ABOUT YOUR WATER
SOURCE & TREATMENT
Deer Creek Water Association's primary source of water comes from the Deer Creek aquifer, via two wells located just east of Guide Meridian, along East Smith Road.
After being chlorinated, the water enters a manganese treatment plant to remove 100% of the manganese present in the groundwater. From there the water is pumped into our distribution system and made available to each customer via radio-read meters.
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Deer Creek has an emergency intertie (back-up water source) with the City of Bellingham, and we are currently working with other neighboring water associations to develop additional interties.
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Some Deer Creek residents receive water purchased from the City of Bellingham, whose water source is Lake Whatcom. These residents receive an annual Water Quality Report from the City of Bellingham, along with a water quality attachment from Deer Creek.​
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Each customer is allocated 650 gallons of water per day. When customers remain within their water share, we can sell more shares, resulting in lower costs by spreading out the expenses across a larger customer base.
ANNUAL WATER
QUALITY REPORTS
Deer Creek Creek Water Association is comprised of two separate water systems.
The "Main" system, also known as 18418E, has two wells and supplies the water for the majority of the members in our system.
The "Guide South" system represents a small geographic area served by the City of Bellingham Water Utility. This system encompasses residents who live along Kline Road, Larson Road, King Mountain Road, and along Guide Meridian, south of Smith Road. Because water for the Guide South system is sourced from the City of Bellingham, it requires a separate Annual Water Quality Report.
LEAD SERVICE LINE INVENTORY
In 2021, the US EPA implemented the Lead and Copper Rule Revision, which included a requirement for all public water systems to complete an inventory verifying that both the public and private water service lines are not made of lead.
The use of pipes that contain lead has been prohibited since 1986, and the rules were amended again in 1996 to prohibit lead in plumbing fittings and fixtures. Although much of DCWA’s service area was constructed after these regulations, we still needed to investigate older service lines.
No Lead in the DCWA Services Lines
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More than a year of meticulous research, documentation, and inspections confirmed what we long believed: no lead pipes were found in the DCWA portion of our water system.
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Going forward, we will also investigate service lines on the customer’s side of the water meter (private service lines).
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After reviewing our contract specifications for the portion of the water line owned by DCWA, we submitted our "no lead found" report to the EPA and Department of Health in December 2025.
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Click the below button to view (and download if you wish) our current Lead Service Line Inventory on every address in our service area (33 page Adobe PDF document; 13 MB in size).
Click on the image to view (and download if you wish) a larger version of our Service Area map (2.8 MB Adobe PDF document). You can also use the +/ - tools at the top of the PDF viewing window to zoom in.
SERVICE AREA
Located just north of the City of Bellingham, Washington, Deer Creek Water Association provides water connections in two service areas:​
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Along roughly 4 miles of Guide Meridian (State Highway 539), which runs north from Bellingham; and
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Along Smith Road which runs east/west, crossing Guide Meridian 1.5 miles north of Bellingham.
If you need to know if your property is near our water mains, and whether we can provide you with water, just give us a call at 360.820.4314.
FOUR WAYS TO PAY YOUR BILL
By Mail
Send a check to:
Deer Creek Water Association
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PO Box 30230
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Bellingham, WA 98228
By Phone
Call us with your credit card or debit card
360-820-4314
BACKFLOW PREVENTION
Keeping our water safe is a two way street. If you have any of the items listed below on your property, we rely on you to protect those connections with a backflow prevention device in order to avoid cross-connection to the water supply.
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An existing well
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Fire Sprinkler system
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Lawn irrigation system
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Water makeup lines (supplying a boiler or hydronic heating)
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Swimming pool*
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Hot tub / jacuzzi tub*
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Decorative pond or fountain*
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*If connected directly to your water line
CROSS-CONNECTION CONTROL
A cross-connection is a point in a plumbing system where it is possible for a non-potable substance to come into contact with the potable drinking water supply. For homeowners, these commonly include irrigation systems, private fire sprinkler systems, boiler systems, and pool or pond equipment.
If you are an existing backflow customer, make sure your information is up to date for receiving reminders, and schedule your annual test in advance. If you have questions, or need a list of registered testers, call us at 360-820-4314.