Water supply and wastewater due diligence

Why a line on the plat is not an answer

Title work and a Phase I do not tell you whether a tract can be served. A main at the property line does not prove capacity. The pipe at your connection, every lift station downstream and the plant all need room for your flow. Only the utility's own commitment binds it, so we get its answer in writing.

When to start

In the first week after you go under contract. During the option period, the answers can still change the price, the structure or the decision to close. After closing, you carry the problem at the price you paid.

What we check

1. Who holds the right to serve. We check the Public Utility Commission's CCN records, and find the city or district where no certificate shows.
2. Capacity at your connection. Service requests to the providers, a check of the downstream lines and lift stations, and how close the plant is to its permit's expansion triggers.
3. The options without a connection. A septic system for small flows, a plant under a TLAP or TPDES permit, or 210E reuse where the site has an eligible industrial stream. TCEQ expects you to ask permitted systems within three miles first.
4. Water supply. The provider's capacity, or the rules for a well and a public water system if you supply it yourself.
5. Fire flow. What the fire code official will require, and whether the system can deliver it.
6. Local layers. An Edwards Aquifer zone or a city's own design manual can change which options are real.

What you get

A written answer: can the site be served, by which path, at what cost range, and with which permit steps in what order. If it cannot be served on your schedule, we say so in writing. The findings go into a site assessment report reviewed by a licensed Professional Engineer.

What affects time and cost

• How fast the utilities answer. We send the service requests in week one.
• The site's options. A tract with no connection needs more paths compared.
• Aquifer and terrain. An Edwards zone or a lift station changes the comparison.

The review is a fixed fee per site, credited toward our design and permitting if you go ahead. One site or several can go in one review.