The short answer
Once the City finishes sewer in your street and mails a Notice of Operational Completion, you hire a licensed plumber (and usually an excavator) to run a sewer lateral from your house to the new main, decommission the septic tank with a Deschutes County permit, and pull a City of Bend plumbing permit. Public fees for 2026–27 are about $11,500 if you connect within two years, plus your private construction costs.
See who to call ↓Is this you?
- You’re on septic inside Bend city limits and the City has built, or is building, sewer in your street.
- You received a Notice of Operational Completion from the City.
- Your septic system is failing and sewer is available nearby.
- You’re buying a home on septic in Bend and want to know the future cost.
Only in Bend
What’s different here
2026–27 public fees
From the City’s 2026–2027 program reference (valid through June 30, 2027):
- Connection fee: $5,335.17 if you connect within two years of the Notice of Operational Completion; $10,670.33 after that.
- System development charges: $6,170 for an average single-unit residential property, regardless of timing (it can vary by property).
- Total public cost: about $11,505 within two years, or about $16,840 after, plus your private costs.
The City adjusts fees each year, and the schedule in effect when you submit your permit is the one that applies.
Basalt is the budget wildcard
Bend sits on lava rock. A sewer lateral that hits basalt can need a rock hammer or saw-cutting, and that’s the most common reason a quote grows. Ask every bidder how they price rock, and whether they’ve dug on your street.
Help paying for it
Owners who qualify can ask the City to fund their connection fees through its customer assistance program (households at or below 80% of area median income). The City also points homeowners to Craft3 Clean Water Loans and NeighborImpact for the private-side work.
How neighborhoods get sewer
Neighborhoods apply to the program (applications are due September 1 each year), and the City selects projects and builds the main in the street. Questions go to the Septic to Sewer Program at 541-330-4000, ext. 2, or septic2sewer@bendoregon.gov.
Who you’ll hire
Most conversions take a licensed plumber for the connection and permits, and an excavator for the trench and tank work. Some plumbers sub out the digging; ask who does what. These Bend plumbers list sewer line work on their own sites.
Severson Plumbing
63110 Nels Anderson Rd, Bend (also Redmond)
Camera and sewer line inspections, plus general plumbing
Family-run since 1977.
CCB #63655
Renew Plumbing Services
Bend and Central Oregon
Sewer repair, sewer locating and drain replacement
CCB #116029
Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Central Oregon
Central Oregon
Drain and sewer specialists with 24/7 service
For pumping and inspections while you’re still on septic, see our Central Oregon septic services guide.
Listed in no particular order. Services were checked on each company’s own website on Oct. 27, 2026. Verify any contractor’s license on the Oregon CCB site. Need a general plumber? Compare all Bend plumbers.
The steps, in order
- The City finishes sewer in your street and mails a Notice of Operational Completion. Your two-year discount window starts.
- Get bids from a licensed plumber and, usually, an excavator. Ask each to put rock, restoration and permits in writing.
- Get a septic tank abandonment permit from Deschutes County.
- Get a plumbing permit from the City of Bend and pay the City’s fees.
- Your contractor decommissions the tank, runs the lateral and connects the house. Inspections follow.
- Restore the yard, driveway or landscaping the trench crossed.
Questions to ask before you hire
Ask
- Who pulls the City plumbing permit and the County abandonment permit?
- How is the old tank decommissioned (pumped, crushed, filled)?
- How do you price basalt, and what’s the cap or allowance?
- Is yard, driveway and irrigation restoration included?
- Will you camera the existing house drain before connecting?
- How long will we be without a working toilet?
Red flags
- A bid that doesn’t mention rock at all.
- No mention of the County abandonment permit.
- Waiting past two years without a reason (the connection fee doubles).
- A price that leaves restoration “to the owner” without saying so up front.
Common questions
How much does it cost to connect to sewer in Bend?
For 2026–27, public fees are a $5,335.17 connection fee (if within two years of the City’s notice) plus $6,170 in system development charges, about $11,505 total, plus the private cost of the lateral, tank abandonment and permits.
Do I have to connect to sewer when it’s available?
Talk to the program about your property. Connecting within two years of the Notice of Operational Completion gets you the 50% connection fee discount; after that the fee doubles.
Is there financial help?
Qualifying owners can ask the City to fund the connection fee through its customer assistance program, and the City points to Craft3 Clean Water Loans and NeighborImpact for private-side costs.
Who decommissions the septic tank?
Your contractor, under a tank abandonment permit from Deschutes County.
