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

Section 102-17 of the Smyrna Code, the water waste ordinance for outdoor water use, was adopted as Ord. No. 2020-02 on 2-17-20. Its stated aim is to encourage the efficient use of outdoor water and the proper maintenance of irrigation and plumbing systems. It defines water waste as the unnecessary loss of water through improper application or failure of a plumbing or irrigation system resulting in excessive runoff.

Four activities are subject to a penalty. The first is a broken irrigation system, with missing heads and broken pipes named as examples. The second is excessive runoff, meaning water running down the driveway, street or sidewalk. The third is a hose running unattended without a shutoff nozzle. The fourth is the one that matters for leaks: a visible and unrepaired leak in excess of one gallon per minute.

The leak standard has two parts a property owner can act on. The leak must be visible, and it must be unrepaired. The threshold is one gallon per minute. The section is written as a repair standard. It does not print a reporting form, a hotline or a deadline in days, and it does not print a dollar amount; it says only that the listed activities are subject to a penalty.

On the utility side, Sec. 102-48 says the city operates and maintains approximately 240 miles of water distribution lines and buys its water from the Cobb County Water System and the Cobb Marietta Water Authority. The same section says calls from customers, the general public and other agencies are logged into the city utilities management systems, and the appropriate personnel or division is then notified. Those provisions describe how the city handles calls; they do not create a reporting duty for customers. Under Sec. 102-55, the department system runs up to and including the water meter, and the customer's system begins beyond it. Sec. 102-4 requires a water metering device for each residential, business and apartment complex customer.