Main Water Line Repair in North Metro Atlanta: Who Fixes What

Water main leak or service line leak: who owns which pipe

Every north metro utility in the table below that publishes a rule stops at the meter. Gwinnett County's Department of Water Resources (DWR), for example, maintains the main, the small pipe joining the meter to it, and the meter. Everything on the customer's side, including leaks between the meter and the house, backflow devices and irrigation, is the owner's to maintain, repair or replace (Gwinnett DWR).

That boundary decides your first call. A water main leak in the street or water in the meter box goes to the utility; Gwinnett asks residents to report both to its 24-hour dispatch, and says a leak between the home and the meter needs a plumber because it is on private property (Gwinnett DWR).

The meter isn't always at the property line: Cumming's code lets the city set it on your lot within three feet of the line (Cumming Code, Sec. 111-62). The sewer lateral follows separate rules; see who is responsible for the sewer line.

North metro Atlanta water providers and where their part ends

Your water bill names your provider; each city links to its local sewer guide.

For every other place within 45 miles of Atlanta, the local directory lists its sewer provider and permit office.

Signs of a water service line leak

Cumming Utilities says most leaks occur on privately owned lines between the meter and the building (Cumming Utilities). Watch for:

• a meter that moves while no water is in use (EPA WaterSense);
• soggy patches in the yard (Gwinnett DWR);
• a bill far above normal that isn't a misread; compare the meter with the bill (CCWSA);
• a leak notice from the utility; Cumming gives 30 days to find and fix the leak (Cumming Utilities).

Confirm the leak in six steps

1. Stop all water use for two hours; leave appliance supply valves open unless one runs constantly, like some ice makers (Gwinnett DWR).
2. Photograph the meter reading and watch its small leak-detection wheel. A changed number or any movement means a probable leak.
3. Close the main shutoff where the line enters the house. If the meter still moves, the leak is between the meter and that valve; if it stops, look inside (City of Hemet).
4. Walk the route for wet ground. Water in the meter box or street is the utility's to fix.
5. Use your own valve, not the utility's. Gwinnett publishes a diagram of its curb stop (Gwinnett DWR), but Cumming lets only people it authorizes turn water on or off at the meter box (Sec. 111-69), and Canton bars work on a meter without written permission (§ 114-202).
6. Call a licensed plumber; keep the invoice and photos for a leak credit.

Pipe materials: polybutylene, galvanized, copper, PEX and lead

The pipe often shows where it enters a basement, crawlspace or garage. Forsyth County's guide: plastic is rigid PVC or flexible PEX in many colors; copper is penny-colored, or green or brown with age; galvanized steel is dull silver-gray and usually attracts a magnet; lead is dull gray, soft, scratches easily to a bright surface and doesn't attract a magnet (Forsyth County). EPA's Protect Your Tap guide uses the same test.

Polybutylene. InterNACHI, the home inspectors' association, says this plastic was made from 1978 to mid-1995 and can flake apart anywhere along the pipe where disinfectants attack it. It's most often gray, with blue used mainly outdoors, and usually stamped "PB2110"; the damage can't be seen without taking the pipe apart, and no regulation requires replacing it (InterNACHI). It isn't among the water service materials in the 2024 International Plumbing Code (IPC) Table 605.3.

Galvanized steel. Still listed, but galvanized pipe rusts from the inside. One water utility tells customers that galvanized lines or fittings on their own side can bring periodic episodes of discolored water, especially after a period of non-use (Lincoln Water System, Nebraska).

Copper, PEX and other plastics. Table 605.3 lists copper tubing, PEX, polyethylene, PVC and CPVC. Buried service pipe must meet NSF 61 and a 160 psi rating, and a material not certified for indoor use must stop at or before the main valve at the house (Section 605.3).

Lead. EPA says new lead pipe installation was banned nationally in 1986 (EPA); Fulton County says systems commonly used lead service lines until 1960 (Fulton County). CCWSA says lead wasn't typically used in Cherokee County, and where it was, mostly on pipes over 2 inches (CCWSA).

Lead service line inventories

Under EPA's 2021 rule revisions, water systems had to inventory service line materials by October 16, 2024 (EPA). They must notify anyone served by a lead line, a galvanized line that may carry lead, or a line of unknown material, and the newer Lead and Copper Rule Improvements require most systems to replace lead and those galvanized lines under their control within 10 years, with most requirements starting in late 2027 (EPA). Inventories cover the utility's and the owner's sides (Gwinnett DWR) and use four classes: lead, galvanized requiring replacement (galvanized that is or was downstream of lead, or sits downstream of an unknown line), non-lead and unknown (Cobb County).

Georgia EPD links a statewide Service Line Inventory Public Transparency Dashboard from its drinking water page. Most utilities in the table report no lead lines found; many lines are still unknown, which means no record, not a lead finding. Atlanta mails unknown-status customers a yearly notice until the line is confirmed non-lead or replaced, and may request a right-of-entry form to inspect (Atlanta DWM). Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb also take owners' own pipe reports (Fulton County; DeKalb; Cobb County).

If your line is listed as lead or galvanized requiring replacement, call the utility before paying to replace it. EPA tells owners of lead lines to join the utility's replacement program (EPA), and Atlanta offers funding information to eligible customers (Atlanta DWM). EPA says no level of lead in drinking water is safe; it suggests cold water for drinking and cooking, running the tap first, cleaning aerators and a filter certified for lead, and notes that boiling doesn't remove it. Ask your doctor if you're worried about exposure.

Main water line repair or water line replacement?

If the leak is on your side, the pipe decides most of it. Ask the plumber to show you the failed section and whether the damage stops there. A polybutylene line can fail anywhere, a galvanized line shedding rust is losing metal, and a line your utility lists as lead or galvanized requiring replacement belongs in its program.

Georgia has adopted the 2024 International Plumbing Code with Georgia amendments. DCA's most recent announcement (December 2025) gives January 1, 2027 as its effective date, while an earlier DCA memo said January 1, 2026, so ask your city or county building department which edition it enforces (DCA). Under the 2024 code, a new service line:

• is at least 3/4 inch (Section 603.1), buried at least 12 inches deep and 6 inches below the frost line (Section 305.4);
• stays 5 feet from the building sewer unless the sewer pipe is an approved building-drain material, the water line runs at least 12 inches above it, or it is sleeved at the crossing (Section 603.2), and never runs in, under or above a septic tank or drain field (Section 603.2.1);
• has accessible full-open valves near the curb and where it enters the house (Sections 606.1 and 606.3);
• is pressure-tested (Section 312.6) and, under Georgia's amendment to Section 610.1, flushed and disinfected before use;
• if plastic, can't replace metal pipe that grounds the electrical system until other approved grounding exists (Section 601.3), so ask whether an electrician is needed.

Permits, pressure-reducing valves and Georgia 811

Georgia's amendments delete the code's administration chapter, leaving permit procedures to local governments (DCA). Marietta requires a plumbing permit for any plumbing work, water supply included (Marietta). Sandy Springs requires one except for simple repairs, issues it to licensed contractors or owners working on their own permanent home, and inspects at rough-in and final (Sandy Springs). Johns Creek says to apply before installing, altering, repairing or replacing any plumbing system (Johns Creek), and Suwanee requires permits for plumbing changes (Suwanee). For licensing, see how to hire a drain cleaning company in Georgia.

A pressure-reducing valve (PRV) is required where static pressure in the house exceeds 80 psi, and it must stay open if it fails (Sections 604.8 and 604.8.1). Forsyth County says older homes may lack one, that it usually sits on the house side of the meter, and that keeping it working is the owner's job (Forsyth County). Gwinnett calls a failing home PRV the most common cause of low pressure: strong flow at the front spigot with weak flow inside points to the valve (Gwinnett DWR). Where a PRV, check valve or backflow preventer feeds a storage water heater, Georgia's amendment to Section 607.3 requires a thermal expansion device downstream of it and puts any expansion tank at least 18 inches of pipe from the heater's inlet (DCA); Marietta requires thermal expansion control on retrofits too (Marietta).

Georgia 811 asks everyone to request a locate at least three business days before digging, and state law requires one before digging with mechanized equipment (Georgia 811; dig law). Utilities mark only public lines, which usually end at the meter; the line from the meter to your house is private and needs a private locator (Georgia 811).

Costs, leak credits and hiring a plumber

Price depends on the run's length and depth, obstacles such as trees or patios, trenching versus boring, the pipe and the permit. HomeAdvisor's cost guide, updated June 19, 2026 and checked October 2026, puts the national normal range for main water line replacement at $647 to $2,834 (HomeAdvisor). Georgia quotes vary; get written ones that state length, route, material, method, permit and restoration.

Utilities may credit part of a leak-inflated bill, with proof of repair. Cumming wants a parts receipt or a licensed plumber's paid bill within 90 days of the first high bill (Cumming Utilities); Fulton County asks for the repair bill or material receipts (Fulton County); Marietta can credit up to six months with an invoice (Marietta FAQ). Mailers selling water line coverage are covered in sewer line warranty plans.

Next step

Run the two-hour meter test and look up your address in your utility's inventory, so your plumber starts with the leak's location and your pipe's material. This guide is general information, not legal advice; your water utility, your building department and a licensed plumber can tell you what applies to your property.