Plumbers in Aurora, CO

East of Denver, spread across three counties

Aurora lies directly east of Denver, and its center is about 14 miles from downtown in a straight line. Most of the city is in Arapahoe County, but it also stretches into Adams and Douglas counties and covers more land than Denver itself. The 2020 Census put the population at 386,261. The original Fletcher townsite and older neighborhoods sit in the northwest near Stanley Marketplace and the Anschutz Medical Campus, while master-planned communities keep pushing east along E-470 toward Aurora Reservoir.

One city utility for the tap and the drain

Aurora Water stores mountain snowmelt in reservoirs across the Arkansas, Colorado and South Platte basins and adds South Platte water recaptured through its Prairie Waters System, which relies on riverbank filtration. The water is disinfected with chloramines, and the utility's report lists average hardness near 136 ppm, enough that scale on water heater elements and aerators is worth keeping an eye on. On the wastewater side, the city's Sand Creek Water Reclamation Facility cleans flow from homes and businesses for reuse as irrigation water.

City code gives Aurora Water ownership of the service line from the main up to and including the meter pit. Everything from the meter pit to the house belongs to the owner, so a leak along that run is a private repair. If a property needs a backflow assembly, it must be tested before a certificate of occupancy is issued and at least yearly after that by an ASSE- or ABPA-certified tester, with proof sent to Aurora Water.

Older northwest blocks and service line replacement

According to Aurora Water, lead was sometimes used in service lines installed in 1960 or earlier. The utility offers an online service line material lookup, and qualifying Original Aurora homes built in 1960 or earlier can have lead lines, or galvanized lines that require replacement, swapped out at no cost once the owner signs an agreement form. Out in the newer subdivisions, the typical requests are water heaters, shutoff valves, fixtures and irrigation backflow assemblies.

Permits and gas safety

Permits come from the Building Division of Aurora's Public Works Department, and its building permit application covers plumbing reviews and inspections and even asks for a water heater's BTU input. Xcel Energy supplies natural gas in Aurora. If you ever smell gas, get everyone out first, then call 911 and Xcel's gas emergency line, 1-800-895-2999, from outside.

How Aurora differs from Denver, and what a call involves

Inside Denver, Denver Water fills the pipes and the city's Wastewater Management runs the sewer. In Aurora one municipal utility handles both, and its after-hours number for water emergencies such as a main break is 303.739.6772. For problems on your side of the meter pit, call the number on this page, describe what is happening and whether the water is shut off, and you will be connected with an independent plumber serving Aurora. Price and scheduling are worked out between you and that plumber.