DeKalb County, GA Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

The duty in § 25-56 reaches any person who owns or occupies the premises, so tenants as well as owners can be on the hook for a wasting leak. It covers any water pipe or fixture on the property, and the violation is letting the waste continue past the point where the leak, break or malfunction reasonably should have been corrected. In unincorporated DeKalb County that window is 2 business days, counted either from the day the person discovers the problem or from the day the county gives notice of it.

Repairing within the window is one way to comply; reporting the leak to the county within the same 2 business days also satisfies the ordinance, which matters when a repair cannot physically be finished that quickly. A hardship extension of up to 15 additional business days is available when the standard window is not enough. The county does not have to wait at all when a leak poses a public health, safety or environmental threat; that kind of leak can trigger immediate shutoff with no advance notice.