Carroll County, MD Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

24(B), a customer has 30 days from the invoice date to apply for a reduction in water and sewer charges caused by a leak. The customer must show the leak was not caused by their own intent or negligence, and must present evidence that the leak in the service line between the house or business and the meter was repaired, or evidence of repair of a major break inside the structure tied to an insurance claim. A plumbing permit is mandatory before any credit is granted.

The county's Comptroller reviews each application and decides whether to grant the reduction, and if a leak spans more than one billing cycle despite the customer's best efforts to fix it, the Comptroller may adjust multiple bills. In setting the reduction amount, the Comptroller looks at the customer's usage over the prior two quarters, or comparable customers' usage if the account has less than two quarters of history. The Comptroller must also find that the customer acted reasonably and did not know or have reason to know about the leak before repair; relief is capped by that reasonableness test.

The ordinance carves out one hard exclusion: no reduction is available for water lost to filling swimming pools, hot tubs, other water storage components, or outdoor irrigation systems, no matter how the loss occurred. A denied or disputed reduction can be appealed to the County Commissioners or to a Board of Appeals the Commissioners appoint, and that decision is final with no further appeal available.