Charlotte, NC Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

Charlotte's water conservation ordinance, Code of Ordinances Chapter 23, Article VII, imposes this leak-repair duty only while a water shortage declaration is in effect under Sec. 23-259: it is unlawful for any customer or plumbing-system owner receiving water from the CMU water system to fail to repair a leak within a reasonable time. 00 civil penalty, termination of service, or both, at CMU's discretion. This sits inside the broader shortage-response scheme: the city manager declares a shortage after weighing factors such as system pressure and storage-tank levels (Sec.

23-253), then can impose Phase I, II, or III conservation controls (Secs. 23-256 through 23-258). The leak-repair duty applies regardless of which phase is active, since it is triggered by the existence of any active declaration, not by a specific phase. Enforcement of the article generally runs through CMU and any city employees the city manager designates (Sec. 23-262(l)), and civil penalties assessed under the article are added directly to the customer's water bill and collected the same way as normal water charges (Sec. 23-262(j)); unpaid civil penalties can themselves lead to termination of water service.

Outside of an active shortage declaration, this specific five-day/​$100 leak duty does not apply, since Sec. 23-259 is scoped to periods when a water shortage declaration is in effect, though customers remain responsible under the account terms for water that passes through their own service connection or private plumbing system (Sec. 23-262(a)).