Chesterfield County, VA Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

County Code § 18-33 lets the director of utilities reduce a customer's water charge when unseen leaks in lines the consumer is responsible for maintaining cause excessive water use, provided the consumer repairs the leak within 30 days of first learning about the excessive flow. The credit is 50 percent of the water volume that exceeds the consumer's average consumption for the three previous bills. If the leak instead sits in a portion of the system the director maintains, the consumer's billed consumption is reduced all the way to the three-bill average rather than just half credited.

A separate track under subsection (d) covers plumbing leaks in toilets, inside faucets, dishwashers, ice makers, and washing machines: repairing those within 30 days of discovery earns a 50 percent adjustment on the excess for both water and wastewater charges, but a single customer can only claim this adjustment once every 18 months. Subsection (e) also lets the director adjust a single-family residential bill that is more than double the customer's three-bill average if an investigation shows the spike is unexplained or from documented vandalism, again capped at once every three years and at 50 percent of the excess.

Subsection (c) lets the director pick a different comparison method if the three prior bills do not reflect normal use because of seasonal irrigation or pool filling, and subsection (g) limits any adjustment to the bill immediately before the customer's inquiry plus unbilled usage up to the repair date.