Henrico County, VA Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

County Code § 23-233 governs billing adjustments for water leaks. The department normally bills bimonthly for all water passing through a meter "whether used or wasted," so a leak is charged like any other consumption unless the customer acts. Where an underground leak occurs in water pipes or metered service lines and the owner, tenant or customer has "promptly made all necessary repairs," the director of public utilities may rebate any charges in excess of double the average bimonthly bill for the premises. Section 23-1 defines "underground leak" narrowly: a leak in pipes that cannot be seen without digging, destroying or removing property, connected to the county system.

Leaks caused by faulty installation of private systems, or by mechanical failure or malfunction, are specifically excluded and do not qualify for this rebate even if they happen to be underground. The director may extend the same rebate for an "unexplained problem" that pushes metered consumption over double the average, if the director believes the water was not beneficially used, but that unexplained-problem adjustment can only be granted once every three years except in cases of extreme hardship. The average bimonthly bill used for comparison is calculated from the three previous equivalent billing periods.

A parallel adjustment applies on the sewer side: § 23-363 lets the director allow a matching credit against the sewer charge for the same quantity of water the leak allowance already covered, since sewer billing in Henrico is based on metered water use.