Who pays for a water leak on your side of the meter in Glendale? City Code 33-28

Sec. 33-28 is titled "Property owner responsibility for certain leaks or damages." It reads: "Property owners are responsible for all leaks or damages that result from leaks from any equipment on the owner's side of the meter to the property." Two things are covered: the leak itself and the damage the leak causes.

The section before it, 33-27, covers upkeep. It says the property owner "shall maintain all water service lines and connections within his property in accordance with City's plumbing code." The same section gives the meter to the city: "All meters, except those damaged by the Customer or property owner, shall be maintained and repaired by the City at its expense."

Glendale City Code 33-26(a) is the city half of the arrangement: the City "shall inspect, ensure their proper working order, make all repairs on mains, meters, and services" and check valves, hydrants and the rest of the system. In 33-26(b), Glendale lets the city bill the customer for "any repair or replacement of mains, meters services valves, hydrants or other equipment necessitated by the Customer-caused damage."

The code draws it at the meter. Sec. 33-17 defines the service connection, and it says "If a meter is installed between the Customer's water supply system and the public potable water system, the service connection shall be the discharge end of the meter." The definition of the Customer water supply system says it starts "at the discharge point of the service connection." So the owner's responsibility starts at the downstream side of the meter and runs to the building and through it.

• Customer. Under 33-17, the person who requested and was granted service. The code says a customer "may be the owner, operator, tenant, trustee, receiver, manager or occupant" and is financially responsible for the water and sewer service provided to the premise.
• Owner's side of the meter. The downstream side, per the service connection definition above.
• Equipment. 33-28 does not define it. A reasonable reading includes the service line, fittings, valves and plumbing inside the building, and that is a reading, not a quote.

Every Glendale water customer, residential or commercial. A tenant who pays the water bill is a customer, but the section puts responsibility on the property owner, so a lease is where the two sort it out.

This does not apply to the city's side. Mains, the meter and the city's service lines up to the meter are the city's to repair under 33-26, unless the customer damaged them. This page covers water supply lines. Sewer laterals follow their own rule, covered on the Glendale 33-217 page.

A slab leak at a Glendale house. The meter spins with every fixture off. The pipe under the slab is past the meter, so the repair and the water damage are the owner's.

A restaurant with a high bill. A supply line in the back-of-house wall splits, and the water runs for weeks into a drain. The meter recorded every gallon. Sec. 33-17 makes the customer financially responsible for water and sewer service provided to the premise, and the owner's side is the owner's.

The edge case, where the answer flips. A new meter reads high after a repair and the customer thinks the meter is wrong. Sec. 33-54 lets a customer ask for a meter test for a fee set by council resolution, and if the meter is inaccurate by more than five percent the fee is refunded. If it tests accurate within that limit, the city keeps the fee. The leak and the meter are separate questions.

1. 1Read the meter with every fixture off. A moving dial or flow indicator means water is going somewhere past the meter.
2. 2Shut the main valve at the house. If the meter stops, the leak is inside; if it keeps moving, the leak is between the meter and the valve.
3. 3Get a plumber to find and repair it. The repair has to be done in line with the city's plumbing code per 33-27.
4. 4Keep the repair invoice and the dates. Sec. 33-10 lets the city adjust a bill for "errors, omissions, unusual usage or other extraordinary circumstances" under policies it may establish, so ask the city's water billing office whether any adjustment policy applies to your account. The code itself does not promise a credit for a customer-side leak.
5. 5If you believe the meter is wrong, ask for the 33-54 test before assuming it is.

• Myth: the city fixes any leak that shows up on its bill. 33-28 puts leaks on the owner's side with the owner.
• Myth: the meter box and the line to the house belong to the same party. The meter is the city's to maintain unless the customer damaged it. The line past it is the owner's.
• Myth: a high bill proves the meter is faulty. The code provides a meter test. The test refunds the fee only if the meter is off by more than five percent.
• Myth: a billing adjustment is guaranteed. 33-10 says the city "may" adjust and may establish policies. It does not set a leak credit.
• Myth: a tenant who pays the water bill owns the pipe. The customer is financially responsible for the service, but 33-28 puts leak responsibility on the property owner.

The water keeps passing through the meter and the customer keeps being billed for it. The damage from the leak, to floors, walls or neighbors, is in the owner's column under 33-28. The code sections read for this page do not set a penalty for leaving a leak. If you have received a notice from the city, check it against the rest of Chapter 33.

The text is on Municode under Chapter 33, Article II. This page explains it and the official text governs.