Jacksonville, NC Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)
Key Facts
- Repair duty
- Consumer keeps pipes and fixtures in good repair
- Cost
- At the consumer's own expense
- Frost protection
- Required for all water fixtures
- Penalty
- Water shut off, not a criminal fine
- Disconnection ground
- Waste from improper pipes, § 26-13(d)
- Reconnection bar
- Withheld from customers in debt, § 26-16
Summary
In the City of Jacksonville, North Carolina, City Code § 26-5 requires anyone taking city water to keep their own service pipes and fixtures in good repair and protected from frost, at their own expense, and to prevent unnecessary waste. The penalty is not a fine: the city can simply shut the water off, and § 26-13(d) lists wasteful leaking fixtures as grounds for disconnection.
The consumer of any utility service furnished by the city shall maintain and keep in good repair all connections, appliances and other apparatus installed and used in connection with such utility service. ... Persons taking water shall keep their service pipes and all fixtures connected therewith in good repair and protected from frost at their own expense, and shall prevent all unnecessary waste of water under penalty of having such water shut off. ... The city shall have the right to disconnect or refuse to connect or reconnect any utility service for any of the following reasons: ... (d)Willful or negligent waste of service due to improper or imperfect pipes, fixtures, appliances or otherwise;
Full Breakdown
Section 26-5 sits in Chapter 26's general utility-service article alongside § 26-4, which makes every consumer responsible for maintaining "all connections, appliances and other apparatus installed and used in connection with" the utility service they receive from the city. Section 26-5 narrows that duty specifically to water: a customer must keep service pipes and every fixture connected to them in good repair, protect them from frost, and do so at the customer's own expense rather than the city's. The section folds enforcement directly into the repair duty rather than routing it through Chapter 25's misdemeanor clause: a customer who allows "unnecessary waste of water" faces having the water shut off, a disconnection rather than a criminal fine.
That disconnection authority is spelled out further at § 26-13, which lists the city's grounds for cutting off any utility service, including at subsection (d) "willful or negligent waste of service due to improper or imperfect pipes, fixtures, appliances or otherwise," the same failure-to-repair scenario § 26-5 targets. Reconnection is not automatic: § 26-15 lets the city withhold service from anyone in debt to it, and § 26-16 requires city council approval of a new application before service resumes. Because Chapter 26's water rules predate the 2022 misdemeanor amendments applied elsewhere in the code, no companion criminal penalty clause follows § 26-5, and the city's only stated remedy for a leaking, unrepaired fixture is cutting off the water itself.
Nothing in this chapter requires a customer to proactively report a leak to the city; the duty is to keep fixtures repaired, not to file a report.
Violations & Fines
There is no dollar fine printed in § 26-5 itself. The stated consequence is disconnection: the city can shut off water service to a customer who lets pipes or fixtures waste water unrepaired. Section 26-13(d) separately authorizes the city to disconnect or refuse to reconnect any utility service for "willful or negligent waste of service due to improper or imperfect pipes, fixtures, appliances or otherwise," and § 26-15 bars restoring service to a customer in debt to the city.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Jacksonville require me to report a water leak?
What happens if my leaking pipe wastes city water?
Who pays to fix a leaking service pipe in Jacksonville?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Jacksonville
Compare Jacksonville to another location·View the North Carolina water use rules overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.