Arcadia, CA Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

Section 7540.1 of the Arcadia Municipal Code, in the water chapter of Article VII (Part 4, Protective Measures), puts the repair burden on the consumer. Each consumer keeps service pipes, fixtures, stopcocks, gate valves and all other water apparatus, other than what the Department owns, in good repair and free from leakage, at his own expense. The same sentence makes the consumer liable for all damage that results from failure to comply.

Ownership marks where the duty stops. Under Section 7540.12, services, water meters and boxes installed by the Department remain its property. The Department pays for maintenance, repair, renewal or replacement of those items when the need comes from normal wear and usage, and the consumer is charged for all other maintenance, repair, replacement and renewal expenses. Section 7540.3 keeps meters, meter boxes, gate valve covers and fire hydrants Department property and bars any person from damaging or interfering with them.

Section 7540.8 requires each consumer to install, at his own expense, a shutoff valve on the property side of the meter before the first water takeoff. Except in an emergency, no consumer is allowed to use or molest a shutoff valve on the street side of any meter.

The conservation plan adds a second rule. Section 7553.7.1(f) lists among the Phase 1 prohibited uses that no customer of the Water Division shall permit water to leak from any facility on his premises. Section 7540.2 separately says no person shall willfully or negligently waste water in any manner whatsoever.

Under Section 7552.1, Department officers, inspectors, foremen and authorized employees get free access at all reasonable hours, on presentation of official identification, to any premises supplied with City water. After twenty-four (24) hours' written notice, Section 7552.2 lets the Department shut off service to an owner or occupant who refuses admittance or hinders an inspection. Section 7532.9 gives the Superintendent discretion to adjust complaints and to decide any dispute over a water bill.