Welcome to the City of Newport, Rhode Island Welcome to the City of Newport, Rhode Island

Contact Information

Robert C. Schultz, Jr. - Director of Utilities

Billing Inquiries: 
(401) 845-5604

General Information and all Other Inquiries:
(401) 845-5600

Emergency After Hours Contact:
(401) 845-5826

»

Contact Information

Robert C. Schultz, Jr. - Director of Utilities

Billing Inquiries: 
(401) 845-5604

General Information and all Other Inquiries:
(401) 845-5600

Emergency After Hours Contact:
(401) 845-5826

»

Pay My Bill
Billing Information
Water Meter Information
Frequently Asked Questions

Newport Water Division

The original waterworks in Newport started in 1876. The Newport Water Works Company was incorporated in 1881 and was succeeded by the Newport Water Corporation in 1929. Since 1936, the City of Newport has owned and operated the system, serving customers across Aquidneck Island. The Department of Utilities, Newport Water Division (NWD) is responsible for operating and maintaining our expansive water system. NWD operates as an enterprise fund and is responsible for its own financial accounting independent of the overall City budget. The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission regulates NWD.

The NWD water system consists of a complex network of 9 surface water reservoirs, 2 treatment plants, 5 water storage facilities, 9 pump stations for both raw and treated water, 3,300 valves, 1,000 hydrants, in addition to clearwells at the treatment plants, and close to 200 miles of water pipes. The system serves over 40,000 customers through approximately 15,000 services & meters across Aquidneck Island. Additionally, NWD sells water to Naval Station Newport and sells water to the Portsmouth Water and Fire District on a wholesale basis.
 

 Our Treatment Process

 NWD draws its raw water supply from nine surface reservoirs located in Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth, Tiverton, and Little Compton. All reservoirs are interconnected through a complex pipeline and pumping station network that delivers raw water to our treatment plants. NWD has purchased 350 acres of conservation easements to protect the raw water quality of the reservoirs.

Water is treated at either Station 1 Plant in Newport or the Lawton Valley Plant in Portsmouth, the first facilities in Rhode Island to have advanced water treatment. The combined design capacity of the plants is 16 million gallons of treated water per day. Our water consistently meets or exceeds all state and federal water quality standards. The core treatment process includes Dissolved air flotation (DAF), followed by primary granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration, and finally, post-filter advanced water treatment contractors with GAC that can be used to enhance treatment on a seasonal basis. The GAC contactors provide an additional benefit of addressing taste and odor associated with summer algae blooms in the raw water supply reservoirs.

Both plants use chlorine dioxide for preoxidation, polyaluminum chloride for coagulation, sodium hypochlorite for disinfection, and sodium hydroxide for pH adjustment. Also, water is fluoridated to prevent cavities.

Review our annual Consumer Confidence (Water Quality) Reports for more information.
 

Forms & Applications

Certain services require submitting an application for approval, such as securing a final bill before selling or buying a house, scheduling a meter test, securing temporary service, and more. View our Forms & Applications page for a comprehensive list and explanation of all our applications. Use the quick links below if you know which application you're looking for, the submission process, and want to go straight to the application.
 

Questions About Your Bill 

The Department of Utilities strives to maintain the highest quality water metering and billing system, which accurately measures consumption and tracks payments for billable services. If you have questions about your bill, visit the Billing Office page for more information or use the quick links below.

 

Lead & Drinking Water

How Newport is continuing our work to protect you by reducing the possibility of lead exposure in your drinking water.

Meter Office

The Meter Office is responsible for obtaining meter readings and to ensure consumption is measured accurately and consistently. Please visit the Water Meter page for information regarding meter tests, meter identification, how to check for leaks, and the meter reading system. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Please contact the Newport Water Division, located at 70 Halsey Street, Newport RI, at (401) 845-5600.

Please be prepared to provide basic details of the hazard's location, like street name and nearest house number. 

Water bubbling out of the ground could indicate a water main break. Please call (401) 845-5600 to report the location.

 

 

Our distribution system pressures are dictated by the elevation of water levels in our three storage tanks. The elevation of these tanks varies in our three pressure systems. The lower you are in relationship to you storage, the greater the pressure you should have.

Likewise, the higher you are in relationship to your storage tank, the lower pressure you should have. If you have uneven pressure throughout the house, certain appliances may have individual problems such as plugged screens on a kitchen sink or partially closed valves.

In some cases, aging service lines entering the house may be the problem and may require replacement. Please contact the Newport Water Division at (401) 845-5600 if you have additional questions. 

 

First, determine whether the problem is hot or cold. Run them individually. If the problem occurs in the hot water only, it may be a hot water heater problem. If the discolored water is in the cold line, it may be your service line or the water main. Run several cold water taps for one or two minutes. If the water clears up, it is likely your service line.

If the water remains dirty after several minutes of flushing, it is likely the main and we suggest you call the Newport Utilities Division at (401) 845-5600.

Please remember that distribution systems are many miles of connected water mains and discolored water problems are typical and inevitable. They occur due to a variety of actions including fire hydrant operation, valve operation, aging mains, pressure testing and flushing and will generally clean up with no action. 

 

The process begins by contacting the Newport Water Division, located at 70 Halsey Street, Newport RI, at (401) 845-5600. A water service application must be completed and submitted with a drawing for review. If you are applying for a Fire Service it MUST have Fire Marshall approval prior to submission to our department.

 Tap sizes available for fire services are 4"-12" with various annual charges. The Water Division will request additional information if necessary prior to issuing a permit to tie in. Tie-ins may not occur prior to written approval from the Newport Water Division. Fire services must be exclusive of any other service. 

 

The process begins by contacting the Newport Water Division, located at 70 Halsey Street, Newport, RI, at (401) 845-5600. A water service application must be completed and submitted with a drawing for review.

The Water Division will request additional information if necessary prior to issuing a permit to tie in. Tie-ins may not occur prior to written approval from the Newport Water Division. Domestic water services must be exclusive of any other service.

 

For your convenience, you can now view and pay your water bills online. If you look on the front of your monthly water bill, you will see the Account number and PIN number.  This is the information you will need to pay the bill online.  The website is https://cityofnewport.com/UtilityBill. .  VISA and MasterCard are accepted and a nominal convenience fee is charged for this service. You may pay your bill in person at 43 Broadway, Collections Department or mail it as well.

If you should need further assistance, please call the Billing Clerk at 845-5604.  Please have your account number handy so we may provide prompt service. 

Beginning in Fiscal Year 2015 all customers will be billed monthly with payment due on or before the last day of the month. 

No. It is the policy of the Newport Water Division to keep the water/sewer utility in the name of the owner of record. The bill is mailed to the owner and it is the responsibility of the owner to forward the billing along to their tenants. 

You may contact the Meter Section at 845-5606 for assistance with your water meter.

Important Utilities News

Hardening Easton's Pond: A Vision for the City

Hardening Easton's Pond: A Vision for the City

The Newport Water Division (NWD) has been working to improve the Easton's Pond reservoir complex for nearly two decades, beginning with a 2006-07 Easton Pond Dam & Moat Study. 

Since then, the NWD has completed a number of critical projects, including hardening several sections of the Pond's earthen embankments, upgrading a vital spillway and pump station, and improving the functionality of the surrounding moat. A 2019 Climate Change Resiliency Assessment expanded on the challenges facing the Pond and laid the foundation for a more ambitious long-term $50 million resiliency project outlined in a 2023 Conceptual Design Report: North & South Easton Pond Dams Resiliency Project. The City is currently in the process of applying for significant funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's BRIC grant program to help realize that project. For more details on the Easton's Pond complex, visit our NWD Capital Projects page or click the links below. 

Learn more →