Your sewer pipe is yours. Your water pipe is theirs.

Two pipes leave a typical property and they answer to different authorities. In 79 of the 107 California places where BelowGrid holds a reviewed answer for both, those authorities contradict each other about the run beneath the road — the half that needs the street opened, a traffic plan, and the surface put back.

What the two sets of documents say together

In 79 of the 107 places where BelowGrid holds both answers, the two pipes leaving a property contradict each other about the run beneath the road. The sewer lateral there is the owner's; in 61 of them the water utility owns or maintains its side up to the meter. Same trench, opposite answers, and the road is the expensive half of either job.
The water side is not always a promise. In Anaheim, Atherton, Chico, Delano, Merced, Modesto, Oceanside, Palos Verdes Estates, Portola Valley, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills Estates, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Maria, Torrance, Visalia the utility states where its side reaches, or that it owns that length, without stating who repairs it - which answers a boundary question and not a bill.
The two pipes do not hand over in the same place. Both positions have been read from the authorities' own documents for 103 of the 107 places here, and in 102 of them the sewer lateral and the water service stop being the owner's at different points in the same front garden. In 78 they are at opposite ends of it: the lateral is the owner's the whole way to the main, and the water service stops at the meter by the kerb. The exception is Victorville, where both divide at the same point.
Where a sewer authority does take the lower lateral, it sometimes attaches a condition, and the water utility does not. In Albany, Campbell, Los Gatos, Millbrae, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, San Carlos, Saratoga, Vallejo, West Sacramento, Woodside the sewer answer turns on a cleanout existing and being reachable, while the water boundary is simply the meter - so of the two pipes, the one a homeowner is least likely to have thought about is the one with the simpler answer.
In Albany, Berkeley, Campbell, Concord, Downey, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Long Beach, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Menifee, Millbrae, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, Perris, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Roseville, San Carlos, San Francisco, San Jose, Saratoga, Turlock, Vallejo, Victorville, West Sacramento, Woodside both authorities take a share of the run beneath the road, which is the rarest position here and the most favourable: the owner holds neither expensive half. It is also the easiest to be wrong about, because the answer everywhere else is the opposite. And the favourable half is not unconditional: in Albany, Campbell, Los Gatos, Millbrae, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, Roseville, San Carlos, Saratoga, Vallejo, West Sacramento, Woodside the sewer authority's share begins at a cleanout, so a property without a reachable one does not have it.
No authority publishes this. A sanitary district knows about sewage and a water utility knows about water; they are frequently different bodies, with different boundaries, and neither has any reason to read the other's ordinance.

Place by place

Each answer is quoted from the authority that gave it, on that authority’s own page. Both can be right at once, and usually are.

Alamedathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program
The property owner is responsible for the entire lateral, upper and lower, from the home to the public main - except in Alameda and Albany, where the programme covers the upper lateral only.
Conditional on Which city you are in changes the answer, and in two of the five it changes it by the length of the road. The programme's own page stops at the upper lateral for Alameda and Albany without saying who has the rest; each of those cities says so itself. Alameda's sewer system management plan states that "the property owner owns the entire service lateral from the building to the connection to the City's sewer main; however, the City takes responsibility for maintenance and replacement of the lower portion of the lateral", and that "the upper lateral remains the responsibility of the private property owner" - the City rehabilitating a lower lateral when it rehabilitates the main it connects to, or when the lower lateral fails, whichever comes first. Albany takes the lower lateral too, from the kerb to the main; its own page for householders is the place to have that confirmed. So if you are in Alameda or Albany, the run under the road is the City's to keep up and the part across your own land is yours - ring the City before you ring a plumber. In Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont the whole run is yours, and Piedmont's own plan puts the connection at the main on you as well. One caution for Alameda: the City's code still reads that "property owners own the entire sewer lateral and must maintain, repair and replace all sewer laterals associated with their parcels", which is broader than what its plan says the City does - the plan is the more recent statement of what the City will actually do, and the code has not caught up..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Alameda
Albanyboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Albany
The City pays for the part under the road. The owner has the upper lateral - from the property out to the curb cleanout, or the curb line where there is no cleanout - and the City states it "is responsible for the maintenance and repair of lower laterals, sewer mains and manholes", counting those laterals among its own assets.
Conditional on The seam is the curb cleanout where one exists and the curb line where none does, so the fitting marks the boundary rather than deciding whether the City helps at all - which is how West Valley, Cupertino Sanitary District and Los Altos each use theirs. An owner with no cleanout is not handed the whole run; the line simply falls at the curb. Note also that the East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program, which covers Albany, states that the owner is responsible for the entire lateral. On this point the City's own statement is the one about Albany..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Albany
Alhambrathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Alhambra
Alhambra writes its own sewer code and puts the whole house connection sewer on the owner. Section 16.12.110 provides that "All house connection sewers and appurtenances thereto, now existing or hereafter constructed after September 18, 1951, shall be maintained by the owner of the property served in a safe and sanitary condition". Section 16.04.110 defines the house connection sewer as the horizontal piping "beginning 24 inches from the exterior wall of the building or structure and extending to its connection with the public sewer".
Conditional on Nothing conditions who owns the pipe. One section reads like a split and is not: section 16.12.050 sets replacement standards separately for the part of an existing house connection sewer "between the street curb and lot line" and the part "between the curb and public sewer". That divides how the pipe must be rebuilt, not who pays - the owner keeps both lengths under section 16.12.110. The short stretch within two feet of the building wall is building drain, governed by the plumbing code..
Water · Alhambra
The City installs, owns and maintains everything from the main to the meter. Section 15.04.050 provides that "All water pipes between water mains and water meters shall be installed by the Water Department and it shall be unlawful for any person to install such services", and section 15.12.080 that "All services and water meters installed by the Water Department of the city shall remain at all times the property of the city and shall be maintained and repaired and renewed by the city when rendered unserviceable through fair wear and tear".
The water page for Alhambra
Anaheimthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Anaheim
The whole sewer lateral is the property owner's, and Anaheim says so about the expensive part in the same breath as its water answer: "unlike water lines, where the City owns the portion from the street to the meter, the entire portion of a sewer lateral is private property" - including the run under the street. The City keeps the public sewer line in the street.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, but who may work on it is not entirely your choice. Because the run under the street is yours and is also in the public right-of-way, the Municipal Code provides that no permit to construct or alter a sewer there issues unless the person holds a valid sewer contractor's licence - so ask about that licence before asking for a quote. Two facts from the City worth knowing first: most laterals here are vitrified clay with a service life the City puts at 30 to 50 years, and "roots usually indicate a pre-existing pipe defect" rather than breaking a sound pipe, so treat roots as a symptom to investigate. And your other pipe answers the other way: the same City owns the water service from the street to the meter..
Water · Anaheim
The City owns the water service line, the curb stop and the meter - even where they sit on your land, and even though for an ordinary house connection you are the one who pays to put them in. What is yours starts just past the meter outlet.
The water page for Anaheim
Arcadiathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Arcadia
Arcadia puts the whole house connection sewer on the owner and keeps only the main. Section 7424 provides that "All house connection sewers, industrial connection sewers, and appurtenances thereto, now existing or hereafter constructed, shall be maintained by the owner of the property served in a safe and sanitary condition", and section 7426 that "The City shall in no event be responsible for the maintenance or repair of or for removal of obstructions in or to any house connection sewer".
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split. The City's only sewer duty is the main line - section 7426 excludes every "sanitary sewer facility other than sewer main line" - so a blockage anywhere between your building and the main, including roots under the parkway, is yours to clear. These sections govern property on the City's sewer; check the name on your sewer bill if you are not sure the City serves you..
Water · Arcadia
Arcadia's water department keeps the service and the meter as its own, with the repair bill for ordinary wear. Section 7540.12 provides that "All services and all water meters and boxes installed by the Department shall at all times remain the property of the Department", and that "The expense of maintenance, repair, renewal or replacement of such services, meters, materials and boxes due to normal wear and usage shall be borne by the Department."
The water page for Arcadia
Athertonthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · West Bay Sanitary District
The property owner owns the whole side sewer, from the building to the District's main - though the District may clear a blockage in the part under the road where the property has a conforming cleanout.
Water · California Water Service, Bear Gulch District
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Atherton
Belvederethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Sanitary District No. 5 of Marin County
The property owner is responsible for the sewer lateral from the house all the way to the District main, and the District's own regulations say so rather than leaving it to a web page. A lateral sewer is defined as running from the building's plumbing outlet and "terminating at the Main Sewer", and section 609 provides that "Lateral Sewers shall be maintained by the owner(s) of the property(s) served thereby".
Conditional on Where the line falls is not conditional here, but this District draws it differently from its neighbours and that is worth knowing before carrying an answer across a boundary. Its regulations define the lateral as terminating AT the main sewer and say nothing about the fitting where the two meet. Three other Marin agencies - Las Gallinas Valley, Mill Valley and Marin Sanitary District No. 2 - use near-identical wording that reaches to and including the wye connection. If your repair turns on the fitting itself, that is a question for the District rather than something to infer from a neighbouring town..
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for Belvedere
Berkeleyboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Berkeley
The City maintains the lower lateral, from the curb out to the main. The owner maintains only the run from the curb to the building - and unlike every other split here, nothing is conditional on a cleanout.
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Berkeley
Buena Parkthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Buena Park
Buena Park puts the whole run on the owner in one sentence and defines both halves of it. Section 13.04.210 provides that "The maintenance, repair and upkeep of connecting sewers and house sewers shall be the responsibility of the property owner or user". Section 13.04.010 defines the connecting sewer as "that portion of the sewer system which extends from the main sewer to the street right-of-way line", adding that it "May also be referred to as the lateral".
Conditional on One sentence in the same section looks like a City undertaking and is not. Section 13.04.210 adds that "The city may perform maintenance, repair and upkeep of a connecting sewer in a particular instance if the director of public works determines that such maintenance, repair, and upkeep by the city is desirable or necessary". That is a power the City may use case by case, on its own judgement - not a service an owner can call on - so plan on the whole run being yours and ask the Public Works Department about it rather than assume it. The two lengths are defined so that the owner's pipe starts two feet out from the foundation wall; the short stretch inside that is building drain, governed by the plumbing code..
Water · Buena Park
The City supplies the water, and owns and maintains the service pipe and the meter. Section 13.12.060 provides that "The service pipes and water meters installed shall become and remain at all times property of the city", and that "They shall be maintained, repaired and renewed by the department when rendered unserviceable through ordinary wear and tear".
The water page for Buena Park
Burbankthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Burbank
The property owner maintains the building sewer all the way to the public sewer, and the City's definitions put the portion under the street on the owner's side. Where a City parkway tree's roots crushed the pipe, the City may reimburse the repair - but only with permits and an inspection before the damaged pipe is removed.
Conditional on One thing the City offers that is easy to miss, and it is money back. Its sewer system management plan describes a Sewer Lateral User Rebate Program: "the City has implemented an incentive program that encourages residents to maintain their privately-owned sewer laterals. This program provides rebates to owners of single-family residences for cleaning and video-inspecting their sewer lateral." So if you own a house here and are about to pay for a camera survey, ask Public Works about SLURP first. The same plan records that when the City's own crews see a problem in your lateral during a main inspection, "a courtesy contact is made by Wastewater Systems staff informing the property owner"..
Water · Burbank
Burbank Water and Power owns the water service line and promises to maintain it, all the way to the outlet side of your meter. Yours begins at the meter gasket. If the leak is on the street side of the meter, it is BWP's pipe and BWP's job.
The water page for Burbank
Campbellboth authorities take a share
Sewer · West Valley Sanitation District
The District owns and maintains the lower lateral - the part between the property line and the sewer main in the street - where an accessible property line cleanout exists.
Conditional on a properly installed, maintained and accessible property line cleanout.
Water · San Jose Water Company
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns everything from the meter outlet coupling inward.
The water page for Campbell
Ceresthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Ceres
Ceres puts the whole lateral on the owner and says so twice. Section 13.14.040 defines a house connection as "a privately owned and maintained residential sewer pipe conveying sewage from a single building or premises to its connection with a main line", and section 13.15.030 provides that "The City shall not be responsible for the repair, maintenance, cleaning or replacement of a lateral sewer."
Conditional on One exception, and it is worth knowing before a repair: section 13.15.110 provides that "The City will only repair or replace that portion of a house connection within the City right-of-way that has been damaged by a City maintained tree as defined in Title 12." Anything else - roots from your own trees, age, a collapse - is the owner's, all the way to the main. These sections govern property on the City's sewer; check the name on your sewer bill if you are not sure the City serves you..
Water · Ceres
Ceres draws the line at the meter and states both halves. Section 13.02.020 provides that "The City shall be responsible for operating, maintaining, and replacing all portions of the water system and water facilities which are owned by the City", and section 13.02.070 that "The customer shall be responsible for the proper operation and maintenance of the customer's private water line".
The water page for Ceres
Chicothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Chico
The property owner owns the sewer lateral and maintains it all the way from the building to the City's main, at their sole cost - the portion under the street included, and the fitting where it joins the main with it. The water line in that same street belongs to California Water Service.
Water · California Water Service, Chico District
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Chico
Clovisthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Clovis
The property owner owns, maintains and repairs the whole sewer lateral, and the City says so about the expensive part in terms: the portion beneath the sidewalk and street, up to and including the point where it connects to the City main. There is no cleanout condition and no carve-out.
Water · Clovis
The City owns the water service from its main to your meter and repairs leaks on it. From the meter to the house the pipe is yours, and so is the leak.
The water page for Clovis
Concordboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Concord
The split is at your property line cleanout, and the half under the street is the City's property rather than yours - even if an applicant paid to build it. Everything applicants pay for "(excepting property sewers)" becomes, "upon acceptance by the city ... the property of the city, which shall have the right to repair, replace, and maintain the same". Your side is the property sewer, from that cleanout back to the building, and "each owner shall keep his property sewer in good order at his own expense".
Conditional on The property line cleanout divides the pipe, and two things about Concord's version are worth a reader's attention. The first is how the City's half became the City's. It is not simply drawn on a map: under section 13.05.100(g) sewer connections and installations paid for by applicants, "(excepting property sewers)", become the City's property on acceptance - so a developer or owner may have paid to lay the pipe under the street and it is the City's nonetheless, with the City holding "the right to repair, replace, and maintain the same". The second is what the code does not say. It gives the City that right and never states a duty; chapter 13.05 contains no sentence saying the city shall maintain a lateral sewer. It does say the reverse where the pipe is outside the system - "the city will not be responsible for the installation or maintenance of any sewer lines beyond the end of its service" - and it makes the owner liable for damage their own use causes to the City's system. If a blockage sits in the street here, the City owns that pipe; whether it is bound to repair it is a question this code leaves open, and one worth asking directly rather than assuming either way..
Water · Contra Costa Water District
Contra Costa Water District lays the water service line from its main to your meter and charges the applicant for it, and it installs, sets and maintains the meter. Where that meter sits is settled by the District's own standard drawing, approved for use in August 2024: at the back of the curb or the back of the sidewalk, with everything past it marked "PRIVATE SYSTEM" on its meter sheets. Bear in mind what that drawing is - a standard for what gets built now, rather than a statement about a service laid decades ago. What no CCWD document says is who repairs the pipe between the main and the meter - so that is the question to ask before you need the answer.
The water page for Concord
Coronathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Corona
Corona assigns the pipe plainly and defines it only by where it ends. Section 13.12.050 of the municipal code provides that "all house laterals, industrial connection sewers and appurtenances thereto now existing or hereafter constructed shall be maintained by the owner of the property served in a safe and sanitary condition and all devices or safeguards which are required by this chapter for the operation thereof shall be maintained in good working order". The code never defines a house lateral, so where the owner's run stops comes from what it runs to: section 13.12.020 defines a public sewer as "a main line sanitary sewer dedicated to public use".
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split, and one gap in the drafting is worth stating rather than papering over: the phrase "house lateral" appears in the whole code only in section 13.12.050 and in its chapter's contents list, and is never defined. So the end of the owner's run is read off the definition of what it connects to rather than from a definition of the lateral itself. There is one provision that could move the line on a particular street, and it turns on an act rather than on geography. Section 13.12.190 provides that "every sanitary sewer constructed in any public street, alley, way, right-of-way or other public place by anyone with the permission of the city shall, upon acceptance of the construction by the city, become the property of the city" - so a length built in the right-of-way and formally accepted passes to the City, which is a question about the history of your particular connection and one only the City can answer..
Water · Corona
The City's Utilities Department maintains the pipe from the main to the meter and the meter itself, and the customer maintains everything after it. Section 13.14.090(C) provides that "The service connection extending from the water main to and including the meter shall be maintained by the Department, and all pipes and fixtures extending or lying beyond the meter including the gate valve or ball valve shall be installed and maintained by the customer".
The water page for Corona
Corte Maderathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Sanitary District No. 2 of Marin County
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, including the run from the curb to the sewer main and the connection itself.
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for Corte Madera
Daly Citythe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Daly City
The whole pipe is yours, and the authority says so in unusually blunt terms. North San Mateo County Sanitation District, which runs the sewers for Daly City, states in its 2025 Sewer System Management Plan that it "does not own and is not responsible for maintaining neither the lower nor upper portions of sewer laterals tributary to its system". Both halves, named and disclaimed. In several neighbouring cities the lower half is the authority's; here it is not.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe between you and the District, which has gone further than most in saying so: rather than stating which part it keeps, it names both the lower and the upper portions and disclaims each. The District Code does split it between neighbours, though. Section 1.16.080, Maintenance of Side Sewers, puts the duty on the owner of the property served and then carves out shared buildings - where a side sewer serves single-family units with common walls, condominiums, stock cooperatives, community apartments or similar improvements, the obligation to maintain it belongs to the homeowners' association, or to whichever body maintains the property held in common. So in a condominium or a common-wall unit the lateral is not yours alone and a repair bill belongs to the association, which is the opposite of what the answer above would suggest on its own. That section is published only as a scan and cannot be searched; the link below opens the District Code, and the provision sits on the page headed Maintenance of side sewers. For everyone else what follows is practical rather than legal. Because your responsibility reaches the main, an ordinary repair is work under a public street, and Daly City requires a written permit before anyone opens one - the excavation rule on this page quotes that section and is cited to the code it comes from. Budget for the permit, the deposit and restoration of the roadway, not only for the pipe..
Water · Daly City
The City maintains the service connection and draws the line at the curb rather than at the meter, which is unusual - but only while the damage is not your doing. Where the break was caused by a careless act on the premises, the bill comes back to whoever caused it.
The water page for Daly City
Danvillethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, from the building to Central San's sewer line in the street - and the District's code puts the fitting at the main inside that. The one thing it pays for is a reconnection its own work on the public sewer makes necessary.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and one thing the District does is worth knowing before you pay for a survey. Its sewer system management plan describes a courtesy: "if while televising the public sewer, it is discovered that a lateral needs cleaning, Central San staff will notify the homeowner", sending "a picture of their lateral, a letter explaining the situation, and a request that Central San be informed when the cleaning is to be undertaken so Collection System Operations (CSO) crews can then remove that root debris from the public sewer and re-check it". So if a letter with a photograph arrives, it is not a bill and it is not an enforcement notice - it is the District telling you what its camera saw, and offering to clear its own main afterwards. And one exception in the code is worth real money if it ever applies to you. The District is not financially responsible for side sewer work "except where the District itself or its contractor reconstructs or realigns the public sewer, thereby necessitating the reconnection of private side sewers to the public sewer". If Central San is rebuilding the main in your street and that forces your lateral to be reconnected, the reconnection is on the District rather than on you - so ask before you accept a bill for work that its own project caused..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Danville
Delanothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Delano
Delano keeps the public sewer and nothing that runs off it. Section 13.28.040 provides that "The city does not assume any obligation or expense for maintaining any building sewers from the public sewer to the premises served", and that "All service and expense of operation and maintenance of the public sewer shall be borne by the city."
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split. The code states it as the City declining the duty rather than handing it to you in so many words, but read with section 13.28.150 the effect is the same: the City keeps the main, and every length of the building sewer is the owner's to keep in repair. Work at the main itself is restricted - under section 13.28.050, "No person except a qualified contractor, or a person authorized by the city, shall tap a main line sewer." These sections govern property on the City's sewer; not every address inside the city limits is, so check the name on your sewer bill first..
Water · Delano
Delano puts the pipe on your land on you in its definitions. Section 13.04.010 defines the "Consumer private water pipeline" as "the pipeline not located in the city's right-of-way, extending from the connection to the city's water which is located on the premises or property of the consumer and shall be the sole responsibility of the consumer". The City lays the service connection up to your property line and keeps the meter, but the code does not say who repairs that connection afterwards.
The water page for Delano
Downeyboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Downey
Downey is unusually direct about this, and says both halves in one place. Section 7240 of the Downey Municipal Code provides that "the Director of Public Works has the responsibility for the maintenance of the City's public sewer facilities, including main line sewers, pumping stations, manholes, and terminal cleanouts", and that "the Los Angeles County Sanitation District No. 2 has the responsibility of maintaining all trunk sewers in the City which are under the District's jurisdiction". Section 7240.2 then takes the other side: "all house laterals, industrial connection sewers, and appurtenances thereto, now existing or hereafter constructed, shall be maintained in a safe and sanitary condition by the owner of the property served". Section 7214.14 defines the 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 connection with the main line sewer", so the length the City puts on the owner is the length under the road.
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split, and the two sections sit next to each other rather than in different chapters, which is rarer than it sounds. What the chapter does not do is assign the run from the building out to the property line. Section 7240.2 reaches house laterals, and a house lateral begins at the property line; the pipe across the garden is not what the section is about, and the silence is not the City taking it on. Two details in the same chapter are worth carrying to a quotation. Section 7224.14 sets the standard depth for a house lateral at "six feet in residential areas and eight feet in commercial, industrial, apartment house areas, all depths below the finished surface at the property line" - a six-foot trench in a public street is the cost the ownership answer is really describing. And section 7230.2 allows a house lateral to be built of "vitrified clay pipe or cast iron pipe", with anything else needing the City Engineer's prior approval and, if he asks, independent testing at no cost to the City..
Water · Downey
Downey's Water Division owns your meter and keeps it up - the code says meters "shall remain at all times the property of the Division and shall be maintained, repaired, and replaced by the Division". Your side starts there: you are responsible "for the cost of any water lost through leaks or defective lines between the meter and the point of use". What the code never says is who repairs the pipe between the main and that meter, so that is the question to ask before you need the answer.
The water page for Downey
Dublinthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Dublin San Ramon Services District
The whole lateral is yours, all the way to the main in the middle of the street - and the District says so in the words a homeowner would use, going out of its way to say the line is not at the property line or the curb.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and the District has anticipated the assumption that something does. Its page asks "where does ownership divide along sewer service pipelines?" and answers "it's not at the property line or the curb, as many people assume" - which is worth reading twice if you have seen a neighbouring authority's answer, because several of them do divide at exactly those points. What follows is practical: your responsibility reaches the middle of the street, so an ordinary repair is work under a public road and will need whatever permit the city requires on top of the plumbing. The District asks to be called first where there is any doubt about which side a problem falls on - "please call us if you suspect a service pipeline problem is our responsibility or if you're unsure" - and will send staff out to establish it..
Water · Dublin San Ramon Services District
Yours from the house to the meter; the District owns the meter and the pipe behind it. The one thing that moves that line is damaging the meter yourself, which the District will bill you for.
The water page for Dublin
El Cerritothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program
The property owner is responsible for the entire lateral, upper and lower, from the home to the public main - except in Alameda and Albany, where the programme covers the upper lateral only.
Conditional on Which city you are in changes the answer, and in two of the five it changes it by the length of the road. The programme's own page stops at the upper lateral for Alameda and Albany without saying who has the rest; each of those cities says so itself. Alameda's sewer system management plan states that "the property owner owns the entire service lateral from the building to the connection to the City's sewer main; however, the City takes responsibility for maintenance and replacement of the lower portion of the lateral", and that "the upper lateral remains the responsibility of the private property owner" - the City rehabilitating a lower lateral when it rehabilitates the main it connects to, or when the lower lateral fails, whichever comes first. Albany takes the lower lateral too, from the kerb to the main; its own page for householders is the place to have that confirmed. So if you are in Alameda or Albany, the run under the road is the City's to keep up and the part across your own land is yours - ring the City before you ring a plumber. In Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont the whole run is yours, and Piedmont's own plan puts the connection at the main on you as well. One caution for Alameda: the City's code still reads that "property owners own the entire sewer lateral and must maintain, repair and replace all sewer laterals associated with their parcels", which is broader than what its plan says the City does - the plan is the more recent statement of what the City will actually do, and the code has not caught up..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for El Cerrito
Emeryvillethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Emeryville
The whole pipe is yours, and the City says so in its definitions rather than leaving it to be worked out. The building sewer lateral runs from two feet outside the building "up to and including the connection to the public sewer", and the code states that it "is comprised of the upper sewer lateral and lower sewer lateral and is the sole responsibility of the property owner". That includes the run under the pavement and the road, and the fitting where it meets the main.
Conditional on A rear or side yard main does not shift the line, and it is worth knowing because in some neighbouring cities it does. Where an upper sewer lateral "connects to a rear or side yard sewer main located on private property in an easement, the entire lateral, including the connection to the sewer main, shall be considered the building sewer lateral" - so it remains the owner's either way. What changes with the kind of work is the paperwork. A sewer lateral permit is needed before building, repairing, replacing or abandoning a lateral, and before a verification test, but "no sewer lateral permit shall be required for the clearance of sewer stoppages" - so unblocking a drain does not need one. When a permit is issued it does double duty: the code provides that it "shall satisfy the requirements of Chapter 2 of Title 7 regarding excavations and encroachments in the public right-of-way", so there is no separate encroachment permit to chase. The application must be made in person by the owner's licensed contractor. Emeryville is also inside the East Bay Municipal Utility District's regional private sewer lateral programme, which runs its own compliance certificates on its own triggers..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Emeryville
Fairfaxthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Ross Valley Sanitary District
The property owner owns, maintains and repairs the entire lateral, from the building to and including the connection at the District main - and where the lateral is shared with other properties, the District allocates by position on the run, so the household furthest downstream carries the connection to the public sewer for everyone above it.
Conditional on Whether your lateral is shared with another property is the question to settle first, because it decides who pays for the expensive part. On a shared run the District's guidance makes each owner responsible for "the entire portion of the lateral on their property, up to the next downstream lateral connection", and the household with "the furthest downstream lateral connection" responsible for "the remaining portion of the lateral, including its connection to the public sewer main" - so the house closest to the street carries the connection on behalf of every property above it, unless the owners have agreed otherwise in writing. The District recommends such an agreement and states that common laterals "are considered private matters in which the District does not get involved", so there is no referee there. New shared laterals are no longer permitted under section 13 of Ordinance 100; the ones that exist are legacy. The District's guidance cautions that its examples are illustrative rather than determinative for a particular property..
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for Fairfax
Fountain Valleythe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Fountain Valley
Fountain Valley puts the whole lateral and its junction with the main on the owner. Section 14.36.067 provides that "All sewer laterals shall be maintained by the owner of the property served by such lateral in a safe and sanitary condition so that there is no seepage of waste at any point from the structure to and including the junction of the sewer lateral at the sewer main", and that "It shall be the responsibility of the city of Fountain Valley to keep the sewer mains free and clear for the even flow of sewage".
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split, and the owner's duty is framed as a standard rather than only a pipe: the lateral must be kept so that "passage of waste through the lateral to the sewer main is free from stoppage and obstruction", which makes a blockage anywhere along it - under the street included - the owner's to clear. Section 14.36.066 states the intent in plain terms: "It is the policy of the city to require the owners of property to maintain sewer laterals thereon at their own expense.".
Water · Fountain Valley
The City supplies the water across the city and keeps the service and the meter as its own, with a repair duty attached. Section 14.16.120 provides that "All water services and water meters connected to the water system shall remain at all times the property of the city and shall be maintained, repaired and renewed by the water department when rendered unserviceable by normal wear and tear".
The water page for Fountain Valley
Fremontthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Union Sanitary District
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, including the run beneath the pavement and the road, up to the point it joins the public main. The District's ordinance goes further than its web page and says the building sewer is owned by the property owner, not merely their responsibility. On a private street or driveway the sewer main itself can be private too, in which case somebody other than the District maintains that as well.
Conditional on Whether the sewer main your lateral joins is the District's at all. The District accepts and maintains mains in the public right-of-way and in sewer easements dedicated to it, and that is the ordinary case. Where a main was built in a private street or driveway, Ordinance 34.08 lets the District decline to adopt it and instead require the property owner, the developer or a homeowners' association to own and maintain it as a private main sewer, under a maintenance agreement the District approves. If that is your street, the pipe your lateral connects to is somebody's private responsibility as well as the lateral itself, and whose is settled by that maintenance agreement. Ask the District which case your street is in before you assume the main is theirs. Three practical points if you are about to do the work. The permit covers three on-site inspections - a pre-job consultation, one before backfill, and a final - and further visits are charged. Anything backfilled before the District has seen it has to be dug up again for inspection. And starting without the permit costs a penalty on top of the ordinary fees, with the District able to refuse the contractor permits for future work in its area..
Water · Alameda County Water District
The District owns and maintains the water service line from the main up to and including the meter. Everything past the meter is the property owner's.
The water page for Fremont
Fresnothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Fresno
The property owner maintains and repairs the whole sewer lateral, and Fresno says so about the expensive part outright: the portion beneath the sidewalk and street, up to where it joins the public main. The City will come out and tell you whether the blockage is yours or its main - but if it is yours, it is yours to fix.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe here, but two things are worth knowing. The City will attend a sewer overflow at any hour and determine whether the cause is your lateral or its main, so you do not have to work that out before calling - though once it says the lateral is yours, the repair is yours and the City directs you to a certified plumber. And your other pipe has the opposite answer: the same City states that it maintains the water service "from the water main up to and including the water meter", so under the same driveway the City keeps the water line and you keep the sewer line..
Water · Fresno
The City maintains the water service from the main up to and including the meter, and the customer maintains the pipe from the meter to the house. That is the opposite of Fresno's answer about the sewer lateral under the same driveway, which is the owner's the whole way to the main.
The water page for Fresno
Garden Grovethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Garden Grove
Garden Grove's municipal code has no sewer title at all. The answer is in the Garden Grove Sanitary District's Code of Regulations, whose section 4.10.120 provides that "all residential connections and appurtenances thereto now existing or hereafter constructed, shall be maintained by the owner of the property served in a safe and sanitary condition and all devices or safeguards which are required by this title for the operation thereof shall be maintained in good working order". The District puts the same thing in a reader's words on its own sewers page: "property owners are responsible for the maintenance, repair, and cleaning of the sewer lateral from the house to the public sewer system".
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe. What is missing is a definition rather than a division: the Code of Regulations never defines "residential connection", and it does not define "building sewer" or "house sewer" either, so the extent of the owner's run has to come from the District's own description of it rather than from a defined term. That description is consistent across three documents - the regulation, the District's sewers page and the City's management plan - and all three put the whole run on the owner, so the answer is not in doubt even though the drafting leaves the term open..
Water · Garden Grove
The City supplies the water across the whole city and keeps the service and the meter as its own, with a repair duty attached. Section 14.20.060(A) provides that "All water services and water meters installed by the Public Works Department shall remain at all times the property of the City and shall be maintained, repaired, and renewed by the Public Works Department when rendered unserviceable by the normal wear and tear".
The water page for Garden Grove
Gardenathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Gardena
The property owner maintains the sewer lateral, and in Gardena the code's own definition puts the run under the road on them explicitly: a "house lateral" here means the pipe from the property line to its connection with the main sewer. The City maintains the main and claims no part of the lateral.
Conditional on One half of this answer is written down and the other is not, and it is worth knowing which is which before you quote it to anyone. The pipe from your property line to the City main is the owner's under section 13.04.130 read with the definition in 13.04.030 - that is the ordinance, in terms. The pipe from your building to your property line is not covered by that definition at all: section 13.04.130 is headed "Maintenance of house laterals and house sewers", but "house sewer" is used in the heading and defined nowhere in the chapter, and the operative sentence never mentions one. Nothing in chapter 13.04 claims that length for the City either, and it sits on private land, so it is the owner's on every ordinary reading - but if a dispute ever turns on it, the ordinance is silent rather than clear..
Water · Golden State Water Company, Southwest District
Golden State Water owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box, and says plainly that it maintains them: "We maintain the pipes up to the water meter, but any leaks or issues beyond the meter are the responsibility of the property owner." The curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the company's.
The water page for Gardena
Glendalethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Glendale
The property owner pays to maintain the house connection, and in Glendale that means the run under the road: the code defines a house connection as the part "extending from the sewer main in a public street or right-of-way to private property", and makes the owner responsible for it "including the wye or saddle at the sewer main".
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, but two things are worth knowing before you spend. The wye or saddle at the main is named as yours, which is the part most authorities leave unmentioned and the part a contractor is most likely to treat as the City's. And the City's words are about EXPENSE rather than title - it says who pays to maintain the house connection and does not say who owns it - so if a question of ownership ever arises, the code read here does not answer it. Note also that a sewer lateral repair programme paying the first $3,000 belongs to Glendale, Missouri, and not to this city; nothing read here offers Glendale, California residents anything equivalent..
Water · Glendale
Glendale Water & Power furnishes, installs and maintains every water service connection in the city - and the charges for putting one in are the property owner's. The meter is the department's, which owns and installs it. That is the opposite of Glendale's sewer answer, where the owner maintains the run under the road.
The water page for Glendale
Haywardthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Hayward
The lateral is the customer's under the sidewalk, under the street, and at the joint: Hayward says the owner keeps "the portion of the sewer that is on private property and the portion under the sidewalk and the street up to and including where the lateral connects to the public system". The code reaches the same place through three sections; the City's page says it in one sentence.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and Hayward is unusually clear that the joint at the main is yours too - "up to and including where the lateral connects to the public system" is the phrase to quote at a contractor who assumes otherwise. Three practical notes. Call the City first: it asks for sewer problems to be reported by telephone to the Utilities Center or, out of hours, to Police Dispatch, and expressly asks people not to use its online reporting tool for sewer issues because "this will delay the response time". Second, if you are handed the City's Sewer Lateral Maintenance Responsibility Handbook, note that it cites the rule as "Section 11-3.060"; the current code numbers that section 11-3.360, so a search for the old number finds nothing. Third, the code requires cleanouts "in every building sewer at the connection with the building drain" and at intervals of no more than one hundred feet, and requires a backwater valve or overflow device where the lowest fixture in a building sits below the rim of the nearest upstream manhole, cleanout or riser - both are yours to install and keep..
Water · Hayward
Title to the meter and to every material used in making your water service connection belongs to the Hayward Municipal Water System, and "all water meters shall be maintained, repaired, and replaced by the City". The City's connection fees cover the work "from the water main up to the water meter and meter box", and the applicant is responsible "for connecting water service from the meter to the building" - the reverse of Hayward's sewer answer, where the customer keeps the pipe all the way to the main.
The water page for Hayward
Huntington Beachboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Huntington Beach
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.
Conditional on The pipe divides at your property line, and the two chapters of the code that touch it are answering different questions - which is worth knowing if anybody quotes one of them at you. Chapter 14.54 allocates REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE, and it is the one that decides who pays when a lateral fails: the City from its main through the public right-of-way to your property line, you from there in. Chapter 14.36 is about CONSTRUCTION and permits, and its clause making an applicant "responsible for the cost of constructing, maintaining, or replacing any part of a sewer system on private property ... from the sewer main line to and including any on-site structure" describes what a job costs rather than who owns the pipe afterwards. Read alone it sounds like the whole run is yours; it is not, and has not been since January 2008, when the City's own plan records that it "took ownership of the portion of the sewer service laterals within the public right-of-way". One thing the City does not cover either way: section 14.36.050 says it is not responsible for "damage to persons or property because of any leakage, breakage, or seepage" from a sewer pipe on private premises - that is the ruined floor and the spoiled stock, not the pipe itself. And the City's Sewer Lateral Program has a published procedure worth following before you spend anything: report the problem, and the City reviews it before any repair on its side..
Water · Huntington Beach
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.
The water page for Huntington Beach
Irvineboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Irvine Ranch Water District
For a house, the property owner's pipe stops at the property line: Irvine Ranch Water District makes owners responsible for "sewer pipes within a building and upper sewer laterals that lead from a building to the edge of its property line", and owns and maintains the sewer pipelines beyond it, with no cleanout condition attached. In a condominium complex or a townhome development the answer is the opposite - the District's Rules put "all laterals upstream of the main line" on the owner "to maintain, repair, or reconstruct", and the District's own share starts at the main line cleanout.
Conditional on WHAT KIND OF HOME YOU LIVE IN DECIDES THE ANSWER. Section 4.15.2 of the District's Rules is headed "Sewer - Single Family Units"; section 4.15.3, "Sewer - Multi-Dwelling Units (Condominium Complexes and Townhomes)", reverses it. There, "maintenance of onsite sewer main lines shall be the responsibility of the District up to the main line cleanout or last manhole", and "all laterals upstream of the main line are the responsibility of the applicant, owner or customer to maintain, repair, or reconstruct" - so a condominium owner rebuilds their own lateral where a house owner does not, and the District's share begins at a cleanout rather than at a property line. Even that much is conditional: those onsite mains qualify only where the facilities "must be fully dedicated to the District, including proper easements, and approved by the Manager or his designee". A commercial or industrial property under 4.15.4 falls on whichever side its plumbing does - one lateral connection and it is read like a house, an onsite collection system and it is read like a condominium. AND FOR A HOUSE, the property line divides who REBUILDS the pipe and does not divide who clears it. That distinction is not on the District's public page and it is in its Rules, so it is the thing most likely to surprise an Irvine owner with a blockage under the road. Rules and Regulations section 4.15.2, for single family units, provides that "the applicant, owner, or customer is responsible for maintenance of the upper lateral and lower lateral" and that "any upper lateral or lower lateral shall be cleared and cleaned by the applicant, owner, or customer at his own expense" - then splits the heavier work, with "the upper lateral ... the responsibility of the owner to repair or reconstruct" and "the lower lateral ... the responsibility of the District to repair or reconstruct". So a collapsed pipe beyond your boundary is the District's to rebuild and a blocked one is yours to rod, and the page that says the District owns and maintains the pipelines does not tell you the second half. The section opens "unless otherwise specified on an approved IRWD Construction plan", so a newer development may differ. Beyond that, nothing conditions the property line itself - in several other districts the authority's half does not begin until there is an accessible cleanout, and here it begins anyway. Two practical notes from the District: do not plant trees or shrubs near the lateral, "because root intrusion can damage lines", and perform periodic cleaning and inspection of your own upper lateral. Note also that IRWD serves all of Irvine but only parts of Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Orange, so an address in one of those towns needs its provider confirmed before this answer is relied on..
Water · Irvine Ranch Water District
Irvine Ranch Water District owns the water service line and the meter, and its Rules charge for "the installation of and perpetual maintenance" of them. Your building water line starts at "the downstream end of the water meter tailpiece" and everything from there into the house is yours. Note that the same District answers differently for your sewer lateral, where your pipe runs all the way to the property line.
The water page for Irvine
Lafayettethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, from the building to Central San's sewer line in the street - and the District's code puts the fitting at the main inside that. The one thing it pays for is a reconnection its own work on the public sewer makes necessary.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and one thing the District does is worth knowing before you pay for a survey. Its sewer system management plan describes a courtesy: "if while televising the public sewer, it is discovered that a lateral needs cleaning, Central San staff will notify the homeowner", sending "a picture of their lateral, a letter explaining the situation, and a request that Central San be informed when the cleaning is to be undertaken so Collection System Operations (CSO) crews can then remove that root debris from the public sewer and re-check it". So if a letter with a photograph arrives, it is not a bill and it is not an enforcement notice - it is the District telling you what its camera saw, and offering to clear its own main afterwards. And one exception in the code is worth real money if it ever applies to you. The District is not financially responsible for side sewer work "except where the District itself or its contractor reconstructs or realigns the public sewer, thereby necessitating the reconnection of private side sewers to the public sewer". If Central San is rebuilding the main in your street and that forces your lateral to be reconnected, the reconnection is on the District rather than on you - so ask before you accept a bill for work that its own project caused..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Lafayette
Larkspurthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Larkspur
Larkspur is split between two sanitary districts, and if your lateral is your own it does not matter which one you are in: Ross Valley Sanitary District and Sanitary District No. 2 of Marin County both say the property owner has the whole lateral, including the connection to the sewer main. If your lateral is shared with another property it matters a great deal, because the two districts divide a shared pipe differently.
Conditional on Find out whether your lateral is shared with another property, because that is where the two districts part company. Ross Valley Sanitary District divides a shared run by position: each owner keeps their portion "up to the next downstream lateral connection", and the household with "the furthest downstream lateral connection" carries "the remaining portion of the lateral, including its connection to the public sewer main" - so the house nearest the street can face the whole cost of opening the road on behalf of every property above it. Sanitary District No. 2 of Marin County instead has a shared lateral repaired jointly by the owners of the residences it serves, and says nothing about position on the run. Which district serves your address therefore decides how a shared bill is split, and it also decides which permit you need, what it costs and what is required of you at a sale - none of which are the same between the two. Only the ownership answer survives not knowing..
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for Larkspur
Lawndalethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Lawndale
Lawndale writes no sewer ownership rule of its own. Lawndale Municipal Code section 13.04.010 adopts "Title 20, utilities, Division 2, sanitary sewers and industrial waste of the Los Angeles County Code, as adopted, amended and in effect on July 7, 2006" as the City's own sanitary sewer ordinance, and section 13.04.020 swaps the names in it - "county engineer" means the city engineer, "County of Los Angeles" means the city of Lawndale. Inside that adopted division the answer is plain: 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". What makes it worth reading twice is the division's definition of the thing being maintained. Section 20.20.130 says a "house lateral" is "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" - so the length the code puts on the owner is the length under the road.
Conditional on The division assigns the half most owners assume is public and says nothing about the half they assume is theirs. Section 20.24.080 reaches house laterals, and a house lateral under section 20.20.130 starts at the property line - so the portion running from the building to the property line is not what that section is about. The silence is not the City taking it on; that length is simply not addressed by the division. The expensive, contested length - the one under the road, where a repair means a street cut - is the one the code names, and names as the owner's. The other thing worth knowing is what the sewer charge on the tax bill does not buy. Los Angeles County Code chapter 20.40 levies an annual sewer maintenance service charge on parcels in the Consolidated Sewer Maintenance District, and Lawndale's section 13.04.020 leaves that term pointing at the county district wherever the territory sits inside one. That chapter is a charge ordinance: it sets the rate and what the fund may be spent on, and it does not undertake to maintain anyone's house lateral. Section 20.24.080 has no district exception. Paying the charge and owning the lateral are both true at once..
Water · Golden State Water Company, Southwest District
Golden State Water owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box, and says plainly that it maintains them: "We maintain the pipes up to the water meter, but any leaks or issues beyond the meter are the responsibility of the property owner." The curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the company's.
The water page for Lawndale
Long Beachboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Long Beach
Long Beach maintains the sewer pipe under the street. Its code makes the owner responsible for the building sewer and then, "notwithstanding" that, has the Water Department maintain the house connection from the property line to the main - including the wye or saddle at the main, and with no cleanout condition attached.
Conditional on The property line is the line, and nothing conditions it - which matters, because in several other cities the authority's half depends on a cleanout existing and being reachable, and here it does not. Two details are worth knowing. The City's half includes the fitting where your pipe meets the main, the wye or tee or saddle, which is the join most authorities leave unsaid. And the code defines your building sewer as beginning two feet from the exterior wall, so the first two feet out of the house sits outside that definition - it is your plumbing on any reading, but the definition does not reach it..
Water · Long Beach
The Department owns the water service connection including the meter and meter box, "whether located on public or private property", and maintains, repairs and renews it at its own expense. The shut-off valve in the meter box is to be operated only by Department personnel.
The water page for Long Beach
Los Altosboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Los Altos
Unusually, the City pays for part of this pipe. The owner cleans and maintains the whole lateral from the house to the main, but reconstruction and repair of the street portion - beyond the first joint after the property line - is the City's - but the code makes that duty "subject to compliance with" its cleanout section, so the fitting is what the City's share rests on. A street-side blockage will usually be cleared by City crews, though the City calls that a courtesy rather than a duty. Part of Los Altos is served by Cupertino Sanitary District instead, which answers the same question its own way.
Conditional on The handover is a joint in the installed pipe rather than a line on a map - "the first joint after the property line" - so nobody knows exactly where it falls until the trench is open. Two things are worth settling in advance. A property with no accessible cleanout at the property line is outside the City's blockage courtesy, and the City advises installing one if there is none. And the repair test turns on "the first full section of pipe past the cleanout": a defect one section past it is the owner's, further out is the City's. The Maintenance Division is the place to settle either for a particular address. Settle one thing before any of that, though: not every Los Altos address is on the City's sewer. Cupertino Sanitary District states that it serves "portions of ... Los Altos", and where it does the answer is its own - that District maintains as well as repairs the street lateral, again on condition of an accessible cleanout at the property line..
Water · California Water Service, Los Altos Suburban District
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Los Altos
Los Angelesthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Los Angeles
The property owner is responsible for maintaining and repairing the entire private sewer lateral, which the City's code defines as running through the street to the public sewer. The City offers rebates towards inspecting and repairing it.
Water · Los Angeles
Everything from the main to the meter is the City's property and is maintained at the Department's expense, including the part that crosses private land. The rules say where the Department's responsibility ends and never say who takes over.
The water page for Los Angeles
Los Gatosboth authorities take a share
Sewer · West Valley Sanitation District
The District owns and maintains the lower lateral - the part between the property line and the sewer main in the street - where an accessible property line cleanout exists.
Conditional on a properly installed, maintained and accessible property line cleanout.
Water · San Jose Water Company
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns everything from the meter outlet coupling inward.
The water page for Los Gatos
Lynwoodthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Lynwood
Lynwood writes its own rule rather than borrowing the County's, and writes it in one sentence. Section 14-15.3 of the municipal code provides that "Sewer laterals between the buildings and the connection to the public sewer are owned and maintained by the property owner served by the lateral". Ownership and maintenance are assigned together, which is less common than it sounds - most codes assign one and leave the other to be argued.
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split, and one arrangement that looks like an exception is not one. Section 14-15.4 requires the council to adopt a sewer lateral cleaning policy, and that policy is a cleaning service rather than a repair duty - the same section expressly assigns "responsibility to property owners for damages or breaks occurring from the cleaning". So the City may clear a blockage for you and the pipe and any damage remain yours. Read the offer for what it is before relying on it. One drafting oddity worth knowing if you go looking: the code runs 14-15.1 straight to 14-15.3, and no section 14-15.2 is published..
Water · Lynwood
The City supplies the water and puts both the ownership and the repair duty in enacted law rather than on a webpage. Section 14-1.17 provides that "The city's responsibility for all water service lines is from the connection at the city's main water line to the water meter box", and that "From the water meter box to the customer's premises is the sole responsibility of the customer to install, own, maintain, and/or replace".
The water page for Lynwood
Menifeeboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Eastern Municipal Water District
The pipe is yours end to end - "all completed Sewer Service Laterals shall remain the property of the Customer" - and the stretch under the street carries two different duties. You maintain it: "maintenance of Lower Sewer Laterals shall be the responsibility of the Customer." The District repairs it: "repair of Lower Sewer Laterals shall be performed by the District at the District's expense" - except where the repair was needed "as a result of root intrusion and/or debris from Customer's property, or other repairs needed that were contributed to by the Customer", as the District determines.
Conditional on The split here is not where the pipe runs but what is being done to it, and getting that round the right way is worth real money. On the stretch under the street, maintenance is yours and repair is the District's at the District's expense. So a blockage you clear is your bill and a broken pipe the District replaces is not - up to a point. The exception is the part to read twice, because it swallows the commonest cause of lateral failure there is: the District's repair duty does not apply where the work "were required as a result of root intrusion and/or debris from Customer's property, or other repairs needed that were contributed to by the Customer", and it is the District that determines whether that applies. There is also a rule about how you may do your own half of the work: maintenance activity "shall be performed outside of the roadbed, within the parkway unless performed under the direction of the District" - so the verge, not the carriageway, unless the District is directing it. And if your building sits too low to drain by gravity, section 6.203 puts the pump station on you to finance, construct, own and maintain. There is one arrangement in which none of that applies and the whole pipe is yours, and it turns on where the main is rather than on anything about the property. Section 6.104(q)(2) provides that "if a Sewer Service Lateral connects to a rear or side yard Sewer Pipeline that is located in a District easement, or to a District manhole, the entire Sewer Service Lateral, including the connection to the Sewer Pipeline, is an Upper Sewer Lateral". There is then no lower lateral at all, so the District's repair duty in section 6.202(b)(2) never engages, and section 6.202(b)(3) puts maintenance and repair of the entire run on the customer. Rear-easement mains are ordinary in tract subdivisions of a certain age, and a reader on one of them has the most expensive version of this answer while their neighbour across the street has the cheapest. Which one you are on is a question for the District about your address..
Water · Eastern Municipal Water District
Eastern Municipal Water District owns the water service connection from its main to and including your meter, and its Administrative Code says "the expense of maintenance, repairs, and renewal of such service connections and meters, due to normal wear and tear, shall be borne by the District". Your side starts at the meter: "water pipes and appurtenances downstream of the meter are the property of the customer who is responsible for water use, operation and maintenance." Note that the same District answers the opposite way for your sewer lateral, which is yours the whole way to the main.
The water page for Menifee
Mercedthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Merced
The user is responsible for the construction, maintenance and repair of the house or building sewer line, which the code defines as running all the way to the City's public sewer - the portion under the road included.
Water · Merced
The City furnishes the service from its main to one of three points - the property line, the curb line, or the back of the sidewalk - depending on where the main is and where the sidewalk sits. The owner furnishes, installs and maintains all the piping from there to the building.
The water page for Merced
Mill Valleythe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Mill Valley
The property owner maintains the whole lateral to the City main, expressly including the run within the right-of-way and the fitting where it branches off the main.
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for Mill Valley
Millbraeboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Millbrae
The owner maintains the whole lateral as a general rule - but where a conforming cleanout exists near the curb or the main, the City maintains the section from that cleanout to the main.
Conditional on a cleanout within two and a half feet of the curb, the edge of the pavement, or the city main.
Water · Millbrae
The City is responsible for the water main, the meter, and the service line between them. The customer is responsible for the plumbing from the meter into the building.
The water page for Millbrae
Milpitasboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Milpitas
The user owns and maintains the house sewer - the portion of the pipe on private property, up to a cleanout at the property line. The run under the street is the City's, which the code requires it to hold full title to before it will provide service through it.
Water · Milpitas
The City owns and maintains the water service line from the main up to and including your meter. Yours is the pipe from the meter box to where it enters the building. Milpitas says so in its own words, and says the same thing again in the inventory it filed with the State.
The water page for Milpitas
Modestothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Modesto
The house sewer line is the owner's to build, maintain and repair - and in Modesto that reaches under the road, but stops short of the joint at the main. The City's packet defines the line as running from the building plumbing "to, but does not include, the connection at the City sewer main". The City also runs a cost-share programme for the part in the right-of-way, and will flush or inspect that part for free before you call a plumber.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, but three things decide what this costs you. First, the City does not describe your pipe the same way twice: its Cost-Share packet starts your line at the building plumbing, while its Land Development page says you are responsible "from their property line out to the main in the street and/or alley" - so whether the run across your garden is part of the regulated house sewer line depends on which City page you read. Both agree about the part under the road, which is yours either way and is the expensive part. Second, the joint at the main is expressly outside your line, which is the reverse of several other cities and worth saying to a contractor who assumes otherwise. Third, before you call a plumber, call the City: under "Call Us First" Wastewater Services will come out and, where there is a lower lateral clean-out, "flush or inspect the lower lateral line" at no charge - and if the blockage turns out to be in the main, City crews clear it. If the repair does fall in the right-of-way, ask about the House Sewer Line Repair Cost-Share Program before you commit to a contractor, because it requires three bids and prior written approval. The service the City calls "Call Us First" has a formal name too, and asking for it by name gets you further. Its sewer system management plan describes "the Complimentary Lateral Program", which "assists City of Modesto customers with lower lateral maintenance": "through this program, customers can call the City when they experience a sewer backup and Collections crews will clear the lower lateral using municipal lateral machines". The same plan states the ownership position plainly - the City "owns and operates the wastewater collection system but does not own or operate either upper or lower lateral" - so the clearing is a service and not a share of your pipe..
Water · Modesto
Modesto's water service stops in one of three places and which one is yours depends on your street: the property line if you are served from an alley, the curbline if the sidewalk runs along your property line, and the back of the sidewalk if the sidewalk runs along the curb. The owner furnishes, installs and maintains everything from there in - and has twenty-four hours to start fixing a leak once they know about it.
The water page for Modesto
Monroviathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Monrovia
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".
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split, and the owner's duty is framed as a standard rather than only a pipe: the lateral must be kept so that "passage of waste through the lateral to the sewer main is free from stoppage and obstruction", which makes a blockage anywhere along it - under the street included - the owner's to clear. These sections govern property on the City's sewer; check the name on your sewer bill if you are not sure the City serves you..
Water · Monrovia
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."
The water page for Monrovia
Monte Serenoboth authorities take a share
Sewer · West Valley Sanitation District
The District owns and maintains the lower lateral - the part between the property line and the sewer main in the street - where an accessible property line cleanout exists.
Conditional on a properly installed, maintained and accessible property line cleanout.
Water · San Jose Water Company
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns everything from the meter outlet coupling inward.
The water page for Monte Sereno
Moragathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, from the building to Central San's sewer line in the street - and the District's code puts the fitting at the main inside that. The one thing it pays for is a reconnection its own work on the public sewer makes necessary.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and one thing the District does is worth knowing before you pay for a survey. Its sewer system management plan describes a courtesy: "if while televising the public sewer, it is discovered that a lateral needs cleaning, Central San staff will notify the homeowner", sending "a picture of their lateral, a letter explaining the situation, and a request that Central San be informed when the cleaning is to be undertaken so Collection System Operations (CSO) crews can then remove that root debris from the public sewer and re-check it". So if a letter with a photograph arrives, it is not a bill and it is not an enforcement notice - it is the District telling you what its camera saw, and offering to clear its own main afterwards. And one exception in the code is worth real money if it ever applies to you. The District is not financially responsible for side sewer work "except where the District itself or its contractor reconstructs or realigns the public sewer, thereby necessitating the reconnection of private side sewers to the public sewer". If Central San is rebuilding the main in your street and that forces your lateral to be reconnected, the reconnection is on the District rather than on you - so ask before you accept a bill for work that its own project caused..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Moraga
Morgan Hillthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Morgan Hill
The lateral is the property owner's outright - expressly including the run across public rights-of-way and the connection into the city main - and the code says it is not part of the public sewer system.
Conditional on And there is a duty here that has nothing to do with a blockage: the same plan records that "the City Council has adopted a new proactive sewer lateral inspection program that will become effective on June 1, 2022", and that "this program requires private lateral owners to inspect laterals based upon defined criteria in the lateral ordinance available on the City website". So in Morgan Hill you may be required to inspect your lateral whether or not anything is wrong with it. The criteria are in the lateral ordinance rather than in the plan, so ask the City which of them apply to your property..
Water · Morgan Hill
The City's side runs from the main to your meter and the meter is the City's. Yours begins at the coupling just past it. The code alone never says this - the City Engineer's own standard drawings do, and they label both sides.
The water page for Morgan Hill
Mountain Viewthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Mountain View
The whole pipe is yours, out to the City main. The code defines a sewer lateral as running "to the point of connection to the city-owned sewer main" and says "each sewer lateral is owned by and is the responsibility of the entity that owns the property". If you have a cleanout at your property line the City will clear a blockage in the outer half free - it calls that "a courtesy", not a share of the pipe. One caution: a different section of the same chapter says the City "will maintain and keep in repair every such service connection", and the code never reconciles the two.
Conditional on Nothing in the code splits the pipe, and one sentence in it appears to. Taking those in turn. What a property line cleanout changes is what the City will come out and do: its Public Works FAQ says that "if the lateral has a property line cleanout, the City as a courtesy will clean the lateral from the property line cleanout to the sewer main", while "property owners are responsible for clearing any blockages in the home's plumbing system and the lateral pipeline that connects to the City's sewer main". So ring the City before you ring a plumber, and understand that the free visit is a service and not a smaller share of the pipe. Now the caution. Section 35.40 of the same chapter says "the city will maintain and keep in repair every such service connection, provided the failure of such service or the injury thereto rendering repairs necessary was not caused by the improper act or omission of the owner or tenant served by such connection". That sits in the article about connections the City installs, where section 35.36 provides that "each sewer connection shall include opening the sewer and sewer pipe to curb line" - so it most likely means the City-built connection rather than the lateral defined elsewhere. The code does not say so, the sections come from different ordinances a year apart, and nothing cross-references them. If somebody quotes section 35.40 at you, they are quoting the code correctly; ask Public Works which of the two governs your address before you spend anything on the strength of it..
Water · Mountain View
The pipe under the street is the City's, and so is the meter. Mountain View's code says "the water service connection is owned by the city" and defines that connection as "the water meter and piping system between the meter and the city water main"; a separate section provides that "the city will maintain and keep in repair every such service connection". Your side starts immediately downstream of the meter. One condition worth knowing: that duty holds only where the failure "was not caused by the improper act or omission of the owner or tenant served by such connection".
The water page for Mountain View
Newarkthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Union Sanitary District
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, including the run beneath the pavement and the road, up to the point it joins the public main. The District's ordinance goes further than its web page and says the building sewer is owned by the property owner, not merely their responsibility. On a private street or driveway the sewer main itself can be private too, in which case somebody other than the District maintains that as well.
Conditional on Whether the sewer main your lateral joins is the District's at all. The District accepts and maintains mains in the public right-of-way and in sewer easements dedicated to it, and that is the ordinary case. Where a main was built in a private street or driveway, Ordinance 34.08 lets the District decline to adopt it and instead require the property owner, the developer or a homeowners' association to own and maintain it as a private main sewer, under a maintenance agreement the District approves. If that is your street, the pipe your lateral connects to is somebody's private responsibility as well as the lateral itself, and whose is settled by that maintenance agreement. Ask the District which case your street is in before you assume the main is theirs. Three practical points if you are about to do the work. The permit covers three on-site inspections - a pre-job consultation, one before backfill, and a final - and further visits are charged. Anything backfilled before the District has seen it has to be dug up again for inspection. And starting without the permit costs a penalty on top of the ordinary fees, with the District able to refuse the contractor permits for future work in its area..
Water · Alameda County Water District
The District owns and maintains the water service line from the main up to and including the meter. Everything past the meter is the property owner's.
The water page for Newark
Oaklandthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program
The property owner is responsible for the entire lateral, upper and lower, from the home to the public main - except in Alameda and Albany, where the programme covers the upper lateral only.
Conditional on Which city you are in changes the answer, and in two of the five it changes it by the length of the road. The programme's own page stops at the upper lateral for Alameda and Albany without saying who has the rest; each of those cities says so itself. Alameda's sewer system management plan states that "the property owner owns the entire service lateral from the building to the connection to the City's sewer main; however, the City takes responsibility for maintenance and replacement of the lower portion of the lateral", and that "the upper lateral remains the responsibility of the private property owner" - the City rehabilitating a lower lateral when it rehabilitates the main it connects to, or when the lower lateral fails, whichever comes first. Albany takes the lower lateral too, from the kerb to the main; its own page for householders is the place to have that confirmed. So if you are in Alameda or Albany, the run under the road is the City's to keep up and the part across your own land is yours - ring the City before you ring a plumber. In Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont the whole run is yours, and Piedmont's own plan puts the connection at the main on you as well. One caution for Alameda: the City's code still reads that "property owners own the entire sewer lateral and must maintain, repair and replace all sewer laterals associated with their parcels", which is broader than what its plan says the City does - the plan is the more recent statement of what the City will actually do, and the code has not caught up..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Oakland
Oceansidethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Oceanside
The sewer lateral is the owner's out into the road. Oceanside's code puts the costs of installing, maintaining, replacing and permitting a house connection on the property owner, and defines that connection as "the service pipes from the private property line to the public sewer main or lateral in a public street, alley or easement" - so the length under the paving is yours. The City says the same in plainer words: "private sewer lines (from the street to your house) are the responsibility of the property owner". Your water line, by contrast, stops being yours at the meter.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, but do not let the words mislead you: in this code a "house connection" is the length from your property line OUT to the main, not the pipe beside the house, and it is the length that needs the road opened. Three things follow. Any repair touching the right-of-way needs an encroachment permit, which in Oceanside is most repairs. Your two pipes divide in opposite places - the City says your water line runs "from the meter to your house" and your sewer line "from the street to your house" - so a quotation for "the line to the street" means very different work depending on which is meant. And one thing the City does not say: whether the fitting where your lateral meets the main is inside your half. The City's standard drawing S-3 is said to answer that and could not be read here, so ask Water Utilities rather than assume..
Water · Oceanside
The meter is the line, and the City's code draws it from both sides: every meter the water department installs "shall remain at all times the property of the city", and past it the customer must fit a shut-off valve of their own, at their own expense. The City puts the same thing in plainer words for householders - "private water lines (from the meter to your house) are the responsibility of the property owner". What is unusual is that valve: you need one within three feet of the meter, because the one out at the kerb is the City's and is under its exclusive control.
The water page for Oceanside
Orindathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, from the building to Central San's sewer line in the street - and the District's code puts the fitting at the main inside that. The one thing it pays for is a reconnection its own work on the public sewer makes necessary.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and one thing the District does is worth knowing before you pay for a survey. Its sewer system management plan describes a courtesy: "if while televising the public sewer, it is discovered that a lateral needs cleaning, Central San staff will notify the homeowner", sending "a picture of their lateral, a letter explaining the situation, and a request that Central San be informed when the cleaning is to be undertaken so Collection System Operations (CSO) crews can then remove that root debris from the public sewer and re-check it". So if a letter with a photograph arrives, it is not a bill and it is not an enforcement notice - it is the District telling you what its camera saw, and offering to clear its own main afterwards. And one exception in the code is worth real money if it ever applies to you. The District is not financially responsible for side sewer work "except where the District itself or its contractor reconstructs or realigns the public sewer, thereby necessitating the reconnection of private side sewers to the public sewer". If Central San is rebuilding the main in your street and that forces your lateral to be reconnected, the reconnection is on the District rather than on you - so ask before you accept a bill for work that its own project caused..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Orinda
Oxnardthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Oxnard
The owner pays to maintain the lateral and the fitting where it meets the main. Oxnard's code is one sentence - "all connections, including the lateral, wye or saddle at the city's sewer, shall be maintained at the expense of the property owner" - and the City's own flyer draws it: the private sewer lateral "extends past the private property line and into the public right-of-way" and "includes the connection to the public sewer".
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and Oxnard goes further than most cities to say so: the joint where your lateral meets the City's sewer - the wye or the saddle - is named in the ordinance as yours, and the City's flyer draws your half running under the sidewalk and the street. If a contractor tells you the fitting at the main is the City's problem, the section to show them is 19-11. Two further things are worth knowing before you spend. The City's words are about EXPENSE rather than title: it says who pays to maintain the connection and does not say who owns it. And if you are demolishing or abandoning rather than repairing, that is its own permit - section 19-12 requires "a public works permit for abandonment of sewer lateral" before the work starts, and lets the City do the disconnection itself and charge you for it if you do not..
Water · Oxnard
In Oxnard the water service and the meter are the City's, outright: "all services and meters shall remain the property of the water division", and the division bears "the expense of maintenance, repair and renewal due to normal wear and tear". Damage caused by an act of yours - "careless or otherwise" - is charged back to you. That is the reverse of Oxnard's sewer answer, where the owner maintains the lateral and the fitting at the main.
The water page for Oxnard
Palo Altoboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Palo Alto
It depends on whether you have a City sewer cleanout, and where it is. With one, Palo Alto owns and maintains the lateral "from the Wastewater Main up to and including the first City Sewer Cleanout" and you own the rest to your building. Without one - or if it is inaccessible, or if the cleanout is yours and sits "more than 5 feet behind the property line" - you own "the entire Sewer Lateral between the City's Wastewater Main and the building".
Conditional on Three things, and you can change one of them. First, whether a City Sewer Cleanout exists on your lateral; the standard place for one is the planting strip. Second, whether it is accessible - the regulation puts "Keeping the Sewer Cleanout boxes visible and accessible" on the Customer's own list of duties, so a cleanout buried under a hedge is a cleanout that has stopped dividing the pipe. Third, where it is: if the cleanout is the Customer's rather than the City's and sits "more than 5 feet behind the property line", the City's half does not begin at all. The one you can change is the first. Where there is no City cleanout the City may install one, and "once a new City Sewer Cleanout is installed and operational, the City will own the Lower Sewer Lateral between the Wastewater Main and the new City Sewer Cleanout". Refusing that installation has a price: the Customer then "will remain solely responsible for the inspection, maintenance, repair, and upgrade of the entire Sewer Lateral". Two situations sit outside all of this. If the City's main is in a Public Utility Easement on private property, the whole lateral is the Customer's from the main connection inward. And if your lateral branches off the City's lower lateral rather than reaching the main itself, the tee or wye and everything above it is yours..
Water · Palo Alto
The City's utility maintains the water service "from, and including, the Water Meter located near the street curb, up to and including the Water main", and everything downstream of the meter is yours. That is the opposite end of the run from your sewer lateral, which the same utility makes yours all the way to the main unless there is a City cleanout. One more thing worth knowing before you remodel: a project over $200,000 can oblige you to replace the City's own side of the service.
The water page for Palo Alto
Palos Verdes Estatesthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Palos Verdes Estates
Palos Verdes Estates writes no sewer ownership rule of its own either. Section 13.14.010 of its municipal code adopts "Title 20, Utilities, Division 2, Sanitary Sewers and Industrial Waste, of the Los Angeles County Code as amended and in effect on January 2, 2020" as the City's sanitary sewer and industrial waste ordinance, and section 13.14.020 renames the parties in it - "County engineer" means the city engineer, "County of Los Angeles" means the city of Palos Verdes Estates. 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". The length the City's ordinance puts on the owner is the length under the road.
Conditional on The division assigns the half most owners assume is public and is silent on the half they assume is theirs. Section 20.24.080 reaches house laterals, and a house lateral begins at the property line - so the run from the building out to that line is not what the section is about. The silence is not the City taking it on; that length is simply not addressed. The expensive, contested half - the one under the road, where a repair means a street cut - is the one the ordinance names, and names as the owner's. Worth knowing alongside it is what the sewer charge does not buy. Los Angeles County Code chapter 20.40 levies an annual sewer maintenance service charge on parcels in the Consolidated Sewer Maintenance District. That chapter sets a rate and says what the fund may be spent on; it undertakes no maintenance of anyone's house lateral, and section 20.24.080 carries no exception for a parcel inside a district. Paying the charge and owning the lateral are both true at once..
Water · California Water Service, Palos Verdes system
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Palos Verdes Estates
Paramountthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Paramount
Paramount writes no sewer ownership rule of its own and borrows the County's. Section 13.08.010 of its municipal code adopts "Title 20, Utilities, Division 2 of the Los Angeles County Code, commonly referred to as the Sanitary Sewers and Industrial Waste Ordinance as amended July 27, 1989" as the City's ordinance. 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". The length the City's ordinance puts on the owner is the length under the road.
Conditional on The division assigns the half most owners assume is public and says nothing about the half they assume is theirs. A house lateral begins at the property line, so the run from the building out to that line is not what section 20.24.080 is about - and that silence is not the City taking it on. Section 13.08.020 renames the parties in the borrowed text, and it is worth reading for what it leaves alone. It rewrites the public sewer as "All sanitary sewers and appurtenances thereto, lying within streets or easements dedicated to the City, which are under the sole jurisdiction of the City", but it does not redefine a house lateral, so the County's assignment still reaches the pipe exactly as written. The adoption is also frozen: it takes the County text as it stood on 27 July 1989, not as the County has amended it since, and the owner's duty in section 20.24.080 dates from the County's original 1952 sewer ordinance - the same Ordinance No. 6130 that section 13.08.020 names..
Water · Paramount
The City supplies the water, owns the service connection and meter, and says in its own code that it pays to maintain them. Section 13.04.260(C) provides that "All service connections, meters and valves, and housings installed by the City or conveyed to the City, however provided for, shall be the sole property of the City under the control of the City and will be maintained at the City's expense except as otherwise provided in these regulations".
The water page for Paramount
Pasadenathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Pasadena
The house sewer is the owner's from 24 inches outside the building to the main - and Pasadena closes the usual loophole by saying that a public sewer "does not include house sewer". The catch is in section 13.24.210: replace any part of the run between the curb and the main and you must replace all of it, to new-work standards.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, but one rule decides what a repair costs and most people meet it too late. Under section 13.24.210, replacing any portion of an existing house sewer between the street curb and the lot line obliges you to replace all of that portion, and replacing any portion between the curb and the public sewer obliges you to replace all of that one - in both cases "to meet the requirements for new house sewers". So a spot repair in the roadway is not a spot repair: get the quotation priced for the whole segment before you decide between repairing and relining. Two smaller things. The City's permission to tap the main where no Y or T was left for you carries its own charge, which the code still puts at $7.50. And if any plumbing fixture sits below the elevation of the curb or property line, section 13.24.300 requires an approved backwater trap or valve between that outlet and the public sewer, installed so that it is "readily accessible at all times". One caution, because the City's own documents do not agree and somebody may quote the other one at you. Its sewer system management plan states in the system-overview table that the property owner is responsible for the lateral up to the connection to the sewer main - which is what the code says and what this page says. But a later section of the same plan says something narrower: "property owners are responsible for maintaining the house lateral to the property line per section 13.24.610. Standard Drawings require a cleanout at the property line." Section 13.24.610 does not say that; it puts all house sewers on the owner, and section 13.24.010 defines a house sewer as running "to its connection with the public sewer". The code is the instrument and the plan's own table agrees with it, so this page follows the code - but if anybody shows you that sentence, it is in a real City document and you are not imagining it..
Water · Pasadena
Pasadena Water and Power owns and maintains the water system "up to and including the water meter", and responsibility transfers where your private property connects to it. But if you ask PWP to replace the service lateral rather than repair it, the code makes you "pay the department's actual cost" - so the difference between reporting a fault and requesting a replacement is the difference between their bill and yours.
The water page for Pasadena
Perrisboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Eastern Municipal Water District
The pipe is yours end to end - "all completed Sewer Service Laterals shall remain the property of the Customer" - and the stretch under the street carries two different duties. You maintain it: "maintenance of Lower Sewer Laterals shall be the responsibility of the Customer." The District repairs it: "repair of Lower Sewer Laterals shall be performed by the District at the District's expense" - except where the repair was needed "as a result of root intrusion and/or debris from Customer's property, or other repairs needed that were contributed to by the Customer", as the District determines.
Conditional on The split here is not where the pipe runs but what is being done to it, and getting that round the right way is worth real money. On the stretch under the street, maintenance is yours and repair is the District's at the District's expense. So a blockage you clear is your bill and a broken pipe the District replaces is not - up to a point. The exception is the part to read twice, because it swallows the commonest cause of lateral failure there is: the District's repair duty does not apply where the work "were required as a result of root intrusion and/or debris from Customer's property, or other repairs needed that were contributed to by the Customer", and it is the District that determines whether that applies. There is also a rule about how you may do your own half of the work: maintenance activity "shall be performed outside of the roadbed, within the parkway unless performed under the direction of the District" - so the verge, not the carriageway, unless the District is directing it. And if your building sits too low to drain by gravity, section 6.203 puts the pump station on you to finance, construct, own and maintain. There is one arrangement in which none of that applies and the whole pipe is yours, and it turns on where the main is rather than on anything about the property. Section 6.104(q)(2) provides that "if a Sewer Service Lateral connects to a rear or side yard Sewer Pipeline that is located in a District easement, or to a District manhole, the entire Sewer Service Lateral, including the connection to the Sewer Pipeline, is an Upper Sewer Lateral". There is then no lower lateral at all, so the District's repair duty in section 6.202(b)(2) never engages, and section 6.202(b)(3) puts maintenance and repair of the entire run on the customer. Rear-easement mains are ordinary in tract subdivisions of a certain age, and a reader on one of them has the most expensive version of this answer while their neighbour across the street has the cheapest. Which one you are on is a question for the District about your address..
Water · Eastern Municipal Water District
Eastern Municipal Water District owns the water service connection from its main to and including your meter, and its Administrative Code says "the expense of maintenance, repairs, and renewal of such service connections and meters, due to normal wear and tear, shall be borne by the District". Your side starts at the meter: "water pipes and appurtenances downstream of the meter are the property of the customer who is responsible for water use, operation and maintenance." Note that the same District answers the opposite way for your sewer lateral, which is yours the whole way to the main.
The water page for Perris
Piedmontthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program
The property owner is responsible for the entire lateral, upper and lower, from the home to the public main - except in Alameda and Albany, where the programme covers the upper lateral only.
Conditional on Which city you are in changes the answer, and in two of the five it changes it by the length of the road. The programme's own page stops at the upper lateral for Alameda and Albany without saying who has the rest; each of those cities says so itself. Alameda's sewer system management plan states that "the property owner owns the entire service lateral from the building to the connection to the City's sewer main; however, the City takes responsibility for maintenance and replacement of the lower portion of the lateral", and that "the upper lateral remains the responsibility of the private property owner" - the City rehabilitating a lower lateral when it rehabilitates the main it connects to, or when the lower lateral fails, whichever comes first. Albany takes the lower lateral too, from the kerb to the main; its own page for householders is the place to have that confirmed. So if you are in Alameda or Albany, the run under the road is the City's to keep up and the part across your own land is yours - ring the City before you ring a plumber. In Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont the whole run is yours, and Piedmont's own plan puts the connection at the main on you as well. One caution for Alameda: the City's code still reads that "property owners own the entire sewer lateral and must maintain, repair and replace all sewer laterals associated with their parcels", which is broader than what its plan says the City does - the plan is the more recent statement of what the City will actually do, and the code has not caught up..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Piedmont
Portola Valleythe two pipes disagree
Sewer · West Bay Sanitary District
The property owner owns the whole side sewer, from the building to the District's main - though the District may clear a blockage in the part under the road where the property has a conforming cleanout.
Water · California Water Service, Bear Gulch District
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Portola Valley
Rancho Cucamongaboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Cucamonga Valley Water District
The whole lateral is very likely yours, including the part under the road and the fitting where it joins the main. The District's 2025 Sewer System Management Plan defines a private sewer lateral as running "from the plumbing of a building to a CVWD collection line, including portions that extend across public rights-of-way and the saddle, wye or other physical connection", and says such laterals "are privately owned and maintained". Its customer FAQ puts it more narrowly - "from their property line to the house" - and names two fittings most authorities leave unsaid, the "clean out" and "back-water valve". The valve matters more than its size suggests: it "is installed to prevent any back up sewage in the district system from entering the customer's property", and inspecting and maintaining it is yours.
Conditional on The property line divides it, and two things about that are worth carrying away. The first is the backwater valve. The District explains that it "is installed to prevent any back up sewage in the district system from entering the customer's property" - so the device that protects your house from the District's own system is on your side of the line, yours to inspect and yours to replace, and the District says plainly that it should be checked periodically rather than left until it is needed. Most people have never looked at theirs. The second is the one that costs money, and it is where the District's two published answers stop agreeing. The customer FAQ says you are responsible "from their property line to the house" and stops. The District's Sewer System Management Plan, approved by its Board on 24 June 2025 and certified under penalty of perjury, goes further: it defines a private sewer lateral as "the sewer pipeline from the plumbing of a building to a CVWD collection line, including portions that extend across public rights-of-way and the saddle, wye or other physical connection to the collection line", states that "private sewer laterals are privately owned and maintained", and says plainly that "the property owner is fully responsible for installation, maintenance and repair of the private sewer lateral(s)". The same plan records the practical consequence: a backup "caused by a blockage or other malfunction of a private sewer lateral" is not treated as a District spill. So the FAQ's property line is the narrower of two published answers and the plan is the newer and the more formal one - which means the run under the road, and the fitting where it meets the main, are very likely yours. Ask the District which governs your address before you dig, and do not assume the property line ends your responsibility because a help page mentions it..
Water · Cucamonga Valley Water District
The meter is the line and the two halves are stated separately, which is rarer than it should be. "The District is responsible for the water service line from the mainline in the street up to and including the water meter", and "water system customers are responsible for the water service line from the water meter to the house". One device on your side is called out by name: "if a pressure regulator is installed to adjust the water pressure on the property, the customer is responsible to perform periodic maintenance on this device."
The water page for Rancho Cucamonga
Rancho Palos Verdesthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Rancho Palos Verdes
The City states that inspecting, repairing and maintaining the private sewer lateral is the property owner's responsibility. For the portion under the road, the City has adopted the Los Angeles County sewer ordinance as its own - frozen at its 1989 text, though the sentences that matter here are older than that and unchanged.
Conditional on Two qualifications a reader should know about, neither of which changes the answer above but both of which decide how firmly it rests. First, the City's adoption is frozen at the county text "in effect on July 27, 1989" rather than the current one; the two sentences quoted here date from 1964 and 1952 and have not been amended since, so the frozen text and today's text are the same words. Second, the City's own title 13 contains no sewer lateral maintenance section - the code half of this answer comes entirely through the adoption, and the substitution the code prescribes ("County of Los Angeles means the City of Rancho Palos Verdes") reads oddly against the county section that limits the ordinance to unincorporated territory. The City Engineer is the place to settle it for a particular address. Since then the agency that actually runs these sewers has said it plainly, which settles the practical question even while the adoption reads oddly. Los Angeles County Public Works operates the sewer maintenance districts here, and its sewer system management plan states that "the County does not own or maintain private lateral sewer lines" and that "property owners are responsible for proper installation, operation, and maintenance laterals (the pipe that connects from the building to the main) and clean-outs". It adds the part most likely to catch somebody out: that responsibility includes laterals sitting on a County-owned easement. So a pipe crossing an easement is still yours..
Water · California Water Service, Palos Verdes system
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Rancho Palos Verdes
Redondo Beachthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Redondo Beach
The property owner is responsible for the sewer connection, and the City's own definition puts the expensive part inside it: a "sewer connection" here is a privately maintained line within the public street, including the wye or tee at the main. The City maintains the public sewers and claims no share of the connection.
Conditional on What the code settles and what it leaves open are different lengths of the same pipe. The run within the public street, up to and including the wye or tee at the main, is the owner's under sections 5-4.303 and 5-4.103 together - that is the ordinance. The run from your building to the property line is not inside that definition, and the chapter defines no building sewer or lateral at all. Nothing in it claims that length for the City either, and it is private plumbing on private land, so it is the owner's on every ordinary reading - but the ordinance is silent there rather than clear. Note also that the two sections use slightly different words, "sewer connection" and "property sewer connection", so quote both if you are putting the question to the City..
Water · Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach is claimed by two water utilities and it does not matter which one serves you: California Water Service and Golden State Water Company both file the same CPUC rule, so the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box are the utility's, and the piping past the meter is yours. The curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's under both.
The water page for Redondo Beach
Richmondthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Richmond
Check first whether your address is in Richmond Municipal Sewer District No. 1, because the ordinance "applies only within the sewer service areas" of that district and parts of the city are served by other agencies. Inside it, the whole pipe is yours including the joint: a private sewer lateral runs "from the structure(s) served to the sewer main", and "the property owner is also responsible for the connection to the sewer main". Richmond then does something few cities do - it writes down the condition the pipe must be in, and requires a Certificate of Lateral Compliance at sale, at subdivision, on a two-fixture remodel, and where the lateral is over fifteen years old or was laid without a permit.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and two things about Richmond matter more than a split would. The first is where the ordinance reaches: section 12.17.030 provides that "this chapter applies only within the sewer service areas of the Richmond Municipal Sewer District Number No. 1 (RMSD)", and the chapter separately exempts from its transfer requirement a "property located in the City of Richmond but served by a sanitary sewer service provider that has a PSL maintenance, inspection and repair program in place". A Richmond address is therefore not automatically an RMSD address, and that is the first thing to confirm. The second is what compliance costs when a pipe fails the test. Section 12.17.050(b) sets a real standard - joints tight, pipes "sound and free from structural defects, cracks, breaks, openings, and missing portions", grade "uniform without sags or offsets", a two-way cleanout, a backflow or overflow device - and section 12.17.070 states the consequence of not meeting it: "for all single and multi-family dwellings ... it shall be the policy of the City Manager to require the property owner to replace the lateral in its entirety from the house to the main." Commercial and industrial properties "may" be allowed partial repairs. Homes, by stated policy, are not. Separately, a leaking lateral or an uncapped cleanout is "declared to be a public nuisance, subject to abatement", with abatement costs "assessed against the subject property owner" and capable of becoming a lien. And the District's own sewer system management plan says roughly where the other two are, which is what a reader needs in order to check: "West County Wastewater District (WCWD) provides sewer collection service to a small portion of the City on the northern border of the City, adjacent to the City of San Pablo, and Stege Sanitary District (Stege) collects wastewater for a portion of the City in the eastern hills, adjacent to the City of El Cerrito". So if you are up in the eastern hills near El Cerrito, or on the northern border by San Pablo, this page is probably not about your pipe - ring the district named for your side of the city before relying on it..
Water · East Bay Municipal Utility District
EBMUD draws its line more precisely than any other water utility here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past those threads is the customer's. In most of the East Bay that is the opposite shape to the sewer answer, where the owner's lateral runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for Richmond
Riversideboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Riverside
Riverside is the one city here that divides the lateral by the kind of building rather than by where the pipe runs. For a house, the City maintains the run from the property line to the main. For "nonresidential premises" - which its code defines to include apartments, condominiums and boarding houses - the owner's pipe runs all the way to the connection. Everyone must install and pay for a cleanout at the property line.
Conditional on Find out which class your home is in before anything else, because it decides who pays for the run under the road, and the answer is not what the words suggest. The City maintains that length for "residential premises" - but its own definitions make apartments, condominiums and boarding houses NONRESIDENTIAL, alongside industrial and commercial premises. So a house gets the City's half and a condominium does not, even though both are somebody's home and both owners own their property. If you are in a condominium here, your lateral runs to the main and it is yours. Separately, and whichever class you are in, the two-way cleanout tee at the property line is your obligation to install at your own expense, at least four inches in diameter - it is not a condition on the City's duty, it is a duty of your own..
Water · Riverside
The customer's water service line begins at the back of Riverside Public Utilities' meter and runs to the building, and maintaining it is the customer's job. Everything from the main up to and including the meter is the utility's. If you replace your service line, RPU expects you to tell them.
The water page for Riverside
Rolling Hills Estatesthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Rolling Hills Estates
The property owner maintains the sewer lateral, and the City's adoption of the Los Angeles County sewer ordinance extends that to the portion in the street, which the county code defines as running from the property line to the main. The county's maintenance district operates the public sewer itself, not the lateral.
Conditional on The agency that actually operates these sewers has said it in its own adopted plan, which answers the question without relying on the adoption chain at all. Los Angeles County Public Works runs the Consolidated Sewer Maintenance District here, and its plan states that "the County and the member cities own the sewer mainlines and the point of connection to the sewer mainlines, but do not own any portion of the sewer lateral beyond the sewer connection", and that "private service laterals are the responsibility of the property owner and must be maintained by the property owner"..
Water · California Water Service, Palos Verdes system
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Rolling Hills Estates
Rosevilleboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Roseville
Whether the run under the road is yours depends on one thing: is there a cleanout. Roseville's design standard says "the cleanout indicates the separation between private and public for the purpose of maintenance" - and that "in cases where there is no cleanout, the sewer service is considered private all the way to the main, including the wye". So the property with no cleanout has the longest pipe in the street, and the fitting at the main too.
Conditional on Find out whether your property has a sewer cleanout before you assume anything, because in Roseville that single fact decides how much pipe you are responsible for. Where there is one, it "indicates the separation between private and public for the purpose of maintenance" and it sits two feet outside the sewer easement. Where there is not, the service "is considered private all the way to the main, including the wye" - the longest and most expensive version of the answer. Note also that the City's own public page describes it more simply, putting the owner's lateral as running "from the building to the City sewer main" in every case while listing "service connections maintained by the City" as the City's; the design standard is the more precise instrument and the cleanout is the thing to ask about. Two practical points. Call the City before you call a plumber: it runs a 24-hour line, will "assess the situation at no charge", and will clear a blockage if it turns out to be in the City sewer main or service connection. And if you do want the City to work on your lateral, it will - "any work the City performs on private laterals, including the wye fitting that connects the private lateral to the main, shall be billed to the private owner on a time and materials basis", which is a real option and not a published price..
Water · Roseville
Roseville lays the water service pipe to a point that "ordinarily ... shall terminate within two feet in back of a sidewalk", and the City's responsibility "with respect to ownership, maintenance, and repair" does not extend past it. Everything from there into your building is yours to "maintain and keep in good repair". Very few cities name the boundary in feet.
The water page for Roseville
Rossthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Ross Valley Sanitary District
The property owner owns, maintains and repairs the entire lateral, from the building to and including the connection at the District main - and where the lateral is shared with other properties, the District allocates by position on the run, so the household furthest downstream carries the connection to the public sewer for everyone above it.
Conditional on Whether your lateral is shared with another property is the question to settle first, because it decides who pays for the expensive part. On a shared run the District's guidance makes each owner responsible for "the entire portion of the lateral on their property, up to the next downstream lateral connection", and the household with "the furthest downstream lateral connection" responsible for "the remaining portion of the lateral, including its connection to the public sewer main" - so the house closest to the street carries the connection on behalf of every property above it, unless the owners have agreed otherwise in writing. The District recommends such an agreement and states that common laterals "are considered private matters in which the District does not get involved", so there is no referee there. New shared laterals are no longer permitted under section 13 of Ordinance 100; the ones that exist are legacy. The District's guidance cautions that its examples are illustrative rather than determinative for a particular property..
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for Ross
Sacramentothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Sacramento
The customer is responsible for the private sewer line "regardless of the cause", and the code says that line includes the portion under the public road. The department may unblock or repair the part nearest the main where there is an accessible cleanout, but it is not required to and doing so changes nothing.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and the Department has now said so in its own words where the code left room to argue. Its sewer system management plan states that "per City Code 13.08.020, when a sewer main is located in a public right-of-way or easement, City crews are required to inspect, maintain and repair only the sewer mains and associated facilities", and that "services or laterals are considered private from the point of connection with the main to the private property and beyond". It adds, plainly: "the City does not own and is not responsible for maintenance of the lower laterals." So the run beneath the road is yours on both the code and the Department's own account of what its crews do. One limit on that plan, and it matters depending on where you live. It covers the SEPARATED sewer system only: "management, operation, and maintenance of the combined sewer system is not included as part of this audit since the SWRCB WDR does not currently require the inclusion of the combined sewer system in the SSMP". The combined system serves the older central city, so if your address is in that area these sentences are not about your pipe - ask the Department of Utilities which system serves you..
Water · Sacramento
The City maintains the water line up to the point of service - normally the far side of the meter, but the right-of-way boundary where the meter sits on private land. Everything beyond that point is the customer's sole responsibility.
The water page for Sacramento
San Anselmothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Ross Valley Sanitary District
The property owner owns, maintains and repairs the entire lateral, from the building to and including the connection at the District main - and where the lateral is shared with other properties, the District allocates by position on the run, so the household furthest downstream carries the connection to the public sewer for everyone above it.
Conditional on Whether your lateral is shared with another property is the question to settle first, because it decides who pays for the expensive part. On a shared run the District's guidance makes each owner responsible for "the entire portion of the lateral on their property, up to the next downstream lateral connection", and the household with "the furthest downstream lateral connection" responsible for "the remaining portion of the lateral, including its connection to the public sewer main" - so the house closest to the street carries the connection on behalf of every property above it, unless the owners have agreed otherwise in writing. The District recommends such an agreement and states that common laterals "are considered private matters in which the District does not get involved", so there is no referee there. New shared laterals are no longer permitted under section 13 of Ordinance 100; the ones that exist are legacy. The District's guidance cautions that its examples are illustrative rather than determinative for a particular property..
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for San Anselmo
San Bernardinothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · San Bernardino
The whole run is yours and the joint at the main is not - the Department defines a private sewer lateral as running from the premises "up to, but not including, the connection to the City's or satellite service area's collection system". That includes the part in the street: "the portion of the Private Sewer Lateral that extends beyond the property line in the public right of way is also the owner's responsibility to maintain and repair." And a lateral left inoperative is not only your bill - it can be a nuisance under California Health and Safety Code section 5410, enforced by the City's Public Works Department.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and two details are worth carrying into any conversation about a failure. The first is where your length stops. The Department's definition ends it "up to, but not including, the connection to the City's or satellite service area's collection system" - so the joint at the main is outside your lateral as defined, which is unusual and worth knowing before a contractor quotes for cutting into it. Note what that does and does not mean: it marks the end of your pipe, and the Department has since said who owns the connection beyond it, though not who repairs it. Its sewer system management plan states that "the Department owns the wye connection to the public sewer main line (which connects the lateral to the main line)", and puts the rest beyond doubt - "laterals are owned and maintained by private property owners". So the fitting is the Department's property. What is still unstated is a duty to repair it, so a failure at the joint itself is a question for the Department rather than for a contractor. The second is what happens if the pipe is left broken. Rule and Regulation 7 requires inoperative laterals "including the portion in the portion within the public right of way" to be maintained in good condition and free of defects by the User, and provides that one constituting a nuisance "as that term is defined in California Health and Safety Code section 5410, shall be subject to the regulations outlined by Health and Safety Code sections 5410 through 5416 and such regulations shall be enforced by the City's Public Works Department." That is a state-law consequence, not a municipal one..
Water · San Bernardino
The Water Department owns the service connection and keeps it up, all the way to the meter. Its Rule and Regulation No. 7 states that service connections "including laterals, meters, boxes, shutoff valves, and other appurtenances, shall be and remain the property of the Water Department", and that the Department is responsible for maintaining and repairing them "up to and including all appurtenances between service lateral tap on the public water main to the service meter". The owner's pipe starts on the far side of the meter.
The water page for San Bernardino
San Brunothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · San Bruno
The property owner owns the entire lateral, upper and lower, including the wye at the City main - though the City will clear and root-cut the lower section where a permitted cleanout exists.
Water · San Bruno
San Bruno says it plainly: "the City maintains everything up to and including the water meter", and "the property owner is responsible for all maintenance within the property". So your water line is the City's problem out to the meter and yours from there in. That is the reverse of your sewer lateral in this city, which you own the whole way to the main, wye and all.
The water page for San Bruno
San Carlosboth authorities take a share
Sewer · San Carlos
It depends on one fitting. Put in an approved cleanout at your property line and get it accepted, and the City takes over the length from there out to the main - the part under the road, wye included. Without one, the whole lateral is yours.
Conditional on The cleanout is the whole question here, and it is worth money. A cleanout at or near your property line, installed to the City's standard detail and accepted by the City, moves the length from there to the main onto the City. No cleanout, and that length stays yours. The detail puts it no more than five feet from "property line or back of walk whichever is closer to sewer main", and specifies the materials and the box. If you are having lateral work done anyway, this is the thing to ask your contractor to include and the City to accept. Two further points from the code. It treats a pressure lateral differently: "the maintenance responsibility for a private pressure lateral to the City sewer main shall always remain with the property owner", with no cleanout exception. And for a gravity lower lateral the Director of Public Works "shall have the sole discretion to determine whether the private gravity lower lateral is acceptable" - so acceptance is a decision somebody makes, not something that follows automatically from installing the fitting. Ask what the City needs to see before you pay for the work..
Water · California Water Service, San Carlos system (Mid-Peninsula District)
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for San Carlos
San Diegothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · San Diego
The City states that the entire sewer lateral is the property owner's private property, including the length running under the street to the sewer main. A Council Policy will clear or repair the section beyond the property line at no charge, but only where the property has lost all sewer service and only after the owner has paid a plumber to establish where the fault is.
Conditional on One narrow exception, and every condition in it matters. The City "will only repair or clear at no charge to you a problem located in the section of the lateral that lies beyond your property line and in the City right-of-way (street), provided that you have lost all sewer facilities". A slow drain does not qualify and neither does a fault on the owner's side of the property line. The owner must also establish the fault first at their own expense: city crews "will not respond until the property owner has established, through the use of a licensed plumber or certified drain cleaning service, that the stopage or failure is between the property line and the sewer main". That misspelling is the City's own..
Water · San Diego
The City states that the property owner is responsible for the water system from the meter onward. It publishes where the division falls without saying, in words, who maintains the run between the main and the meter.
The water page for San Diego
San Franciscoboth authorities take a share
Sewer · San Francisco
The owner owns the sewer lateral and is responsible for maintaining it - but where Public Works decides a repair is needed in the roadway, the City makes that repair itself, from the curb to the main, and budgets for it rather than billing the owner.
Water · San Francisco
Everything from the main to the meter is the Department's property, including the meter box, even though the applicant paid to install it. Past the meter is the customer's, and the rules say so in terms.
The water page for San Francisco
San Jacintothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · San Jacinto
San Jacinto answers this more directly than most, and it answers the half that usually goes unsaid. Section 13.20.260 of its municipal code establishes "that the maintenance, service, cleaning, repair, and replacement of sewer laterals shall be the sole responsibility of the property owner whose building or improvement is served by such laterals, and not the city", running "from the building or improvement that it serves to the connection at the public sewer in the public right-of-way". It then says the thing most codes leave to inference: "these obligations apply to the portion of the lateral on private property as well as any and all portions of such sewer laterals that lie within any public right-of-way".
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe. What is worth knowing is that the code uses two different terms for it and only one of them is defined. Section 13.20.010 defines a "house connection sewer" as "that part of the horizontal piping beginning twelve (12) inches from the exterior of the building and extending to the boundary line of the lot whereon the building is situated" - which stops at the lot line. Section 13.20.260 is about "sewer laterals", a term the definitions section does not carry, and it reaches past that line to the main. The later provision is the explicit one and resolves itself, so the answer is the main; but the two terms are not interchangeable and a reader comparing them will notice. Section 13.28.030 describes the same run in two pieces for materials purposes, from the main to the curb and from the curb to the building..
Water · Eastern Municipal Water District
Eastern Municipal Water District owns the water service connection from its main to and including your meter, and its Administrative Code says "the expense of maintenance, repairs, and renewal of such service connections and meters, due to normal wear and tear, shall be borne by the District". Your side starts at the meter: "water pipes and appurtenances downstream of the meter are the property of the customer who is responsible for water use, operation and maintenance." Note that the same District answers the opposite way for your sewer lateral, which is yours the whole way to the main.
The water page for San Jacinto
San Joseboth authorities take a share
Sewer · San Jose
The property owner owns the whole lateral, both on their land and under the road - the City's own ordinance says so in passing, twice. But San Jose will clear a blockage in the run from your property line to the main, and if that run then needs repair the City repairs it "without charge to the owner". All of it depends on a wye cleanout sitting no more than twenty-four inches below the surface and not covered over.
Conditional on Find your wye cleanout and measure how deep it sits, because that is what decides whether San Jose does the work or you do. If it is no more than twenty-four inches below the surrounding surface and is not covered by dirt, concrete or asphalt, the City will rod the lateral between your property line and the main, and will repair that run without charge if the rodding shows it needs repair. If it is deeper than that or covered over, the City acts only after you have exposed it and raised it to within twenty-four inches, at your own cost. If there is no cleanout at all, you must have one installed - by a licensed or master plumber, or by the City for a published fee. None of this is automatic: it starts with a written application to the department of public works, and the repair needs a repair order form granting the City permission to work on your pipe..
Water · San Jose
San Jose is served by two water utilities and it does not matter which one you have: San Jose Water Company and the City's own municipal water system both keep the run from the main through the meter, and both hand the customer everything beyond it. Which utility serves you still decides who bills you and who to ring.
The water page for San Jose
San Leandrothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · San Leandro
The lateral is the owner's the whole way, and San Leandro is unusually plain about the part under the road: plumbing and laterals "on both private property and within the public right-of-way" must be kept in working order, and service laterals "stretch from their home's connection all the way to the public sewer link". The City maintains the main and nothing else.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and the City is clearer than most that the run beneath the right-of-way is yours. Three things to know before you spend. First, the fitting where your lateral meets the main is not addressed anywhere read - the City's words reach "the point where they connect with the City's sewer main" without saying which side of the joint the line falls, so ask Water Pollution Control before assuming either way. Second, part of San Leandro lies in the Oro Loma Sanitary District service area: the City's own FAQ sends sewer billing questions there, and work in that area has its own permit requirements, so confirm which body governs your address before relying on this answer. Third, and unusually for this part of California, San Leandro does not require a sewer lateral compliance certificate when a property is sold - the cities around it do, and the City has said it "may implement a sewer lateral ordinance in the future", so check the position again at the time rather than relying on the date at the foot of this page. And before any of it, check whose sewers you are on. The City's own sewer system management plan says that "the City maintains roughly two thirds of the sewers within the City limits, primarily serving the northern portion of the City", and that "the remainder of the City is served by the Oro Loma Sanitary District". So an address in the southern part of San Leandro may be Oro Loma's rather than the City's. Oro Loma's own sewer system management plan gives the same answer about who owns the lateral, stating that the District is not responsible for any part of it - but the number you ring, and the programmes you can ask about, are different. The plan also names the section behind the City's answer: "the City's Municipal Code Section 3-14-640 establishes the property owner as the responsible party for ownership and maintenance of both the upper and lower lateral"..
Water · San Leandro
San Leandro's water comes from EBMUD, and EBMUD draws its line more precisely than anyone else here: it repairs "leaks on the street side of the meter and ... the meter itself, including the threads on the customer's side of the meter", and everything past that is the customer's. That is the opposite shape to the city's sewer answer, where the owner's pipe runs all the way under the road to the main.
The water page for San Leandro
San Luis Obispothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · San Luis Obispo
The whole lateral is yours, and San Luis Obispo puts that in its ordinance rather than leaving it to a help page: the entire lateral from the building up to and including the wye at the city main falls "within the owner's responsibility for installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement". The City does not maintain private laterals but does publish a database of their recorded condition, so an owner can look theirs up.
Water · San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo puts its water meters "in and upon streets, easements or rights-of-way" and says they "shall be owned by the city", and your private service line is the pipe "that connects the city's water meter to the point of entry" to your building. So the run from your house out to the meter in the street is yours. The code says what the city owns and never says who repairs the length between the main and the meter.
The water page for San Luis Obispo
San Mateothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · San Mateo
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral from the building to the public main, including the wye at the main, whether or not it runs under the street.
Conditional on One thing to know if anybody shows you a drawing. The City adopted a new set of Public Works standard drawings in July 2026, and its sewer lateral sheet marks the run either side of the main "OWNER MAINTAINED" and "CITY MAINTAINED" - with the divider drawn at the wall of the main and the wye fitting on the City's side of it. The code says the opposite, and says it expressly: the owner is responsible for the lateral "including the wye connection which joins the private sewer lateral to the public sewer main", and the City's own administrative regulations for the lateral ordinance define a private sewer lateral the same way. An ordinance outranks a construction sheet, which is why this page answers as it does - but the sheet is six weeks old and it is the thing a contractor is most likely to be holding. If a quote turns on who owns the fitting at the main, get the position in writing from Public Works before the trench is open..
Water · California Water Service, San Mateo system (Mid-Peninsula District)
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for San Mateo
San Rafaelthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · San Rafael
Two sanitary districts serve San Rafael, and both say the sewer lateral is privately owned and the property owner's to maintain. San Rafael Sanitation District adds that this runs the entire length "including the portion that runs under the street". Which district you are in matters for other things - most of all for what happens when you sell.
Conditional on Which district serves your address decides more than one thing, and the districts ask you to check rather than assume: San Rafael Sanitation District advises that "there are two sanitation districts in the City of San Rafael and it's important that you confirm which district your property is located", pointing to its Service Area Map. The two agree that the lateral is the owner's. They do not agree about a sale - Las Gallinas Valley requires an inspection before close of escrow and San Rafael Sanitation does not - and Las Gallinas Valley runs a repair loan that San Rafael Sanitation does not offer. They also differ about the fitting where your pipe meets the main, and only one of them has written it down. Las Gallinas Valley's ordinance does: its section 601 provides that "sewer laterals shall be owned, maintained and repaired by the Owner of the property, which the Lateral serves", and that the whole run from the building connection to and including the wye connection or other tie-in at the sewer main "shall fall within the Owner's responsibility for installation, maintenance and repair". San Rafael Sanitation says the lateral runs the entire length under the street and stops there, without reaching the fitting either way - so in that half of the city the most expensive item on the pipe is simply not addressed, and the District is the place to settle it. One more thing if Las Gallinas Valley is your district. When it replaces its own main it will do some of your work at the same time: it "will replace the lateral-to-main connection fitting and will replace the lower lateral (up to the clean-out) if an agreement with the property owner has been reached". Ask about that before paying for the same work privately..
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for San Rafael
Santa Anathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Santa Ana
The whole lateral is yours in Santa Ana - the ordinance says the upper and lower lateral together "shall remain the responsibility of the property owner or user", out to and including the join with the sewer main. The City's sewer enterprise "may" repair the lower lateral in the street, but only "at the discretion of the director of public works and so long as funds are available", so the part under the road is yours unless the City chooses otherwise.
Conditional on Ask the City before you instruct anyone, because the street portion is yours and the City may take it. Section 39-50.2(c) provides that the City's sewer enterprise "may perform the repair and maintenance of all lower sewer lateral lines within the public right-of-way, at the discretion of the director of public works and so long as funds are available in the sewer enterprise". That is a power, not a duty - "may", "at the discretion of", and "so long as funds are available" are three separate reservations in one sentence - so you cannot count on it, and you should not pay for work in the road without asking for it first. It is also what stands behind the City's advice to "call Public Works for help" if a plumber finds a break beyond the property line: the number is real, and what is at the other end of it is a decision rather than an entitlement. Note too that the City's public page tells owners the pipe they are "required to repair" is "the portion of pipe that lies between the house and the property line", which is narrower than the ordinance - if the two ever matter against each other, the ordinance is the instrument. And the programme behind that decision has a name, an ordinance and its own crews, which is worth knowing before you ring. The City's sewer system management plan records that "in November of 2001, the City of Santa Ana via Ordinance No. NS-2479 implemented a sewer lateral repair program", that "the City repairs and/or replaces the portion of damaged sewer laterals located within the public right-of-way", and that "this work is accomplished by experienced in-house field maintenance personnel". The plan calls it the Sewer Lateral Replacement and Repair Program, and describes when the City can help: "in some cases, if warranted, the City can assist property owners with sewer lateral repairs or replacement for those laterals that connect to the City's sewer system, have a cleanout to allow access for inspection equipment and are free of debris". So ask for the SLRRP by name, and make sure you have a cleanout - it is one of the stated conditions..
Water · Santa Ana
Santa Ana puts the meter "in the public right-of-way or a dedicated easement", and the code makes everything on the customer's side of it the customer's: you keep your service pipes "in good order" and "at your own expense", and "it is not the city's responsibility to locate or repair any water facility on the customer's side of the meter". So the run from your house out across the parkway to the meter is yours. The meter, meter box, curb stop and the City's fittings remain City property, and the City says that a leak on the street side of the meter is its own to fix.
The water page for Santa Ana
Santa Clarathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Santa Clara
The whole pipe is yours, all the way to the City main, and the code says so in its definition: "each sewer lateral is owned by the entity that owns the property". No cleanout changes that. What a cleanout does change is what the City will do for you - with one at the property line, a City crew will check and clear the lower half at no charge; without one, the City says it "will not be able to assess the condition of the lower lateral to the main".
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe. The word "clean" does not appear anywhere in chapter 13.10, and no section of it gives the City a share of a lateral. What the cleanout at your property line changes is not who is responsible but what the City will come out and do. Its Sewer Problem page offers a free crew visit that includes a lower sewer lateral check from the property line to the sewer main through that cleanout, where one is available and accessible, and says that without one the City will not be able to assess the condition of the lower lateral. Two things follow for a reader. If you have a cleanout, ring the City before you ring a plumber, because the visit costs nothing and may end the problem. And if you do not have one, the City will install one for a published fee - but understand what you are buying, which is access and a free call-out rather than a smaller share of the pipe. That is the opposite of Roseville and Palo Alto, where a cleanout moves the responsibility itself. The City states all of this itself, in the sewer system management plan its Council adopted, under a heading reading "Lateral Responsibility": "property owners own the entire length of their laterals", "city employees do not work on the customer's upper lateral under any circumstances", and - the sentence worth reading twice if your house has just flooded - "the City is not responsible for damages due to blockages in these laterals". The plan also says what the cleanout buys you: "city employees will check the lower lateral provided that there is a property line cleanout", and if the stoppage is there, "the City will run a drain auger out to the city main in attempt to clear the blockage". A free call-out, not a smaller share of your pipe. The City adds that it "has been offering inexpensive clean out installations and to date has installed over 9,600", so if you do not have one, ask what it costs..
Water · Santa Clara
Santa Clara owns the water service connection all the way to and including your meter - even where it crosses your own land under an easement - and its Rules say it "will be repaired and maintained by the City at its expense". Your side is everything past it, "regardless of the location of the meters". That is the opposite of your sewer lateral here, which is yours the whole way to the main.
The water page for Santa Clara
Santa Claritathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Santa Clarita
Santa Clarita's sewer law is Los Angeles County's: the City "adopted ... by reference, as a sanitary sewer and industrial waste ordinance of the City of Santa Clarita ... Los Angeles County Code, Title 20, Utilities, Division 2". That code puts the length under the street on you. "All house laterals ... and appurtenances thereto ... shall be maintained by the owner of the property served in a safe and sanitary condition" - and a house lateral, as County Code section 20.20.130 defines it, is the piping in the street running from your property line to the main.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and the thing to understand is where the words come from. Santa Clarita's own chapter 15.20 adopts Los Angeles County Code Title 20 Division 2 wholesale and its local definitions were repealed in 2009, so the book that answers a question about your lateral is the County's - three copies of it are deposited with the City Clerk. Two consequences follow for a reader. First, the length under the street is explicitly yours: the County code names house laterals, defines them as the piping in the right-of-way, and assigns them to the owner of the property served. A great many people assume the opposite, and in several other cities the opposite is true. Second, when you ring the City about a blockage, the section numbers that matter are County section numbers, and quoting them will get you further than quoting a chapter of the municipal code that was repealed. Third, and worth checking on your own frontage: the City's sewer system management plan describes the split differently from the code. Its glossary defines a private sewer lateral as reaching "the connection to the public sewer unless there is a clean-out in the sidewalk or within two and a half feet of the property line. In this case, the property owner is responsible for the lateral from the building drain to the clean-out only." The same glossary says the City's system includes "certain lower laterals". That is a materially smaller share of the pipe than the County code gives you, and it turns on whether you have a cleanout in a particular place. Treat it with some care - the same glossary defines the Regional Water Quality Control Board as "the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board", which is the wrong region for Santa Clarita and marks the section as adapted from a template. Ask the City which governs your address before you spend anything on the strength of either..
Water · Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency
Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency "owns, operates and maintains the Service Connection, up to and including the meter", and the property owner has the Customer Service Line after it. The divide is written to the fitting - the outlet of the shut-off valve just past the meter. Note that you pay for the service lateral and meter and the Agency still owns them; what that buys is the Agency keeping them up afterwards.
The water page for Santa Clarita
Santa Cruzthe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz puts the whole lateral and its connection on the owner, and says the street length is included. Section 16.08.060 provides that "The property owner shall be responsible for the maintenance, repair and proper operation of the building sanitary sewer (sanitary sewer lateral) and/or private sanitary sewer collection system that connects the building(s) to the public sanitary sewer, including the connection, regardless of whether any part of the building sanitary sewer or private sanitary sewer collection system is located on private property or within the public right-of-way."
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split, but the City enforces a standard and a clock. After a sewer overflow, section 16.08.062 gives the owner seventy-two hours to have the lateral camera-inspected by a City-listed inspector and fourteen days to complete repairs, and "A public works street opening permit from the city public works department must be obtained prior to performing any required repairs in the city's right-of-way." A lateral shared by separate parcels is prohibited unless the City waives it, and where one exists "The affected property owners and not the city shall have the responsibility for the maintenance, repair and replacement". These sections govern property on the City's sewer; check the name on your sewer bill if you are not sure the City serves you..
Water · Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz draws the line at the meter and states both halves, ownership and repair alike. Section 16.04.070 provides that "All service connection facilities (except fire services) located between the meter and the water main, including the meter, meter box, and other pipes and fixtures, whether located on public or private property, are the property of the city. The city is responsible for maintaining, repairing, and replacing such facilities."
The water page for Santa Cruz
Santa Mariathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Santa Maria
Santa Maria names the wye twice, which is unusual and settles the argument most codes leave open. Section 8-12.304 provides that "Side sewers, including lateral sewers and wyes, shall be constructed and maintained by the owner of the property served at no expense to the City". The definition in section 8-12.104 then fixes both ends of that run rather than one: a side sewer "begins at the point of connection to the main sewer, including the wye, and terminates at the point of connection to the building drain five feet outside the foundation line or building wall".
Conditional on There is no condition on the split, and the code is more precise at both ends than most. At the street end the owner's duty includes the wye itself, so a failure at the junction with the main is not the City's to fix. At the building end the line is a measured distance rather than a description - five feet outside the foundation line or building wall - which means a short length of pipe just outside the house is part of the side sewer rather than part of the building drain. One situation moves the work rather than the boundary: where gravity flow is impossible, section 8-12.303 allows a force main, and the owner "shall construct and maintain this force main at no expense to the City and in accordance with all terms of the easement". The Director may also require an easement running from the owner's property line to a manhole the Director designates, so on those properties the run and its paperwork are both longer..
Water · Santa Maria
The City supplies the water and draws the line at the meter, with the meter on its own side. Section 8-10.04 provides that "All connections up to and including the meter shall at all times remain the property of the City, and all connections beyond the meter toward the occupancy shall be the sole responsibility of the property owner or occupant, both as to the original installation and as to maintenance and upkeep".
The water page for Santa Maria
Santa Paulathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Santa Paula
Santa Paula puts the whole lateral on the owner, the fitting on the main included, and says it is the owner's property too. Section 51.053 provides that "All lateral building sewers including that portion within public right-of-way and connections, including the wye or saddle at the sewer main, are owned by and maintained at the expense of the property owner."
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split: the City's side is the main itself, and everything that connects to it is the owner's, at the owner's expense. These sections govern property on the City's sewer; not every address inside the city limits is on it, so check the name on your sewer bill first..
Water · Santa Paula
Santa Paula owns the water service and the meter, and pays for their ordinary wear. Section 52.026(C) provides that "All services and meters shall be owned by the city. The expense of maintenance repair and renewal due to normal wear and tear shall be borne by the city".
The water page for Santa Paula
Santa Rosathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Santa Rosa
The entire sewer service lateral is the user's - "from, upon, within, and under user's premises and property and to the City sewer", cleanouts and backwater valves included. But Santa Rosa adds a clause almost nobody else publishes: the City "may, in its sole discretion and at City expense, elect to perform occasional repairs" on the stretch between the main and the back of the curb or sidewalk. Discretion, not a duty - so ring the City before you ring a contractor.
Conditional on Before you instruct anybody about a break in the roadway, ring the City. Santa Rosa's code says that although the whole lateral is yours, "the City may, in its sole discretion and at City expense, elect to perform occasional repairs on that portion of the sewer service lateral located between the City sewer and to the backside of the curb or sidewalk". That is a discretion rather than a promise and nothing here suggests you will be granted it - but it costs one phone call to ask, and it is the most expensive part of the pipe. A sewer cleanout near the street helps that conversation: the City says a cleanout "gives the City (at their discretion) the option to access the lateral to look for issues and/or provide maintenance on the section of lateral between this cleanout and the sewer main". Two other things. Your duty expressly includes the cleanouts, backwater valves and backflow overflow devices, not only the pipe. And if your address is in the Roseland annexation area it may sit inside the South Park Sanitation District as well as inside the city - permits are still handled by City of Santa Rosa staff, but confirm whose rules govern your pipe before relying on this answer..
Water · Santa Rosa
The City keeps the water line all the way to the meter: it "operates and maintains the pipe from the main up to and including the water meter", and "the customer's responsibility begins after the water meter". That is the opposite of Santa Rosa's sewer answer, where the entire lateral to the main is the user's - so the two pipes under one garden divide in different places.
The water page for Santa Rosa
Saratogaboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Saratoga
No single authority covers Saratoga: the City states that the sewer lines "are owned and maintained by Cupertino Sanitary District and West Valley Sanitation District". On the lateral the two agree - the district looks after the part in the public street and the owner looks after the part from the house - and both make their side conditional on an accessible cleanout at the property line.
Conditional on Two things decide this, and only one of them needs a phone call. The cleanout is the first and it is the same on both sides: without an accessible, serviceable cleanout at the property line, neither district's responsibility for the street lateral begins, and the whole run is the owner's. The second is which district serves the address - West Valley Sanitation District covers about two thirds of the city and Cupertino Sanitary District covers portions of it, and neither claims the whole. They agree on what each side keeps; they differ in that West Valley also claims ownership of the lower lateral, which matters if the question ever becomes whose pipe it is rather than who fixes it..
Water · San Jose Water Company
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns everything from the meter outlet coupling inward.
The water page for Saratoga
Sausalitothe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District
The property owner maintains, repairs and replaces the whole lateral, running from two feet outside the foundation wall to the public main and including the connection.
Conditional on Nothing splits the lateral - the District says twice in its own plan that it "does not own or maintain sewer service laterals", and reports the portion of laterals it is responsible for to the State as none. What is worth knowing is who to ring when the problem turns out to be in the street, because the District's position on Sausalito has changed. Its 2025 sewer system management plan records that the District "has also acquired the 22 miles of gravity sewer previously owned by the City of Sausalito" - so the mains under Sausalito's streets now appear to be the District's. Older District material told Sausalito residents the opposite, that the City looked after mains in its own jurisdiction. At a Sausalito address, ring the District first about anything in the road, and say you are asking because the mains changed hands..
Water · Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Water owns and maintains the service line from the main to and including the meter. The pipe from the meter to the building is the property owner's.
The water page for Sausalito
Simi Valleythe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Simi Valley
The whole run is yours, building to main - "the owner is responsible for all costs, maintenance and repair of the sewer lines in the facility or building and the sewer lateral line that connects the property to the public sewer" - and Simi Valley adds a sentence most codes leave out: "it is a violation of this chapter if the owner does not maintain these systems in proper working order." A neglected lateral is not only a bill here; the code names it a breach, and the chapter's enforcement article declares any violation of it a public nuisance.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, and one short sentence changes what neglecting it means. Section 6-13.507 provides that "it is a violation of this chapter if the owner does not maintain these systems in proper working order" - so failing to keep the lateral working is a breach of the ordinance rather than simply a repair you have not paid for yet. What sits behind that is worth reading carefully in both directions. Section 6-13.901 states that "any violation of this chapter shall constitute a public nuisance", and section 6-13.906 lets the Director order compliance within a set time and adds that "if the user does not come into compliance within the time provided, sewer service may be discontinued". Later sections reach administrative liabilities, civil penalties, liens and prosecution. But the article those sections sit in is a pretreatment enforcement article, written in the language of discharge permits, waste haulers and industrial monitoring; the broad wording covers a householder on its face, and there is no sign the City has ever used it that way. The realistic consequence for a home is an order with a deadline and, if it is ignored, sewer service. Separately and more everyday, section 6-13.506 charges "any excessive sewer or sewerage maintenance expenses" to the user whose discharge caused "a stoppage, a blockage, any significant reduction in sewer capacity, or any damage" - which is the clause grease bills arrive under..
Water · Simi Valley
The water answer in Simi Valley is the opposite of the sewer one, on the same property. Ventura County Waterworks District No. 8, whose ordinance is printed in the City's own code, states plainly that "the District has jurisdiction and maintains the water system up to and including the water meter that provides service to a property", and that "all piping beyond the water meter, including backflow prevention assemblies, shall be the responsibility of the customer". So the District carries the service line to and including the meter, while the City's sewer chapter carries none of the lateral. One address, two utilities, and the line drawn in two different places.
The water page for Simi Valley
Torrancethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Torrance
The owner keeps the lateral from twelve inches outside the building to the main, and the City says the joint is theirs too: owners are responsible for their lateral "including the connection to the public sewer main". Torrance then does something no other city here does - it splits the permit at the property line, so a repair that crosses it needs two.
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe, but Torrance splits the PERMIT at your property line and very few authorities do. A repair on private property is a Plumbing Permit; a repair in the public right-of-way is a Construction & Excavation Permit; and if the work "occurs on both private property and in the public right-of-way" you need both. Get that settled before a contractor prices the job. Two more things that cost money. Your plumber must hold a City of Torrance business licence - the City makes that step one of what to do about a sewer problem. And your lateral is two different pipes end to end: the code requires at least six inches internal diameter from the street sewer to the property line and at least four inches from there to the house, for laterals serving twenty people or less, so a single diameter quoted for the whole run has misread the job. Note also that the code exempts simple work from permitting - no permit is needed "for the purpose of removing stoppages or repairing leaks", except where it becomes necessary to replace part or all of the sewer with other or different materials..
Water · Torrance
Whichever utility bills you in Torrance, the pipe from the main to the meter is theirs. Torrance Municipal Water's own code has the service "installed from the distribution main to a point adjacent to the nearest property line" and says it "shall remain the property of and shall be maintained, repaired and renewed by the City"; California Water Service, which serves portions of the city, states in its tariff that the service pipe, curb stop, meter and meter box are the utility's property. Your side starts after the meter.
The water page for Torrance
Turlockboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Turlock
Turlock keeps everything under the street and gives the owner everything on the lot. Section 6-4-107 provides that "The City shall maintain all sewer connections, mains, sewer laterals and appurtenances within City rights-of-way, on public property, or public easements, including cleanouts and manholes", and that "The property owner shall maintain all other sewer connections, lines and appurtenances to or on his/her premises up to the cleanout or customer side manhole."
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split: the City's side is the right-of-way, and the cleanout is where it begins. A blockage beyond the cleanout toward the street is the City's to clear; one between the cleanout and your building is yours. These sections govern property on the City's sewer; check the name on your sewer bill if you are not sure the City serves you..
Water · Turlock
Turlock splits the water line at the meter or curb valve and states both halves in one section. Section 6-5-108 provides that "The City shall maintain all water connections, mains, water service lines and appurtenances within City rights-of-way on City property or easements including curb valves and meters", and that "The property owner shall maintain all other service connection lines and appurtenances to or on his/her property up to the meter or curb valve."
The water page for Turlock
Union Citythe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Union Sanitary District
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, including the run beneath the pavement and the road, up to the point it joins the public main. The District's ordinance goes further than its web page and says the building sewer is owned by the property owner, not merely their responsibility. On a private street or driveway the sewer main itself can be private too, in which case somebody other than the District maintains that as well.
Conditional on Whether the sewer main your lateral joins is the District's at all. The District accepts and maintains mains in the public right-of-way and in sewer easements dedicated to it, and that is the ordinary case. Where a main was built in a private street or driveway, Ordinance 34.08 lets the District decline to adopt it and instead require the property owner, the developer or a homeowners' association to own and maintain it as a private main sewer, under a maintenance agreement the District approves. If that is your street, the pipe your lateral connects to is somebody's private responsibility as well as the lateral itself, and whose is settled by that maintenance agreement. Ask the District which case your street is in before you assume the main is theirs. Three practical points if you are about to do the work. The permit covers three on-site inspections - a pre-job consultation, one before backfill, and a final - and further visits are charged. Anything backfilled before the District has seen it has to be dug up again for inspection. And starting without the permit costs a penalty on top of the ordinary fees, with the District able to refuse the contractor permits for future work in its area..
Water · Alameda County Water District
The District owns and maintains the water service line from the main up to and including the meter. Everything past the meter is the property owner's.
The water page for Union City
Vacavillethe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Vacaville
Vacaville rewrote its lateral rules in 2026 and states the whole answer in one subsection, fitting included. Section 13.08.110(B)(1) puts the entire lateral, from the building connection up to and including the wye or other tie-in at the main, on the owner - it "shall fall within the owner's responsibility for installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement". The same subsection adds that "Any work within the public right-of-way shall require a city encroachment permit".
Conditional on Nothing conditions who owns the pipe, but the standard it has to meet is unusually specific and can be enforced. A lateral can drain and still breach section 13.08.110(B)(2) - root intrusion or a single cracked joint is enough - and a lateral made of Orangeburg pipe is not allowed at all. Where an owner fails to keep it up, the Director "may order and require termination of water service to the parcel", and section 13.08.110(H) lets the City withhold building permits or other approvals until the lateral complies. Where one lateral serves several parcels, a private easement setting out each parcel's share of the upkeep is required before a permit is granted. All of this reaches laterals "connected to the city's sewer system", so check the name on your sewer bill first: a property on a septic system or served by anyone other than the City is outside it..
Water · Vacaville
The City's duty runs to a defined point of service, and everything past it is yours. Section 13.12.250 provides that "The city's responsibility to operate, maintain, and repair public water mains shall extend only to the point of service", and that "The operation, maintenance, and repair of any private water line connected to the point of service shall be the customer's sole responsibility".
The water page for Vacaville
Vallejoboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District
The District maintains the lower lateral and the District cleanout; the owner has the upper lateral, from the cleanout to the building.
Conditional on a District cleanout having been installed.
Water · Vallejo
The City owns the service line and the meter and is responsible for them up to the meter; everything past it is private property and yours. One thing to know before a repair, though: if the City has to dig up its own service connection, its code bills you for the work unless you can show the damage was not your doing.
The water page for Vallejo
Venturathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Ventura
The lateral is the owner's property, not just the owner's expense, and the code says so twice: private sewer laterals "are the property of the property owner and are not part of the public sewer", and nothing in the chapter may be read "as changing the private nature of the private sewer laterals". The definition runs from the building to the public sewer "and includes the wye or saddle at the public sewer".
Conditional on Nothing splits the pipe and nothing is left to inference: the wye or saddle at the main is inside the code's definition of what you own, so it travels with every other sentence in the chapter. What is worth reading before you spend is the standard your pipe is held to. The code says it must be "free of displaced joints, open joints, root intrusion, substantial deterioration of the line, cracks, leaks, inflow, infiltration of extraneous water, fats, oils and grease, sediment deposits or any other similar conditions, defects or obstructions likely to cause or contribute to blockage" - a list you can hold a plumber's camera survey against item by item, which most cities do not give you. Two other things. Ventura requires an inspection before a sale, so if you are selling, that is a separate obligation with its own timing. And if you are handed the City's Change of Ownership FAQ, note that it is footered "Staff Working Draft ~ January 22, 2014" and is a dozen years old; where it and the ordinance differ, the ordinance governs. The City says the same thing on its own wastewater page, in fewer words: "the property owner is responsible for entire pipe length, including the wye or saddle at the point of connection to the City's mainline." Worth knowing that a second City source agrees, because the joint at the main is the part most often argued about..
Water · Ventura
Water service connections and meters "shall remain at all times the property of the city" and the department maintains, repairs and renews them - but only where they are "rendered unserviceable through reasonable use". Damage from negligence or carelessness by you, your household or anyone in your employ is charged back. That is the reverse of Ventura's sewer answer, where the code gives the owner title outright.
The water page for Ventura
Victorvilleboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Victorville
The property line divides the pipe, and the code says so from both directions: the City is responsible for "the sewer lateral line from the sewer main-line or trunk line to the property line", and owners must maintain "at the property owners' sole expense, the building sewer line from their building or structure to their property line". The City's own Maintenance and Repair page says something different in one paragraph - that owners are responsible "from the building to the point where it connects to the City's sewer system" - while listing "Sewer laterals located within the public right-of-way" as the City's in another. The ordinance is what governs, and the ordinance says property line.
Conditional on The property line divides the pipe and nothing moves it, but three clauses decide what happens when nobody can tell which side has failed. First, the City will dig to find out, on a condition: section 10.02.090(a) lets the city engineer "expose parts of the sewer line within the public street, public right-of-way, or sewer main as necessary to determine the cause of the malfunction", "but only after the property owner has done his/her due diligence to find and remedy any issues within its area of responsibility". Clear your own half first; the City's excavation follows that work rather than replacing it. Second, the answer decides the bill: if the fault is the City's, "the city shall conduct the repair at no charge to the property owner", and if it is yours, "the property owner shall make the necessary repairs at their expense". Third, if the City has to repair your half in an emergency or for public health and safety, "the property owner shall reimburse the city for all costs necessarily incurred". And one sentence worth knowing before a repair is put off: section 10.02.090(e) declares that "a malfunctioning lateral line is ... a public nuisance", which is the hook for the City to compel the work rather than wait for it..
Water · Victorville
Victorville Water District keeps the water pipe from the main to your property line, meter included - the code says that service connection "shall be maintained by the district", and puts the meter "in the parkway area". Your side starts at the property line: "all pipes and fixtures extending or lying beyond the property line or right-of-way shall be installed and maintained by the owner". That is a shorter run than in most California cities.
The water page for Victorville
Visaliathe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Visalia
The whole side sewer is the owner's - the code calls it "privately owned and maintained" and runs it from two feet outside the building all the way to the City's main, including the wye fitting where it joins. The City installs the portion in the street and charges the owner for it.
Water · California Water Service, Visalia District
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Visalia
West Sacramentoboth authorities take a share
Sewer · West Sacramento
West Sacramento splits the lateral at the City's cleanout, and for a house the City keeps the half nearest the main. Section 13.08.140 provides that "Upper laterals shall be maintained by the owner of the property served thereby" and that "Lower laterals connecting to single-family units shall be maintained by the city."
Conditional on Two things move the line. The cleanout itself: under section 13.08.140, "where no cleanout has been installed or has been installed incorrectly, the entire side sewer shall be maintained by the owner of the property served thereby" - so without a proper City cleanout the owner keeps everything to the main. And the kind of building: "Lower laterals connecting to commercial and multiple dwelling buildings shall be maintained by the owner of the property served thereby", so the City's half is for single-family homes only. Find your cleanout before deciding whose a blockage is..
Water · West Sacramento
West Sacramento draws the line at the meter and states both halves. Section 13.04.050 provides that "The city shall be responsible for operating, maintaining and replacing all portions of the distribution system which are owned by the city", and section 13.04.090 that "The customer shall be responsible for the proper operation and maintenance of the customer's private water line".
The water page for West Sacramento
Woodsideboth authorities take a share
Sewer · Woodside
A cleanout at the property line decides this one. The Town maintains the run between that cleanout and the public sewer where a conforming one has been installed; without it the owner has the whole length, building to main. Every building sewer in Woodside is required to have one.
Conditional on An approved cleanout at the property line, which section 51.046(D) requires of every building sewer: "every building sewer shall have an approved cleanout which shall be provided and installed at the property line of the premises in accordance with the applicable Plumbing Code and the Town standard specifications". Where one exists the Town's duty begins there. Where one does not - an older connection, or a cleanout that has been paved over or lost - section 51.046(E) leaves the property owner "solely responsible to maintain the building sewer and related wastewater facilities between the building and the connection with the public sewer", which is the whole length including the part under the road. So the first thing worth establishing before anybody quotes for the work is whether this property has a cleanout at its line and whether it can be reached. ALSO WORTH CONFIRMING WHO COLLECTS. West Bay Sanitary District serves areas of Woodside as well as the Town's own system, and section 51.046(E) is a promise about "the public sewer" the Town operates. The two authorities agree on the default - the District also puts the whole side sewer on the owner - and they differ on the proviso, because the District says it "may" clear a blockage beyond a conforming cleanout where the Town says it "will maintain". An address served by the District should be confirmed with the District..
Water · California Water Service, Bear Gulch District
The utility owns the service pipe, the curb stop, the meter and the meter box. The customer owns the piping past the meter - and the curb stop, which folklore treats as the boundary, is expressly the utility's.
The water page for Woodside
Yuba Citythe two pipes disagree
Sewer · Yuba City
Yuba City puts the whole lateral on the owner and spells out the part people assume is public. Section 6-5.206 provides that "The entire sewer service lateral from the building connection to and including the wye connection to the sewer main shall be the owner's responsibility to install, properly maintain, and repair", and that this "includes both the portion on private property and the portion located beneath the sidewalk and street or any other public right-of-way or easement areas".
Conditional on Nothing conditions the split, but the City can step in and send the bill. Section 6-5.206 provides that "The City shall have the right to conduct maintenance inspection and/or repairs to the service lateral if needed, and it shall be the property owner's obligation to reimburse the City for the actual cost of such repair and inspection". So a repair the City does on your lateral is still yours to pay for. Where neighbours share one lateral, section 6-5.301 requires them "to separate and build separate laterals to each building or parcel upon the failure of the shared-use lateral". All of this is about laterals joined to a City-owned main, so check the name on your sewer bill if you are not sure the City serves you..
Water · Yuba City
Yuba City states both halves of the water line in two consecutive sentences. Section 6-6.08 provides that "The City is responsible for all piping and equipment up to and including the water meter and check valve. The property owner is responsible for all equipment, piping, and appurtenances downstream of the water meter and check valve."
The water page for Yuba City

What this does not tell you

Only places where BelowGrid holds a reviewed record for both pipes appear here. A place missing from this table has not been checked and found to agree - it has one answer or none.
This is about who is responsible for which length of pipe. It is not a record of what your own pipes are made of, or of their condition.
Both authorities can be right at once, and usually are. They govern different pipes under different rules; the contradiction is in what a reader assumes, not in the documents.