Who Do I Call to Report a Water Leak? City, Utility Company, or Your Own Pro

Who you report a leak to depends on a line most people have never looked for: the water meter. On the street side of it, the pipe belongs to the utility. On your side, it belongs to you. Find the meter and the rest of this gets simple.

Work Out Whose Leak It Is

1. 1Find the meter. Usually a concrete or plastic box set in the ground near the curb or the sidewalk, with a lid marked WATER. In cold climates it is often indoors, where the service line enters the basement.
2. 2Run the meter test. Turn off everything in the house that uses water, including the ice maker and any irrigation. Look at the meter. If the dial or the small triangle or star indicator is moving, water is flowing on your side of the meter. If it is perfectly still and there is water bubbling up in the street, the leak is on the utility's side.
3. 3Report with specifics. Street address, nearest cross street, what you see — water from a crack in the road, a flooded strip of grass by the curb, a leaking hydrant, a wet ring around the meter box — and whether it is affecting traffic or entering a property.
4. 4Protect your side regardless. If water is heading for your foundation, garage or basement, sandbag or divert it and move what you can. Whose pipe it is does not change where the water goes.

Who Takes the Report

The utility's emergency number is on your water bill and on the utility's website under "report a leak" or "emergency". Many cities also take reports through 311. You do not need to be the account holder, and you do not need to be sure — utilities would rather send a truck to a false alarm than learn about a main break from the news.

The Pipe Between the Street and Your House

This is the part that surprises people. The service line running from the meter to your foundation is almost always the homeowner's responsibility, even though it is buried in the front yard and you have never seen it. When it leaks, the signs are indirect: a water bill that jumped, a patch of grass that is greener or soggier than the rest, the sound of running water when nothing is on, or a drop in pressure. The main water line leak guide covers the signs, the repair options and what they cost.

Standard homeowners insurance usually does not pay to repair a buried service line; that is what a separate service-line endorsement is for, and it is one of the cheaper additions to a policy. What insurance may cover is the damage the escaping water does inside the house.

If the City's Main Flooded Your Property

Report it to the utility straight away, and then treat your own property like any other water loss: photographs and video with timestamps — the break itself if you can see it, the water line on your walls, everything damaged. Then two tracks run in parallel.

• A claim against the municipality. Most cities have a formal process for damage from a main break, and most have a short deadline for giving written notice — sometimes as little as 30 to 90 days. Ask the utility for the claim form the same day you report the break.
• Your own insurer. Your policy may pay first and then pursue the city. Either way, the claim runs on your documentation.

Neither track is a reason to wait on drying. Every policy and every municipal claims office expects you to limit the damage, and wet drywall and flooring do not pause while the paperwork moves.

When the Water Is Already Indoors

Reporting is a side issue once water is in the house. Close the main shut-off — usually where the service line enters the building, or at the meter with a meter key — and cut power to wet rooms at the panel if you can reach it safely. Then it is the usual two calls: a plumber for the pipe, and a water damage restoration company for whatever the leak soaked. (888) 840-6512 is answered 24 hours a day and connects you to a certified restoration company covering your ZIP; if you are not sure yet whether there is anything to dry, that is exactly the question to ask them.

For the order of calls in a full-blown loss, see who to call for water damage and, if a pipe has let go, who to call for a burst pipe.

Things That Are Not Worth Reporting to Anyone

A running toilet, a dripping faucet, a sweating pipe — none of these are a utility matter, and none need a restoration company. They are worth fixing anyway: a toilet that runs constantly can waste hundreds of gallons a day, and a slow drip under a sink is how cabinet floors rot. That is a plumber, or a Saturday morning and a new flapper.

The Short Version

Meter test first. Street side: the utility's emergency line. Your side: a plumber. Water in the house: shut the main, photograph it, and get the wet materials looked at as well as the pipe.