Who owns the water service line in Huntington Beach, CA
Huntington Beach owns the water service and the meter and keeps them up - the code says they "shall remain at all times the property of the City and shall be maintained, repaired and renewed by the City Water Department when rendered unserviceable by normal wear and tear". But the meter sits "at the curb line of the street", and the City "shall not be responsible for any leakage, breakage or seepage for any pipe situated between any meter properly installed at the curb and the private premises". That run is yours. This is Huntington Beach's own statement.
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours from the meter to your building
Why, and what to doYours from your property line to your building
Why, and what to do
Where the responsibility divides
- Huntington Beach
- The water service and the meter, owned and kept up. Municipal Code section 14.16.030 provides that "all water service and water meters installed or required to be installed by the City Water Department shall remain at all times the property of the City and shall be maintained, repaired and renewed by the City Water Department when rendered unserviceable by normal wear and tear". Section 14.16.070 places those meters "at the curb line of the street or near the property line in alleys, whenever and wherever practicable", to "be protected and maintained as a part of the operation of the department".
- The property owner
- The pipe from the meter at the curb to the building, and everything inside it. Section 14.16.090 states that the City "shall not be responsible for any leakage, breakage or seepage for any pipe situated between any meter properly installed at the curb and the private premises served thereby", nor for "damage to person or property because of any leakage, breakage or seepage from, or accident or damage to any meter or pipe situated within any private premises".
- What else is worth knowing
- Two things decide what you pay. The first is what caused it. The City's duty to maintain, repair and renew its own service and meter runs only to what is "rendered unserviceable by normal wear and tear"; section 14.16.040 charges the consumer where a replacement, repair or adjustment is "rendered necessary by an act resulting from malice, carelessness or neglect of the consumer or any member of his or her family, or anyone employed by him or her", and expressly includes damage from hot water or steam from a water heater or boiler. So a meter your contractor breaks is your bill. The second is where the pipe is. Because the meter is set at the curb line, the length under the parkway, the sidewalk and your front garden is on your side of it and the City disclaims responsibility for it in terms. If your meter was placed inside your premises for your own convenience under section 14.16.080, the City may require it moved back to the curb line and withhold service until it is.
What this does not tell you
- This describes who is responsible for which part of the pipe. It is not a record of what your own service line is made of.
- This authority's service line inventory - the record of which pipes are lead, and where - has not been matched here yet. Ask the utility for yours.
Your other pipe has a different answer
For the sewer lateral, Huntington Beach says:
The City pays for the run under the road. Huntington Beach Municipal Code § 14.54.035(C) provides that the "City will pay the cost of repair and maintenance of all lateral lines from the City-owned sewer main through the public right-of-way to the private property line", and that "the owner is responsible for all costs of repair and maintenance of all lateral lines on private property not within the public right-of-way". The City took ownership of that portion in January 2008. Your side is the part across your own land.
Your sewer lateral is yours to the property line; your water line stops being yours at the meter.
Who pays for the sewer lateral in Huntington Beach, CAHow this compares across California
- Why your two pipes disagree — the places where the sewer and water authorities contradict each other about the run beneath the road.
- Which water systems know what is buried — how much of each California system’s network the utility can actually identify.