District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority

No person shall tap or connect to a public sewer or public sewer appurtenance without written permission of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water). Chapter 2, Water and Sanitation, Title 21 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR) covers the regulations for the public sewer system. The policy statement is in accordance with Article 200.3 of the regulations.

The type of connection to a public sewer depends upon the size of the public sewer, the size of the connection and the pipe material. When the connection cannot be made directly to a public sewer, a new manhole will have to be constructed. Usually connections to a public sewer are done by installing a Y Branch, Washington Pattern Y Thimble, if available, straight thimble, saddle, taps with a zee strap or by constructing a manhole on the public sewer. The list of connections to public sewers (included) shows where and when these connections are used. Office Manual Drawings 35.61-7 (included) shows the details of a typical zee strap connection to sewers 36-inch diameter and larger.

Most of the construction work for sewer connections is done by the applicant, who is usually a plumber, and the inspection of the work is done by the Plumbing Inspection Branch, Building and Land Regulation Administration, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA).

When a new manhole is required, the inspection of the manhole construction is done by the Engineering Inspection Branch (EIB) and an estimated cost deposit fee is required from the applicant to recover the inspection costs. When the connection is made to an existing manhole or a large sewer that can be inspected from the inside, a "Pointing Up Sewer Tap" fixed fee is charged for the cost of the Department of Sewer Services (DSS) pointing up the tap from the inside of the sewer or manhole. Installation of Y Branches is done by DSS for a fixed fee. However, when DSS cannot perform the work in a timely manner, permission is granted to the applicant to install the Y Branch. In addition, any sewer connection that is not properly watertight can allow infiltration of ground water into the public sewer, increasing the cost of wastewater treatment if the sewer is a sanitary or combined sewer.

When the applicant comes to the Documents and Permit Section (DPS) to obtain DC Water approval for the required Public Space Permit, the applicant must complete DC Water's form ES-262, Application for Special Sewer Connection, to apply for a sewer connection. DPS checks that the applicant has a valid water and sewer availability certificate and collects the applicable fee for the application type of sewer connection as follows:

1. If a new manhole is required. DPS will estimate and collect inspection costs.
2. If a Y Branch will be installed or pointing up of sewer tap by DSS a fixed fee is required. See the fee schedule.

Once the application is complete and fee deposits have been collected as required, DPS approves the Public Space Permit application. DC Water establishes a work order and schedules the work.

DC Water will coordinate their work directly with the applicant and when the work is completed they will sign off on the original work order as work completed.