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

Section 32-27 of the Jacksonville Beach Code puts the leak duty on the person living at or holding the property, not on the city. The owner, tenant or occupant must maintain the water pipes that run from the premises' plumbing system to the city's main water line so they stay in good repair and watertight. The stated purpose is twofold: to prevent the loss of water from the water system, and to keep stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water and unpolluted industrial process waters out of the water system.

The remedy the section names is shutoff: failure to keep the pipe watertight gives the city the right to cut off the water connection until the pipe is repaired and watertight. A separate paragraph covers obstructions, including tuberculation of the pipe, and says the connection is not reconnected until the pipe is cleaned and maintained properly. The sewer side has parallel duties in subsection (b). The city keeps its own authority too: where the lateral pipes are on city land or rights-of-way, the city may clean, repair, maintain or bring into code compliance the water service lateral piping or sewer service lateral piping.

The section does not print a deadline or a phone number for reporting a leak, so the practical trigger is the city's own notice and its shutoff right. Billing is handled in Section 32-28: no allowance is made for leaks on the consumer's side of the meter, but an adjustment can be made for usage above the normal monthly usage, set by the city from prior consumption history and adjusted to the rate in effect for zero (0) to four (4,000) gallons. A request must come with documentation of the leak in a format acceptable to the city. Section 32-29 lets authorized city employees with proper identification enter the premises at all reasonable hours to examine pipes or fixtures.