Dear New Resident,

The Donala Water and Sanitation District would like to welcome you to the subdivision. Our District was formed solely to provide water and wastewater service to the area. We have twelve water wells, two water treatment plants, and a wastewater treatment plant which are closely monitored by the Colorado Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency. The District is a government entity overseen by a Board of Directors elected by the residents of the District. As with all areas of Colorado, our water rates are relatively higher than parts of the country where water is plentiful; but we keep them as low as possible. Remember that you control the amount of water you use and therefore, the size of the water bill. Large lawns can mean large water bills in the summer. We have established watering restrictions which regulate irrigation throughout the district. For further information regarding irrigation standards and other valuable information, please see the following links.

Residential Water and Sewer Service Fees for 2023:

A) Water – See our 2023 Rate Resolution

     Multifamily and multifamily irrigation – See our 2023 Rate Resolution

B) Sewer - See our 2023 Rate Resolution

C) Billing will be on a monthly basis to include minimums and water usage. Water meters are usually read the last business day of each month unless affected by a weekend or holiday. Bills are produced and sent out the first week of each month. If you receive paper bills, you run the risk of the bill being lost or delivered late. We are unable to control the delivery of the bill once it has been handed over to the post office. If you find your bill is not arriving with ample time for you to make the payment by the due date, you may consider utilizing our e-bill option. Billing preferences can be updated through our online portal or by contacting the office. If you do not receive your bill, please call our office. Full payment is due on the 24th of each month.

D) Due to Colorado Statute 24-72-204 personal financial information of customers can only be provided to a “person of interest”. Water and sewer bill information is classified as personal financial information. Therefore, when you signed up for service you were asked who would be authorized to receive such information as a “person of interest”. If we are lacking specific contact information, we use the name passed to us by the closing company or builder. Tenants should be aware that owners of the property and property managers are always considered authorized persons of interest.

E) We invite you to take advantage of our automatic payment withdrawal program. You can sign up through our online portal on our website, www.donalawater.org. This should help to eliminate late payments or disconnect notices. You will continue to receive a statement with monthly charges.

F) We provide several options for paying your bill. Payments may be mailed or dropped off at our main office (see below for address).  Payments may also be placed in one of our two postage-free drop boxes located within the district. They are black metal boxes with a slot and marked with our name. One is located at the entrance to the parking lot of our Holbein office and the second is located outside of King Soopers on Baptist Road near the U.S. mailbox. You may also utilize our online payment portal to pay via credit card or e-check. Finally, we can accept credit cards or e-check payments over the phone. Any payments being mailed should be sent to:

            Donala Water and Sanitation District

            15850 Holbein Drive

            Colorado Springs, CO 80921

G) Each home in the District is required to have an operating water meter. Should work or repairs be necessary to any Donala owned equipment, we must have access to the property to perform the work. New houses built after January 1994 should also have a backflow prevention device installed in the form of a dual check valve. Those of you taking ownership of an older home may want to have a backflow device installed in your plumbing as well. It prevents backflow from a non-potable source in case there is a break in a line and sudden loss of pressure. If you are interested, you can contact a local plumbing company for more information. Donala does not install backflow devices.

H) In case a water meter malfunctions or fails to register, the customer will be charged an average consumption. The District will repair or replace the defective meters free of charge (unless there is obvious tampering).

I) If you experience water pressure problems, the culprit is most likely the pressure reducing valve (PRV) in your house. The pressure reducing valve is near the meter. If you experience a leak at the meter, it is usually because the meter is not built to withstand the high pressure delivered to the house. The pressure reducing valve “comes off the shelf” designed to regulate at about 55 pounds per square inch (PSI). This is usually adequate for most homes, and much more than that could lead to problems with over pressuring your hot water heater and dishwasher. Many homeowners have two pressure reducing valves installed and we highly recommend it. The first PRV should be upstream (before) the meter and serves to protect the meter should there be any sudden fluctuations in the system pressure. If you have two valves, the second one is probably downstream of the off-shoot to your irrigation system.

J) You should also know where your water valve “box” is located. The valve box is a 4” diameter pipe with an iron lid on it that provides accessibility to the curb stop valve that controls the water to your home. If there is ever a break or a leak in your line between the valve and your home, this valve is the only way to turn off the water. This box must be accessible. Most valve boxes are within 10 feet of the curb in the front yard, and they should be flush with a low-cut lawn (so as not to interfere with your lawnmower). We have a diagram of most service line locations on each lot. If you need help in locating the “box”, please call us. If your valve box is below the surface, you may consider exposing it and adding an irrigation box to improve access in the event of an emergency.

K) If you plan on renting your property, we encourage you to keep a large enough deposit to pay a final water/sewer bill. Although we will make every attempt to collect from the tenant, the ultimate responsibility for the payment lies with the property owner. If necessary, we will terminate water services before a new tenant moves in, and/or place a lien on the property.

Should you have any questions or problems, do not hesitate to call the District at (719) 488-3603.