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Who owns the water service line in Monrovia, CA

Which part of the pipe is yours

your buildingproperty linesidewalkstreetmain
The thick length is yours.

If something’s wrong

Who to call first about the water service line

BelowGrid has no first-call guidance on file from Monrovia about the water service line.

The documents this answer is built on

Who is responsible for which part

Monrovia's Utility Department owns and repairs the service connection, meter included, wherever it runs. Section 13.04.110 provides that "The service connection, whether located on public or private property, is the property of the city", and that "The service connection, including the meter and the meter box, shall be repaired and maintained by the Utility Department at its expense, except for damage caused by determinable negligence." This is Monrovia's own statement.

Monrovia
The service from the main to the curb and the meter, the meter box and their fittings. Section 13.04.110 provides that the service "shall be installed from the water distribution main to curbline" and that "Meters shall be installed at the curb and shall be owned by the city."
The property owner
The water line from the meter at the curb into the property. Section 13.04.110 provides that "The Department shall not be responsible for the installation and maintenance of waterlines beyond the end of its service."

What else is worth knowing

The meter at the curb is the line: before it, a leak is the Utility Department's to repair at its own expense; after it, the pipe is yours. The one exception on the City's side is "damage caused by determinable negligence", which is charged to whoever caused it - section 13.04.280 makes the customer liable for damage to a meter or other City property caused by the customer or their contractors. Check the name on your water bill first: the City supplies almost all of Monrovia, but a small area is served by California American Water, whose own rules apply there. The State's register also puts a small part of Monrovia in California American Water's Duarte system's service area; if California American Water's Duarte system bills you, its own rules apply.

Sources

Monrovia Municipal Code section 13.04.110, Service connections

Also quoted:

Checked

What Monrovia reported to the State about service-line materials

Federal rules required every community water system to inventory its service lines and publish the result. These are the figures this one filed.

The inventory records what each line is made of: lead, galvanized requiring replacement, non-lead, or lead status unknown. “Still unclassified” counts the lines whose material has not been identified. It does not mean they are lead.

Monrovia has classified more of its service lines than most of California: 0.00% of its lines are unclassified, against 9.2% statewide.

Service lines reported
9,447
Still unclassified
0 (0.00%)
Across California, 9.2% of service lines are unclassified.
Share of service lines still unclassified
  • Monrovia0.00%
  • California9.2%

What this page cannot 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.
  • The State's service area map puts 98% of Monrovia's land inside the boundary it maps for the city's own water system. Within the same city limits it also maps "CAL-AM WATER COMPANY - DUARTE" (1%). Measured 25 Sep 2026.
  • Classified does not mean inspected. Across California only 22% of service lines were established by field inspection; most of the rest come from records, the year of construction, or a predictive model.
  • These figures were submitted to the State by the water system itself and were read on 4 Sep 2026. They may not reflect its current inventory - ask the water system to confirm anything about a specific address.
Monrovia: official site

Your other pipe: the sewer lateral

For the sewer lateral, Monrovia gives the opposite answer to the one above:

Monrovia puts the whole lateral and its junction with the main on the owner. Section 13.12.040 provides that "All sewer laterals shall be maintained by the owner of the property served by such lateral in a safe and sanitary operating condition so that there is no seepage of waste at any point up to and including the junction of the sewer lateral and the sewer main".

Your sewer lateral is yours to the main, fitting included; your water line stops being yours at the meter.

Same trench, separate authorities, decided separately.

Who pays for the sewer lateral in Monrovia, CA

Look up a specific address

This page describes what applies to properties in Monrovia in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.

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How this compares across California