Plumber in Placentia, CA

Who Owns the Pipe

Placentia Sewer Line Responsibility: Homeowner or City?

Placentia’s municipal code answers in a single sentence: each property owner is responsible for keeping the sewer lateral that serves the property in proper working order. The code defines the lateral as the pipe running from the main sewer to the building it serves, and its urban forest chapter spells out the reach of that duty: the owner maintains, cleans and services the lateral from the house to its connection at the public sewer line in the street, and that includes the stretch in the public right-of-way or an easement as well as the stretch on private property.

The mains are the public part. The city owns and operates about 84 miles of sewer main, roughly 85% of the collection system inside its limits, most of it vitrified clay pipe, and the Yorba Linda Water District owns and maintains the sewers in the rest of Placentia. The district tells its customers the same thing the city does: the lateral from the home to the main is the property owner’s responsibility. From the city’s mains the wastewater flows to the Orange County Sanitation District, which treats it. The city points out that the sewer charge on the property tax bill comes from that district, for treatment, and is separate from the city’s own sewer fee.

Who Pays When Tree Roots Get Into a Placentia Sewer Lateral?

In most cases, the owner. The code treats roots in a lateral as a symptom of a defect that was already in the pipe wall: roots go looking for water, and they push in where a lateral is cracked or a joint is leaking, so correcting it falls to the property owner. Root intrusion is not grounds for removing a tree in the public right-of-way, and the city does not take out trees over sewer problems. The code does make one exception. Where the root ball of a city tree has broken or crushed the lateral, the owner can file a claim with the city, and the city repairs the broken or crushed section; it does not pay for undamaged pipe or for upgrades such as cleanouts and backflow valves. Public Works also notifies owners in writing when it finds roots growing out of a lateral into the main, and removing those is the owner’s job as well.

Who Clears a Blocked Sewer Lateral in Placentia?

A plumber working for the owner. We clear a backed-up main line from the outside cleanout. In a house that has no cleanout we work through a toilet or the roof vent, and with the line open again we can put a cleanout in. Every main line clearing comes with a complimentary camera inspection, which tells you whether the trouble lies in the yard, beneath the sidewalk or out under the street. Our crews clear a lateral the whole way to the city main. Repairs go in without a trench whenever the old pipe makes that possible, and digging is the last choice, not the first. If the street has to be opened, the street portion is part of our repair too, done under the encroachment permit Placentia requires for the right-of-way.

Repairing a Placentia Sewer Lateral Under the Sidewalk or Street

• The right-of-way calls for an encroachment permit. Placentia requires one for work in the roadway, median, sidewalk, curb, gutter, parkway or driveway. The application goes in online to the Public Works Engineering Services Division, with a certificate of insurance and, where the job needs them, traffic control plans.

• The connection to the main has its own permit. Under the code, nobody may connect to a city main sewer line without a permit from the chief building official, and the connection is made under that official’s supervision and to city standards.

• Street trees are off limits to the trencher. The code makes it unlawful to damage or root prune a city tree, which is one more reason to ask about lining the old pipe or bursting a new one through it when the lateral passes close to a parkway tree. Both take far less digging than an open trench.

When a Placentia Sewer Line Backs Up

• Stop sending water down. Leave the toilets, showers and washing machine alone until the line is open. Anything that goes down a drain will come up again at the lowest fixture in the house.

• Look out at the street. Sewage coming out of a manhole means the trouble is in the main, not in your lateral. To report a sewer overflow the city gives (714) 993-8131 during City Hall hours and 911 after hours. In the part of Placentia served by the Yorba Linda Water District’s sewers, the district’s 24-hour number is (714) 701-3000.

• Find your cleanout. Look for a capped pipe near the foundation or in the front yard, and tell us when you call if the house does not have one.

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

Water in Placentia

Who Supplies Water in Placentia?

One of two utilities, depending on the address. By the city’s own account, Golden State Water Company is responsible for a majority of Placentia’s residential water service and the Yorba Linda Water District provides a small portion. Golden State Water has served the Placentia area since 1929, and it describes the water in its Placentia system as a blend of groundwater pumped from the basin under Orange County and imported water. If you do not know which utility is yours, the city’s new resident guide lists (909) 394-2272 for Golden State Water and (714) 701-3000 for the district, and the name printed on the water bill answers it too.

Whose Pipe Is It at the Meter in Placentia?

Up to the meter, the utility’s. Golden State Water says it is only required to maintain the water lines up to the meter, and the Yorba Linda Water District says the same in its own words: the water agency looks after the lines up to and including the meter, and the line from the meter into the home is the property owner’s responsibility. So a leak between the meter and the house, or a house shutoff that will no longer close, is a call to a plumber and not to the utility. A valve that has seized gets replaced with a working emergency shutoff valve.

How Do You Check a Placentia House for a Hidden Leak?

Golden State Water’s advice to its customers is a simple meter test. Turn off all the water in and around the home, then watch the needle on the meter. If it keeps moving, chances are there is a leak somewhere on the property, and since the utility’s part stops at the meter, tracking it down is up to the customer. That is where we come in.

Additional Information

Is a permit needed for plumbing work in Placentia?

For a good deal of it, yes. Permits come from the city’s Building and Safety Division at City Hall, 401 East Chapman Avenue, which keeps a four-day week: open Monday through Thursday and closed Friday through Sunday. Water heater and gas line permits are among those it issues over the counter without a plan check. Inspections are booked by phone for Monday through Thursday, and the city does not schedule them for the same day. A property owner or a California licensed contractor can apply. We will tell you before any work starts if a permit applies to your job. We can pull the permit for you, or you can pull it yourself if you prefer.

What hours can plumbing work go on in a Placentia neighborhood?

For remodeling and repair work on existing buildings, Placentia’s code allows 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday and on holidays. A planned repipe or sewer lateral replacement gets scheduled inside those windows. For an emergency, somebody answers our phone whatever the hour.

Call Our Placentia Plumbers

Rooter & Plumbing Masters is a veteran-owned company, and Spanish is spoken on the phone and on the job. If a drain has slowed down, a toilet bubbles when the washing machine empties, or the cleanout has started to smell, call before it turns into a backup.

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