Okaloosa County, FL Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

Section 24-166(c) splits maintenance duties down the line: the property owner installs and maintains the plumbing from the end of the county's water service line to the building or facility, while the county's own maintenance responsibility covers only the portion of the service line within public rights-of-way or dedicated public easements, plus the meter box or vault, the water meter, and the associated plumbing, valves, and fixtures inside it. If a customer's plumbing connects to a private water main run by a commercial property owner, subdivision, mobile home park, condominium, or similar entity, the water and sewer department's responsibility narrows to just the meter box, meter, and its immediate fixtures.

In exchange for service, the customer grants the county the right to enter any outdoor area on private property, without prior notice or permission, to read, maintain, replace, or terminate service on a county-owned meter, and to conduct any state- or federally-mandated inspection or water-quality test. The leak duty sits inside that same subsection: if a leak exists on a privately owned main or service line, the owner must report and repair it in a timely manner. Failing to do so results in the water and sewer department temporarily cutting off service until repairs are completed to the department's satisfaction.

Separately, § 24-179 lets the utility director make a case-by-case billing adjustment for a customer's water bill when a leak caused an unusually high reading, though that adjustment is discretionary rather than automatic.