Mason County, WA Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

Chapter 13.34 of the Mason County Code, adopted by Resolution No. 2025-044 on June 24, 2025, gives residential and commercial customers of Mason County Public Works Utilities and Waste Management a path to a bill credit after a significant water leak. Section 13.34.030 lays out the reporting process in three steps. First, the customer must notify the public works finance department of the leak as soon as it is detected, and before the applicable billing cycle ends. Second, a formal credit request must be submitted within thirty days of whichever comes later, the leak's discovery or its repair.

Third, the department reviews the request with all supporting documentation to decide eligibility. Section 13.34.020 requires the customer to show the leak was beyond their control and to back the request with evidence such as repair receipts, a professional plumber's assessment, or a documented inspection, and the credit applies only to the portion of the bill the leak caused, not the whole bill. Section 13.34.040 calculates the credit as the gap between average consumption over a designated period, for example the previous twelve months, and consumption during the leak, and caps staff-level approval at ten thousand cubic feet, with anything larger needing Board of County Commissioners sign-off. Section 13.34.060 limits credits to once every three years per property and excludes leaks caused by neglected or unmaintained plumbing.