Denver Water, the public utility that provides and manages drinking water infrastructure in the metro area, is raising rates this year.
On its website, the public utility said new rates will likely increase monthly water bills by an average of about $2.45 to $3.30 for customers, depending on where they live, if they use 104,000 gallons of water annually.
A household of four people typically consumes 73,000 gallons per year, according to figures provided by Denver Water.
Denver Water charges both a fixed monthly rate based on meter size and a rate that increases depending on how much water is used. Both will be increasing. A full outline of 2026’s rates can be found on Denver Water’s website.
New rates have already taken effect, so the next water bill will potentially be higher. The raises are relatively minimal — the per 1,000-gallon rate will go up about 4 percent, and the fixed rate will go up from 5 to 13 percent, depending on how big your meter is.
Officials said the rate increase is needed to pay for major capital projects currently underway. It said it plans to invest about $1.7 billion into infrastructure over the next decade to “maintain, repair, protect and upgrade the system.”
Most notably, Denver Water has been working on its lead-pipe removal program, which aims to replace all lead service lines in its service area with copper lines. The program started in 2020 and is expected to finish in 2034.
Denver Water is also in the process of building an expansion to the Gross Reservoir in Boulder County, which would triple the reservoir capacity by raising the height of the dam. The project has been challenged in court by environmentalists who argued that the project would divert vital water from the Colorado River.
