Who pays for the sewer lateral in Walnut, CA

Who is responsible for which part

Walnut writes no sewer ownership rule of its own and borrows the County's. Section 5.04.010 of its municipal code adopts as the City's sanitary sewer ordinance "Division 2 of Title 20 of the Los Angeles County Code as contained in Ordinance No. 90-0067, as amended, and in full force and effect on May 24, 1990". Inside that adopted division, section 20.24.080 provides that all house laterals "shall be maintained by the owner of the property served in a safe and sanitary condition", and section 20.20.130 defines a house lateral as "that part of the sewer piping within the street or right-of-way which extends from the property or sewer right-of-way line to a construction with the main-line sewer". Los Angeles County Public Works, which looks after Walnut's sewers through its Consolidated Sewer Maintenance District, says the same of the whole district: "The private property owner is responsible for the entire length of the lateral".

The property owner

The whole lateral, from the building to the main, the run under the street included. Section 20.24.080 of the adopted County text assigns house laterals to "the owner of the property served", and section 20.20.130 places that lateral within the street or right-of-way, from the property line to the main-line sewer. County Public Works adds that the owner's length "includes that portion that may be located within the public right of way (under the asphalt and street landscaping)". The adopted text does not say who keeps the joint where the lateral meets the main.

What else is worth knowing

Sources

Checked 3 Oct 2026 (4 weeks ago)

What is required

• Before work on the pipePermit

  Who issues it:

  City of Walnut. Section 5.12.010 reads the County ordinance's superintendent of streets as the County Road Commissioner or another person the City Council appoints, and the City's Engineering page says its contract City Engineer provides permits

  What it covers:

  the making of excavations in the public streets

  Walnut Municipal Code section 5.12.010 adopts the County of Los Angeles highway permit ordinance, Ordinance No. 3597, as the City's highway permit ordinance, describing it as the ordinance which "regulates streets and highways and provides for issuance of permits and collection of fees and for the moving of buildings, the making of excavations in the public streets, the laying, constructing and repairing of curbs and sidewalks". Section 5.12.040 applies its deposit terms "in all instances where a highway or street permit is required in the City under any provisions of this chapter, including, but not confined to, moving permits, obstruction or excavation permits." The City's sewer ordinance, borrowed from the County, puts the house lateral under the street on the owner, so this is the City's permit chapter for digging in the street to reach it.

  What to do: Before digging in the street to reach a house lateral, ask the City of Walnut for a street excavation permit and what deposit it will set for repairing the street surface.

  Why this matters▸▾

  A street permit costs a deposit as well as its fee. Unless the work is bonded construction with the City, section 5.12.040 has each applicant, "in addition to payment of the issuance fee", deposit "a sum of money in no event less than $10.00, which is twice the estimated cost to the nearest five dollars of repairing the surface of the highway which may be damaged or destroyed by the proposed excavation or construction".

  Checked 3 Oct 2026 (4 weeks ago)

  Walnut Municipal Code section 5.12.010, County Street and Highway Ordinance

  Also quoted:

  • Walnut Municipal Code section 5.12.040, Highway or street permits
  • City of Walnut, Engineering
  • Walnut Municipal Code section 5.04.010

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction

Walnut (municipality)

Sewer service

No map of sewer providers is held here. BelowGrid cannot say which sewer provider serves an individual address.