Sewer Line Repair in Cascade County, MT

• Coverage across Great Falls, Black Eagle, Malmstrom AFB housing, Belt, Cascade, Ulm, Vaughn, Sun River, Simms, Fort Shaw, Stockett and Sand Coulee.
• Crews work I-15 and I-315 into Great Falls, US 87 and US 89 east toward Belt, and Highway 200 west toward Sun River and Simms.
• The oldest pipe is in the grid neighborhoods near downtown Great Falls and the north side along the Missouri River.

• Camera inspection after a backup
• Root cutting in clay tile service lines
• Cast iron replacement under basement floors
• New service line to the city main
• Excavation in frozen ground for winter breaks
• Cleanout installation at the property line

• Great Falls Resolution 10574 sets the single-family residential sewer connection fee at $421, effective July 1, 2025, for a new connection to the city system.
• The city's plumbing permit fees (effective Oct. 5, 2023) list $37.14 to issue a permit and $8.22 per fixture for repair or alteration of drainage or vent piping.
• The City of Great Falls plumbing fee schedule also lists $30.10 for a water service, which matters when the water and sewer lines are replaced in one trench.
• Method: these are published city fee schedule amounts; labor is priced per linear foot and by depth, and frost depth in a Cascade County winter raises excavation cost on any local quote.

• Step 1: Report a backup to Great Falls Utilities at 406-727-8045 so the city can check the main before you pay for private work.
• Step 2: Confirm the license. Great Falls requires a license and permits for water or sewer service line work through Planning and Community Development at 406-455-8430.
• Step 3: Pull the plumbing permit: $37.14 issuance under the city's plumbing fee schedule, plus $421 for a new single-family sewer connection under Resolution 10574.
• Step 4: Inspection follows the city code (Official Code of the City of Great Falls Title 13, utilities) before the trench is closed.

• Expansive clay: much of Great Falls sits on clay soils from old glacial lake deposits near the Missouri River, which swell when wet and shift pipe joints.
• Shale and bedrock: shallow shale around Belt and Stockett, east and south of the city, slows trenching and can force a rock bucket.
• Older homes: houses built before 1940 near downtown Great Falls often still have clay tile laterals, and boulevard tree roots enter the joints.
• Freeze and frost: deep winter frost across Cascade County means service lines sit deep and winter digs cost more.
• Cast iron: mid-century homes on the south side often have cast iron drains under the slab that scale and crack with age.
• USDA NRCS soil survey data for the Cascade County Area (survey MT613) map 757,455 of 1,534,202 acres, 49.4%, with bedrock within about 40 inches of the surface and 614,415 acres, 40.0%, on slopes of 15% or more.

Great Falls · Black Eagle · Belt · Cascade · Ulm · Vaughn · Sun River · Simms · Fort Shaw · Stockett · Sand Coulee