Hauled Water

Instead of water arriving through a pipe in the street, hauled water is drinking water brought to a home by truck and stored in a tank on the property, the water source for homes that have no city water line and no well. A hauler fills a tanker truck at a public fill point and delivers it into the home's storage tank, also called a cistern. The house then runs off that tank, drawing water with a pressure pump so faucets and showers work like any other home. You only notice the tank when it runs low and needs a refill.

In Arizona, hauled water is common on rural and unincorporated land, and Rio Verde Foothills is the best-known example. There, with no municipal water, haulers fill at the EPCOR standpipe, a regulated fill station that opened January 1, 2026, and deliver to home tanks that commonly run 2,500 gallons and up. A full-time family home often uses a 5,000 to 10,000 gallon tank, sized to hold two to four weeks of supply so a late delivery never leaves the home dry. The cost has two parts: the per-gallon water rate at the fill station and the hauler's separate delivery fee.

For example, a buyer building on a Rio Verde Foothills lot with a poor well outlook may choose hauled water over drilling. They place a tank on a level pad a delivery truck can reach year-round, open an EPCOR account, and schedule deliveries. The tank, its pad, and the pump all have to fit on the build-on-your-lot site plan and stay within their setbacks from the well, septic, and property lines.

One thing to plan for early is financing. A standard FHA loan will not accept a hauled-water cistern on new construction, since HUD treats cisterns and "other alternative water sources" as not acceptable for mortgage insurance on a new build. That is why many hauled-water homes are built with a well, with cash, or through a local portfolio lender. Hauled water is a reliable, normal way to supply a desert home, but the storage tank, the delivery access, and the loan all need to be planned together before the slab is poured.