The District is the responsible agency designated by State statutes, mandates, rules, and regulations to notify property owners that sewers are available to the property. If a sewer lateral is available to your property it is your responsibility as the property owner to connect to the sewer.
In order to comply with the District’s Sewer Ordinance, you will need to apply for sewer service by completing an Application for Sewer Service. To obtain an Application for Sewer Service, email your request to engineering [at] mswd.org; be sure to include your property address in the request.
Connecting to the sewer requires that you abandon your septic tank and connect your plumbing to the sewer lateral located at your property line. Prior to performing the connection, a Sewer Opening Permit must be obtained from your land use agency (City of Desert Hot Springs or County of Riverside). The land use agency will perform the inspections and provide a final sign-off on your permit.
In most cases, seeking out a qualified licensed contractor is the best option to complete the connection work. Please note the property owner is responsible for all fees, permits, and contractor costs associated with making the connection to the sewer. Financial assistance programs are available from the District, subject to eligibility requirements for qualifying property owners.
What is the process of connecting to sewer?
Below are the required steps to complete the process of connecting your property to the sewer:
- Contact the Engineering Department to obtain an Application for Sewer Service - email your request to engineering [at] mswd.org; be sure to include your property address in the request.
- Email the signed Application for Sewer Service to engineering [at] mswd.org as a scanned PDF. (NOTE: We do not accept picture files or pictures embedded in the body of the email)
- Once we receive the application we will approve it.
- You will need to hire a contractor to abate the septic tank and connect the property to the sewer lateral.
- You will need a copy of the approved application to obtain the Sewer Opening Permit from the City/County (your contractor may do this for you).
- Once the connection has been made and the City/County has signed off on the Inspection Card you will need to provide MSWD with a copy of the signed Inspection Card.
- Once the completed Inspection Card is received by MSWD we will complete the connection process in our system.
Financial Assistance Program for Sewer Connection
In order to facilitate connections to the public sewer, MSWD has established a funding mechanism known as the Financial Assistance Program. This revolving fund is available to qualified property owners to pay contractor's and/or District fees related to sewer connections.
To see if you qualify for Financial Assistance, please review the Financial Assistance Program Checklist and complete and submit an Application for Financial Assistance. Applications and required documentation can be submitted to engineering [at] mswd.org.