Plumber in Burbank, CA

Burbank Sewer Laterals

Who Is Responsible for a Sewer Lateral in Burbank?

The property owner is, for the whole length of the pipe. Burbank’s municipal code requires every building sewer to be kept in good operating condition by the owner of the property it serves. The city’s sewer management plan spells out what that covers: the lateral from the building to the main, the cleanouts, the wye fitting where the lateral joins the main, and a lateral that crosses a city easement to reach a main behind the house. The plan counts about 25,500 private laterals in Burbank, all of them owned and maintained by property owners.

The city’s part is the main. Public Works looks after about 230 miles of sewer pipe, some 3,800 maintenance holes and two pumping stations, and Burbank treats its own wastewater at a reclamation plant that was built in 1966 and now handles 9 million gallons a day.

The City Rebate for Cleaning a Lateral

Burbank pays owners to look after their laterals. Its Sewer Lateral User Rebate Program, which the city shortens to SLURP, gives the owner of a single-family house or a duplex a credit on the sewer service charge for having the lateral cleaned and video recorded as far as the main. The city wants three things: the plumber’s receipt, the rebate form, and a copy of the recording, which has to show the address and the cleaned pipe all the way to the connection with the main. A second rebate, available once per owner, applies when at least 10 feet of the lateral in the public right-of-way is replaced under the proper permits. One caution about the recording. The complimentary camera inspection that follows our main line clearings is a look at the pipe and does not include a recording, so if you plan to apply, say so when you call and ask for a recorded sewer camera inspection.

When a Parkway Tree Breaks the Pipe

Roots that work their way into a lateral through an open joint are the owner’s to clear, the city says, even when the tree stands in the parkway. A lateral that a city parkway tree has crushed or pushed out of alignment is treated differently. The municipal code allows the city to reimburse the owner for repairing that section, up to the amount in its fee schedule, on two conditions: the proper permits are obtained, and the city inspects the damage before any of the broken pipe is removed. If a camera shows a crushed lateral under a parkway tree, call Public Works at (818) 238-3915 before anyone takes the pipe out.

What a Lateral Repair Involves in Burbank

• Two permit counters. Cleaning a lateral and inspecting it by video need no permit. Replacing sewer pipe on private property takes a plumbing permit from the Building Division, and work in the public right-of-way takes a sewer permit and an excavation permit from Public Works.

• No lining under the street. The city does not permit a lateral to be lined inside its right-of-way. Pipe bursting is accepted there: two pits are dug, the old pipe is broken up from the inside, and a seamless new pipe is pulled into its place.

• Clay pipe, laid straight. For the part of a building sewer that lies in the street, the code calls for vitrified clay pipe or another material the public works director approves, in a straight line, with a fall of at least one foot in fifty.

• A backwater valve. When a building sewer is replaced, or repaired over more than 10 feet in total, the code requires an approved backwater valve on it in most cases, set in a box where it can always be reached.

We clear laterals all the way to the city main, and our repairs reach it too, from your yard out under the street. For a repair under the street, Burbank requires a contractor with a Class A or C-42 license. Our work on that street section is done under the permits Burbank requires. On your property we repair without a trench wherever the pipe allows, and we dig only when there is no other way.

If a Sewer Backs Up in Burbank

• Turn off the taps. Every fixture in the building empties into one pipe, so a flushed toilet or a draining washing machine pushes more sewage out of the lowest drain.

• Look at the street. Sewage coming out of a maintenance hole points to the city’s main. Report it to Public Works at (818) 238-3915 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., and to (818) 238-3778 after hours. A backup that stays inside your building is in the lateral, and the city leaves that one to the owner and a plumber.

• Find the cleanout, if you have one. The city notes that some Burbank properties have none and recommends that every property get one. We open a backed-up main line through the outside cleanout. Without one we work through a toilet or the roof vent, and we can install a cleanout after the line is flowing again.

• Buying a house in Burbank? Have the lateral looked at before escrow closes. A buyer’s sewer camera inspection from us comes with the video and a written summary.

Burbank’s Water

Where Does Burbank’s Water Come From?

From Burbank Water and Power, the utility the city has run since it bought the local water works in 1913. It delivers water and electricity to more than 50,000 homes and businesses. Every gallon is imported: the utility’s 2025 water quality report says Burbank has no local water rights and depends on water moved here from hundreds of miles away. Some of that water is spread on the ground to soak into the aquifer, pumped back out through wells in Burbank, and cleaned at a groundwater treatment plant in Burbank that has been in service since 1996 and that the utility runs.

The pipes have two owners. Under the municipal code the service connection, which runs from the water main to the curb or the property line and includes the meter, is installed and maintained by the utility and remains city property. From that point in, the customer provides the pipes and keeps them in good and safe condition at the customer’s own expense. The city’s side is old in places: the same report says more than 30 miles of the utility’s pipelines are over 100 years old and that it aims to replace up to 1.1 miles a year, work that in 2026 included the main under Magnolia Boulevard. A leaking main or hydrant goes to the utility’s water engineering office at (818) 238-3500, and after hours to (818) 238-3778.

How Hard Is Burbank’s Water?

Hard. The 2025 report gives an average of 286 parts per million, which it converts to 16.7 grains per gallon. That mineral is what scales faucets and shower doors and builds up inside a tank water heater. On lead the report is reassuring: the utility has no lead service lines, and when it inspected customer-owned service lines at the meter box or the building inlet it identified none there either.

How Do You Check for a Leak in Burbank?

The utility’s own test takes twenty minutes. Turn off every faucet, appliance and sprinkler, then look at the water meter. Most meters have a leak indicator, a small dial or triangle that spins whenever water is flowing. For a slow leak, write down the reading, wait 20 minutes with everything still off, and read it again. Customers can also follow their use on the utility’s WaterSmart portal, and the conservation desk in its lobby at 164 West Magnolia Boulevard gives out dye tablets for testing a toilet at no charge. Burbank’s water use ordinance expects leaks to be repaired promptly all year, and not only in a drought. If the meter moves and you cannot tell where the water is going, our leak detection finds it. A main shutoff that will no longer close can be replaced with a working emergency shutoff valve before we leave.

Additional Information

Who issues plumbing permits in Burbank?

The Building & Safety Division of the city’s Community Development Department, in the Community Services Building at 150 North Third Street. Its counter is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday until 3:00 p.m., closed from noon to 1:00 p.m., and the number is (818) 238-5220. Burbank’s permit rules cover repair and maintenance work on plumbing as well as new construction, and its list of simple permits that single-family projects can get online without plan check includes water heaters, re-piping, gas piping, plumbing fixtures and sewer repair. The city adopted the 2025 California Plumbing Code with no local amendments, in force since January 1, 2026. Whether your job needs a permit is something we settle at the estimate. We can pull the permit for you, or you can pull it yourself if you prefer.

Does Burbank limit the hours for plumbing work?

Yes. The city’s building regulations set construction hours for permitted work: Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with none on a Sunday or a city holiday. Emergency work needed to protect people or property from immediate danger is exempt. So a planned repipe or a lateral replacement is a weekday or Saturday job, and a burst pipe or a sewer backup is dealt with whenever it happens.

My Burbank house is on a hillside. Does that change sewer work?

It changes the diagnosis. A lateral on a slope can run long and steep, so a sag or a separated joint collects solids quickly and a root intrusion blocks the line sooner. We put a camera through the line before anyone talks about digging, so that a repair opens one spot and not a trench down the slope.

Plumbing Help in Burbank, Day or Night

Rooter & Plumbing Masters is veteran-owned, and our office and our crews speak Spanish as well as English. A drain that gurgles, a sewer smell in the yard, a water heater standing in a puddle, a meter that turns with every tap closed: each of them is easier to deal with now than after it has gotten worse.

Call us at (888) 855-6680 today to schedule your free estimate or same-day service in Burbank, CA.