New Customers

What you will need to do, and the fees you are required to pay, are different depending upon which category applies to you, whether you are buying an existing house, building a new house, or building or buying where water lines are newly constructed. Refer to the relevant information below.

Understanding Thermal Expansion Tanks
Note: Del-Co has undertaken a program to upgrade all the meters in our system. At the same time we are installing a check valve in the meter pit if one does not already exist. In doing this, we are recommending that our customers install a thermal expansion tank in their plumbing.

Those of you who live in a home built in the last six or seven years may have noticed a large balloon-like tank connected to the piping near your hot water tank. This device is known as a thermal expansion tank. Its purpose is to protect your household plumbing in the event of a pressure increase brought about by the heating of the water in your hot water tank.
To understand why this might happen we need to first look at how the plumbing in your house connects to the water main in the street (See Figure 1). Water is delivered to your house through a service line. Before the service line enters your house it passes through a meter pit, which is usually located in your front yard. The inside of the meter pit contains a small check valve that prevents water from moving from your house back into the water main. Such an occurrence might happen if the main were to break, causing a local depressurization of the distribution system. The check valve prevents any possible contaminates from entering the main where they might affect other users on our system. More information on this is available in the Backflow Prevention section of this site.

Click Here to learn more about how a thermal expansion tank works and help you in selecting a proper size tank.

Use our Built-in Calculator to help select the proper size of the thermal expansion tank for your needs.

Moving into an existing house on our system

This is the easiest way to become a customer.

Your new home is already part of our system so all you need to do is notify our customer service department and we will turn on your meter and take an initial reading. You will be sent a Water User's Agreement , which you need to sign and return.

If your property has an irrigation system or an auxiliary water system, such as a well or cistern, you will need to follow our backflow prevention requirements.

To find out more, follow the link to our Backflow Prevention Program page.
Buying a home in a new subdivision

If you are buying a home in a new subdivision, your tap fee has already been paid by your developer.

Your developer will complete a tap transfer form and either gives it to you at closing, or they will send it directly to Del-Co. This transfers ownership of the tap from the developer to the property.

A ten dollar membership fee to Del-Co is required at the time of transfer. This may be paid by either you or your developer, but should accompany the tap transfer form. You will also be given a Water user's Agreement , which you will need to sign and return.

If your home has an irrigation system or an auxiliary water system, such as a well or cistern, you will need to follow our backflow prevention requirements.

To find out more, follow the link to our Backflow Prevention Program page.
Building a new home or living where water lines are newly constructed

To become a customer, call our customer service office and request a New Customer Packet and easement. The New Customer Packet contains the Water user's Agreement and the Cross Connection Questionnaire . If we do not already have an easement across your property we will send one with the packet. Complete and sign all of these forms and return them to Del-Co along with the required tap fee. Most residential customers use a 5/8-inch meter. See our Tap Fee Schedule for a complete list of tap fees.

A 12-foot wide easement is required along the front of your property for a water line and the meter pit. The easement must be notarized. Notary Publics are available in our office if you wish to bring your easement in to sign it. Meters are located in buried pits in your front yard near the right-of-way. The cost of setting the meter and connecting it to the water main are included in your tap fees. You will, however, need to have your service line constructed from your house to the meter and connected to it. This portion of the service line is owned and maintained by the property owner. See: Guide to Selecting a Service Line.

Once the tap fee and paperwork have been returned to Del-Co, the customer will be added to our list and scheduled for meter installation. Because of full schedules and permit requirements, it may take from 4 to 8 weeks for the meter to be installed. The customer can expedite the installation by either installing the service line or staking the area where they want the meter to be placed as soon as possible after purchasing the tap. Del-Co will not schedule the meter installation until the customer has either staked the location of the meter or installed the service line. If the customer purchases a tap and does not wish to have the meter installed immediately, please notify our office of the approximate time installation is desired. Once the meter is installed, minimum service charges will apply, even if water is not used.

If the customer installs the service line prior to Del-Co setting the meter, Del-Co will hook up the service line as a courtesy providing one of the following types of pipe are used on the customer’s service line:
  • 1-inch iron pipe size (IPS) Polyethylene (PE) pipe, SDR -7
  • ¾-inch copper tube size (CTS) plastic tubing, SDR-9
  • 1-inch CTS plastic tubing, SDR-9
  • 2-inch PVC, SDR-21
Del-Co may hook up other sizes if the customer furnishes the proper adapters and makes prior arrangements with Del-Co (ask to speak with the Distribution Superintendent). Del-Co will not return to the site to hook up the service line after the meter is installed.
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