill both add a capacity charge on top of the physical tap fee. Knoxville Utilities Board’s fee documents list no capacity, impact or system development charge, and Chattanooga’s code has none either. Murfreesboro charges flat per-house connection fees instead of a separate capacity line.
Can I get a sewer tap in Spring Hill right now?
Only if your lot or project already has sewer capacity. Spring Hill has been under a state-ordered sewer moratorium since August 2025, and Ordinance 25-29 (January 2026) allocated all remaining treatment capacity to listed projects, listed permit-ready lots and permits already issued. Other lots cannot get a new sewer connection until more capacity is allocated.
Related pages
Other state hubs: North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Colorado and Arizona. City pages: Nashville, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Guides: tap fee vs. impact fee, cost to bring utilities to land, utility costs for new construction and tap fees by city.
Sources
- Nashville Metro Water Services tap & capacity fees. Reviewed Sep 24, 2026.
- Murfreesboro Water Resources tap & connection fees. Reviewed Sep 25, 2026.
- Spring Hill water tap & system development fees. Reviewed Sep 25, 2026.
- KUB tap & connection fees in Knoxville. Reviewed Sep 25, 2026.
- Chattanooga water & sewer tap fees. Reviewed Sep 25, 2026.
- Each city page above cites its own primary sources (municipal codes, ordinances and utility tariffs). National cost estimates: Utility Cost Guide benchmark methodology.