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

" The same subsection also lets the Director restrict service countywide "to conserve water, in response to an anticipated shortage in the public water supply," but the leak-and-meter clause targets individual noncompliant accounts rather than drought response. Before cutting off a property, subsection (b)(1) requires the Director to "notify the user in writing of a proposed denial of water service, and shall turn the service off no sooner than 30 days after the date of the notice," unless the Director finds "an imminent threat to the public health and safety," in which case a shorter shutoff period applies.

Once water service has been denied, the code requires it be "restored after the Director of Public Works determines that the condition giving rise to the denial has been remedied," meaning the homeowner must actually fix the leak or allow the meter work before restoration. Subsection (b)(2) authorizes the Director to charge the user for both the denial and the restoration of service, with the fee set by County Council resolution. Because leaking outside lines waste metered water the County still has to treat and pump, unresolved leaks also tend to show up as unusually high quarterly water bills long before a shutoff notice is ever issued, since Howard County bills water volumetrically.