Vestavia Hills, AL Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Because Vestavia Hills buys its water from the Birmingham Water Works Board rather than running its own utility, Sec. 17-2 lets the mayor, with city council consensus, declare a water service emergency tied to the board's five-stage drought plan running from Stage 1 Drought Advisory through Stage 5 Exceptional Drought Emergency. The mandatory local restrictions only kick in at Stage 3 Drought Warning or Stage 4 Extreme Drought Emergency, published in a newspaper of general circulation for three consecutive days and posted at the Municipal Center, Civic Center, library, post office and parks department.

Once that declaration is in effect, Sec. 17-2(f)(4) suspends the washing of automobiles, trucks, trailers, mobile homes, campers and boats, but carves out businesses "engaged in car washing using recycled water," meaning a commercial car wash that recirculates its wash water is exempt from the suspension. The same subsection allows a one-time hand wash per week, with an auto-shutoff nozzle, for luxury or oversize vehicles too large for an automatic recycled-water carwash, and a single wash for a new car at the dealership that sold it.

If the drought worsens to Stage 5 Exceptional Drought Emergency, Sec. 17-2(g)(2) tightens further: washing any motor vehicle or mobile equipment is banned outright unless it's done by a commercial automatic car wash installation engaged in the business of washing motor vehicles and recycling water, closing the hand-wash and dealership exceptions that survive at Stage 3 and 4. Sec. 17-2(h) puts every city police officer on enforcement duty and makes parents responsible for violations by their minor children.