How Fairfield Handles Water Use Rules: A Practical Guide
Fairfield maintains 148 local ordinances across all categories, and 2 of those deal specifically with water use rules. Here is a breakdown of what the city actually requires, what is prohibited, and where Fairfield falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.
Recycled Water Rules
Fairfield requires covered landscape projects to design irrigation systems that allow for recycled water use under City Code Section 22A.16, and it rewards landscapes that actually use recycled water with a water-budget break: their ET Adjustment Factor cannot exceed 1.0.
Key details: Design duty: irrigation must allow for recycled water use. Operating standard: comply with all applicable local/state law. ET Adjustment Factor cap: 1.0 for recycled-water areas. Decorative features: must use recycled water where available. Applies to: covered new/rehab landscape projects.
A landscape design plan that fails to build in recycled water capacity, or that omits the required Landscape Documentation Package statement of compliance, does not clear plan check and cannot reach a Certificate of Completion under this chapter. Separately, a recycled water system installed or operated outside applicable state and local law exposes the project to the FMU's cross-connection control enforcement, the same safety program the director maintains under Section 22.05.030 to keep recycled water isolated from the potable system.
Leak Reporting Duty
Fairfield bans failing to promptly repair a "controllable water leak" under City Code Section 22.55.020(A), covering any leak inside a customer's own plumbing or irrigation system. The duty runs at all times, not just during declared shortages, and does not extend to city-owned equipment like the water meter.
Key details: Rule: promptly repair any "controllable" leak. Covers: customer-owned plumbing and irrigation. Excludes: City-owned meter and mains. In effect: at all times, not just droughts. Enforcing office: Fairfield Municipal Utility director.
Section 22.05.030 gives the FMU director general authority to enforce this chapter and states that enforcement and penalties may be applied to secure compliance with any Section 22.55 violation, including an unrepaired leak. Separately, if a leak violation recurs during a City Council-declared water shortage emergency, Section 22.60.020(B) lets FMU install a flow restrictor on the customer's service line for two months on a fourth violation within that shortage stage, with the customer bearing the installation and removal cost.
The Bottom Line
Fairfield's water use rules rules are a mixed bag. Some areas are strict, others are relaxed, and the details matter. The best approach is to check the specific rule that applies to your situation rather than assuming Fairfield is broadly strict or permissive.
Keep in mind that Fairfield can amend these rules at any council meeting. For the most current version of any rule mentioned here, check the specific ordinance page, where we track updates as they happen.