Skip to main content
BelowGrid

Who owns the water service line in Sumner, WA

Which part of the pipe is yours

your buildingproperty linesidewalkstreetmain
The thick length is yours.

If something’s wrong

Who to call first about the water service line

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

The documents this answer is built on

Who is responsible for which part

In Sumner the City owns, operates and maintains the water system in public streets or utility right-of-way up to and including the meter, and the owner maintains all pipe and fittings from the meter to the premises. Section 13.24.130(B) of the Sumner Municipal Code provides that "The owner of the property served shall be responsible for maintenance for all pipe and fittings from the meter to his premises". This is Sumner's own statement.

Sumner
The water system mains and appurtenances in public streets or utility right-of-way up to and including the meter. Section 13.24.130(B) provides that "The city shall own, operate, control and maintain all approved accepted water system mains and appurtenances in public streets or utility right-of-way up to and including meter, but shall not be responsible beyond the meter."
The property owner
All pipe and fittings from the meter to the premises.

What else is worth knowing

The dividing point is the meter. About 98% of Sumner's land is inside the City's water service area as the Washington State Department of Health maps it, and this answer applies only inside that area. Check the name on your water bill.

Sources

Sumner Municipal Code section 13.24.130

Checked

What the pipe is made of

Washington publishes no statewide inventory of what service lines are made of. Each water system filed its own with the State, and federal rules require the utility to make it public, so the utility is the place to ask what is recorded for this address.

Sumner: official site

What this page cannot tell you

  • This describes who is responsible for which part of the pipe. It is not a record of what your own service line is made of.
  • This answer applies inside the area the State maps for Sumner's own water system, which does not follow the city limits: some addresses in the city are served by another supplier, and some outside it are served by the city. An address search checks which side an address is on.
  • This authority's service line inventory - the record of which pipes are lead, and where - has not been matched here yet. Ask the utility for yours.
Sumner: official site

Your other pipe: the sewer lateral

For the sewer lateral, Sumner says:

In Sumner the City owns, maintains, repairs and replaces the part of the side sewer in the public right-of-way; the property owner owns the part on the property and keeps it in good working order. Section 13.16.290 of the Sumner Municipal Code provides that "The building (side) sewer located in the public right-of-way shall become the property of the city and will be maintained, repaired and replaced by the city's public works department."

Your sewer lateral is yours to the property line; your water line stops being yours at the meter.

Same trench, separate authorities, decided separately.

Who pays for the sewer lateral in Sumner, WA

Look up a specific address

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

Search for an address