What makes Keyport different from the rest of North Kitsap is the sewer. The village and the base are connected to Kitsap County's system, with flows carried to the Central Kitsap plant, so most of our work here is on the house side of a sewer connection rather than on septic pumps. Water comes from a Kitsap PUD community system, with the base on its own supply.
We give a flat price before any work starts and send it to your phone to approve. Our repairs carry a satisfaction guarantee and extended warranty. As a veteran-owned company we work with a lot of Navy households, including inspections for families buying in Keyport before they arrive from another duty station.
Keyport at a glance for plumbing
Water
Kitsap PUD operates the Keyport community water system for the village. The Navy base has its own supply. Homes down the road toward Brownsville and Virginia Point may be on North Perry Avenue Water District or private wells depending on the parcel.
Sewer or septic
The village and the Navy station are on Kitsap County sewer, with flows pumped to the Central Kitsap Treatment Plant. The county has listed Keyport among the areas it serves since the plant opened. Properties outside the small sewered core toward Virginia Point and the Brownsville road are typically on septic.
Homes
Keyport is a compact village of early-1900s through 1950s houses built for torpedo station workers, with a handful of newer homes squeezed onto the waterfront. Small lots, short setbacks, and plumbing that has been patched for a century: galvanized supply, cast iron drains, and additions with whatever pipe was on hand.
Ground and weather
The village sits on a small, low peninsula jutting into Liberty Bay, with water on three sides and a lagoon on the base. Ground is close to sea level with a high, tidal water table. The slopes rising toward the Brownsville road are glacial till. Salt air and brackish groundwater are hard on buried steel. Sheltered compared with Hansville but still exposed to wind across Liberty Bay in winter storms. King tides push water into the lowest crawlspaces and drains on the peninsula. The December 2022 freeze and the January 2024 cold snap caught the older houses' uninsulated crawlspaces and exposed hose bibs.
Century-old pipe on a wet peninsula
Keyport sits barely above the tide. The crawlspaces under the village houses are damp year-round and wet at king tide, and the cast iron drain lines resting in that soil have been rusting from the outside and the inside for eighty or ninety years. When the bottom of the pipe finally gives way, the first sign is a smell in the crawlspace or a wet patch in the yard that never dries. We camera the line, replace what has failed with Charlotte PVC, and hang the new pipe so it holds its slope.
The supply side is galvanized steel in most pre-1960 houses here. Salt air outside and decades of rust inside have narrowed it to a fraction of its original bore, so pressure is weak at the shower and the water runs rusty in the morning. A PEX repipe through the existing walls and crawlspace, with a new ball valve main shutoff by the door, is the fix we recommend and perform most often in Keyport.
Some houses still have a galvanized service line from the PUD meter to the house. We can check it at the meter in a few minutes and replace it in polyethylene if it is original.
Sewer connections in a small village
Keyport is sewered, which is unusual for a community its size, because the Navy station needed it. The county main runs through the village, and each house owns its side sewer to the connection. Those side sewers are often original clay, and the big maples and firs along the streets have found the joints. A toilet that gurgles when the tub drains, or a cleanout that overflows in a storm, points to roots or an offset in that line.
We scope the side sewer with the camera, locate the trouble spot from the surface, and repair it with a new two-way cleanout so the next cleaning is quick. Lines that have bellied or collapsed are replaced in the shortest trench the repair allows. For home purchases we record the scope and write a summary buyers can use.
Water, pressure and the PUD system
Kitsap PUD runs the Keyport water system for the village, so pressure and quality problems are usually inside the house: a galvanized line, a failed pressure regulator, or a clogged aerator. We measure pressure at a hose bib before recommending anything. Down the road toward Brownsville and Virginia Point, homes may be on North Perry Avenue Water District or on a private well, and we service pumps and pressure tanks for the well homes.
Water heaters, closets and tides
Keyport water heaters live in closets and corners that were never designed for them. We install Bradford White and A. O. Smith tanks sized for the space and the household, add the expansion tank and seismic strapping, and set a drain pan with a line to daylight where the heater sits over finished floor. Cascade Natural Gas service is limited here, so most replacements are electric; a heat pump water heater in a garage or utility room is worth a look for anyone watching the bill.
Because the water table rises with the tide, a crawlspace sump pump is a sound investment in the village. We install Liberty pumps with check valves and discharge lines that carry water away from the foundation, and battery backups for homes that lose power in winter storms.
Navy families and out-of-area buyers
A lot of Keyport houses change hands when a family rotates in or out of the station. We do whole-home plumbing inspections for buyers who cannot walk the crawlspace themselves, with a sewer scope, pressure test, water heater check and photos of the pipe material, so the decision is made with the facts. For sellers, we fix the things an inspector will flag before the house is listed.
Plumbing problems we see most in Keyport
Local patterns
- Galvanized supply lines in the torpedo-station-era houses, corroded and low on pressure
- Cast iron drains sitting in wet, tidal crawlspace soil
- Side sewer roots and offsets in the village's older clay lines
- Crawlspace groundwater at high tide and in storms, needing sump pumps
- Frozen hose bibs and crawlspace lines in the recent cold snaps
- Water heaters crammed into closets without expansion tanks or pans
- Septic pumps on the outlying lots toward Virginia Point
Neighborhoods and areas in Keyport we serve
We work throughout Keyport, including Keyport village, The Keyport peninsula waterfront, Washington Avenue and the main gate area, Virginia Point, South Keyport and the Brownsville road, Liberty Bay shoreline and Dogfish Bay, and around Naval Undersea Museum, Naval Base Kitsap Keyport, the torpedo station, Keyport county beach park across from the main gate, Port of Keyport dock, Keyport Bible Church, Liberty Bay and Port Orchard Bay. Population is under 600 in the village itself, which is one of the smallest communities we serve; ZIP codes include 98345.
Keyport plumbing questions
How long does it take you to reach Keyport?
About 35 to 40 minutes from Port Orchard up Highway 3 and out Route 308. We group Keyport with Poulsbo and Silverdale calls and text when the truck is on its way.
Is Keyport on sewer?
The village and the Navy station are on Kitsap County sewer, with flows treated at the Central Kitsap plant. Properties outside the small sewered core toward Virginia Point and the Brownsville road are often on septic.
Who supplies water in Keyport?
Kitsap PUD runs the village system. The base has its own supply. Homes down the road may be on North Perry Avenue Water District or private wells.
The crawlspace floods at high tide. Is that a plumbing problem?
It is a groundwater problem that becomes a plumbing problem, because wet soil rots cast iron and rusts galvanized pipe. A sump pump with a proper discharge and a vapor barrier keeps the crawlspace dry and the new pipe sound.
Our 1930s house has weak pressure in the shower. Is that the PUD's fault?
Almost never. The PUD delivers good pressure to the meter; the galvanized pipe between the meter and the shower has corroded nearly shut. We can prove it with a gauge at the hose bib and at the fixture, then quote a PEX repipe.
Can you scope the sewer line before we buy in Keyport?
Yes. The side sewers here are often original clay with roots. We record the video and write a summary you can bring to the negotiation.
Do you offer any consideration for Navy families?
We are a veteran-owned company and we work with Navy households every week. Call and talk to Corinne about scheduling around a move or a deployment; we do what we can.
