Daytona Beach, FL Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

Section 98-33 of the Code of Ordinances gives Daytona Beach utility customers two paths to relief from an inflated water bill. Subsection (a) covers a high bill caused by the city's own side of the meter, such as a city water main break or a faulty meter; the city rebills the customer based on the average of the three previous months' consumption. Subsection (b) covers a 'significant water loss' on the customer's side of the meter, defined as a loss that more than triples the customer's average bill, caused by an act of God or a cause not directly tied to the customer's own actions.

To get that abatement, the customer must substantiate the loss with a plumbing repair bill, certify in writing the nature of the leak, and confirm the corrective action taken; the city manager averages the prior three months to compute the adjusted bill and refunds the overcharge. The ordinance draws one sharp line: if the leaking water entered the city's sanitary sewer system, such as water lost to a running toilet, there is no adjustment at all, because the city still had to treat that flow.

Where the leak did not reach the sewer, Section 98-33(b) also allows a separate sewer-only abatement once every 12 months, covering just the sewer-charge overcharge, regardless of the cause or size of the loss.